Star Wars: Episode VII Title Revealed

Star Wars: Episode VII Title Revealed

Star Wars fans have been sent into a frenzy after Disney revealed the name of the new film - Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Filming has finished on the seventh instalment of the franchise which sees Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill reprise their original roles.

The Force Awakens immediately shot to the top of trending topics on Twitter with speculation about what the title means.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens has completed principal photography," the tweets said, with the title set in the franchise's retro typeface in yellow and white against a background of stars.

Director JJ Abrams' film will now require months of post-production before its much anticipated worldwide release scheduled for 18 December 2015.

It is set 30 years after 1983's Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi where Luke Skywalker was left as the only known Jedi Knight holder of the Force, with no rivals from the "dark side" Sith camp.

Star Wars has attracted generations of loyal fans ever since the first film arrived in 1977 recounting the adventures of Skywalker, Han Solo and Darth Vader.

Filming on Epsiode VII began in Britain in May. It also stars Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac.

In June 72-year-old Ford broke his leg on the set when a garage door fell and hit him at Pinewood Studios outside London.

The actor is back as smuggler Solo, with 63-year-old Hamill returning as Jedi Knight Skywalker and Fisher, 58, reprising the role of Princess Leia.

The movie's screenplay is written by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote two previous Star Wars films.

Earlier this year a photographer told Sky News how he "fell off his seat" when he unknowingly took photos from the sky of the Millennium Falcon on the set of the new film.

Matthew Myatt told Sky News he had noticed something "unusual" on the ground while working, but had to get his "son to pinch him" and confirm what he thought it was.