Earlier today, we posted a behind-the-scenes video from Vanity Fair’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens photo shoot. We knew the upcoming issue would be featuring plenty of never-before-seen images, and we were hoping they would be popping up online before the issue hits newsstands.
It looks like someone over at Vanity Fair decided to grant our wish, because a new batch of photos shot by Annie Liebovitz during her visit to Pinewood Studios has surfaced. Check them out below.
Next-generation bad guy Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) commands snowtroopers loyal to the evil First Order on the frozen plains of their secret base. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. A small galaxy’s worth of tracking dots affixed to Lupita Nyong’o’s face allowed artists at Industrial Light & Magic to transform her into the C.G.I. character Maz Kanata. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. Galactic travelers, smugglers, and other assorted riffraff fill the main hall of pirate Maz Kanata’s castle. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. Dashing Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) stands alongside his trusty X-wing fighter. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. J. J. Abrams directs Actress Daisy Ridley for a scene in which her character, the young heroine Rey, pilots her speeder through a bustling marketplace on the planet Jakku. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. Members of the brain trust behind The Force Awakens: composer John Williams, producer and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, and director and co-writer Abrams, photographed at Bad Robot, Abrams’s production company, in Santa Monica. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.
Once again, these photos confirm that Adam Driver is the man behind the mask of Kylo Ren, which is what we’ve all been assuming, anyway. He’s a great actor, and cuts a menacing figure – and we’re looking forward to watching him wield that badass new lightsaber. We also discovered that Lupita Nyong’o will portray a pirate named Maz Kanata, and that she’ll have her own castle, although we’ll probably be waiting awhile to get our first look at the finished version of the character.
Speaking of Maz’s castle, we love the collection of riffraff assembled in the hallway. Director J.J. Abrams continues to make good on his promise to use more practical effects instead of the CGI-heavy approach that George Lucas used on the prequel trilogy, and we’re continuing to love everything that we see.
Hopefully there will be a few more surprises as Star Wars Day continues. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will open on December 18.