Even before Disney snapped up Lucasfilm and began developing new Star Wars movies, the company’s theme parks have been representing George Lucas’s adventures in that galaxy far, far away. Now, the attractions will be evolving to focus on **Star Wars: The Force Awakens **and beyond.
“There will be a much larger** Star Wars** presence in our parks globally,” Disney boss Bob Iger said during a Variety event. “But we want to do this big, which takes time, and to do it right.” Theoretically, that might mean saying goodbye to the current likes of Star Tours – which got an update a few years ago – or simply adding more content from J.J. Abrams’ film, the other franchise episodes and the spin-offs being crafted by the likes of Josh Trank and Gareth Edwards.
The plan is to target those whose primary experience of the SW universe is from the new movie. “I didn’t want someone to say, ‘I just saw the movie and there’s nothing in that movie in this attraction',” Iger said. “We waited to see what this film would have in it.” Intriguingly, he also revealed that the company, urged by the ever mystery-conscious Abrams, almost didn’t release the new teaser trailer that has sparked such interest. But realising that the fanbase would revolt without something concrete, the director and the Mouse House relented.
In additional theme park news (lest you think Empire has suddenly become obsessed with rollercoasters) a new Paramount Pictures theme park set to be based in Kent has reached a deal with the BBC to include attractions based on the broadcaster’s biggest shows. No formal plans have been made yet, but titles already talked about include Doctor Who and Sherlock (which we can really see working, particularly Who, given the Doctor Who Experience) and, er, Top Gear. Which might be some sort of driving challenge or possibly the chance for outraged viewers to throw rotten fruit at a stocks-locked Jeremy Clarkson the next time he says something offensive. Can they have it ready for next month?