Star Wars is coming to life in a galaxy not so far, far away! Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger announced on Saturday, Aug. 15, that Disney will be adding Star Wars-themed lands to a couple of its properties in California and Florida.
Iger revealed the exciting news at Disney’s D23 Expo 2015, which has already provided buzzworthy scoop about other projects including Finding Dory and Toy Story 4. He was joined at the event by Star Wars star Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford, and director J.J. Abrams.
The otherworldly lands will be coming to the Anaheim, Calif.-based Disneyland, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
According to artist renderings and details on the Disney Parks blog, the 14-acre additions will allow visitors to step into the world of “a never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before wild space where Star Wars characters and their stories come to life.”
Coming soon to a Disney Park not so far, far away: #StarWarsLand. pic.twitter.com/hkdYooAqLU
— Disney (@Disney) August 15, 2015
There are also plans to incorporate the famed Millennium Falcon, which made its debut in the very first Star Wars movie back in 1977.
“I am thrilled to announce the next chapter in the long and exciting history between Disney Parks and Star Wars,” Iger said at D23. “These new lands at Disneyland and Walt Disney World will transport guests to a whole new Star Wars planet, including an epic Star Wars adventure that puts you in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance.”
The news comes just a few months ahead of the much-anticipated release of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, the first of three new installments in the Star Wars franchise expected over the next several years. Ryan Johnson has been tapped to direct Episode VIII, while Colin Trevorrow was just announced as the director for Episode IX.
“This is not a job or an assignment. It is a seat at a campfire, surrounded by an extraordinary group of storytellers, filmmakers, artists, and craftspeople,” Trevorrow said in a press release on Aug. 15. “We’ve been charged with telling new stories for a younger generation because they deserve what we all had — a mythology to call their own. We will do this by channeling something George Lucas instilled in all of us: boundless creativity, pure invention, and hope.”
