Ahead of the Blu-ray release of director J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a significant amount of fan hype and anticipation has been directed towards the seven deleted scenes from the Disney/Lucasfilm blockbuster that will be included with its home video edition. Those in the know may already be aware that one bonus clip featuring Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) will be featured in addition to a full length making-of documentary for the film, though little more has been revealed about the Force Awakens deleted scenes that are being released to the public.
On the top of said list of deleted material, and based purely upon the titles provided, fans are no doubt eager to see, "Kylo Searches the Falcon", in addition to two scenes featuring the former New Order stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter FN-2187, or Finn (John Boyega). And as luck would have it, fans of both original characters from the new Star Wars trilogy can be seen in a new set of behind the scenes images from The Force Awakens' deleted scenes.
As initially published by EW, the images seen below capture several shots from the making of Episode VII, and include representations of Abrams directing actors Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, and Boyega in their respective roles and costumes on what appears to be the Starkiller Base, in addition to several other candid portraits of said characters, plus Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), in those respective locations. As for which deleted scenes these images have been taken from remains relatively unknown at the time of this writing, though Abrams was willing to provide a reason as to why the larger sequences were taken out of the finished production, having said:
"There are so many things that end up getting cut because of the greater good, because of the rhythm of the sequence or the need to get on with it, [or] a sense of redundancy. You don’t know any of these things when you’re making the movie, of course. It was sometimes after months of working on something that you realize finally you just don’t need it."
Check out the latest images from the forthcoming deleted scenes below:
It's hard to find fault with Abrams for wanting to get rid of certain moments of filmed action for the sake of time and narrative fluidity, though it will undoubtedly be fun for certain super-fans to begin compiling new cuts of The Force Awakens that include said deleted material in its entirety. And by the looks of things, some of these scenes might be just as good as some of the finished sequences actually included in the theatrical release, making their imminent release on Blu-ray just one more reason to celebrate the making of The Force Awakens.
NEXT: The Force Awakens Official Blu-ray Details
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens will be released on Blu-ray April 5th, 2016; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will see theatrical release in the U.S. on December 16th, 2016, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII on December 15th, 2017, and the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25th, 2018. Star Wars: Episode IX is expected to reach theaters in 2019, followed by the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.
Source: EW