Cool Stuff: Fandango's 'Star Wars' Posters, Inspired By Episodes IV-VII

With the debut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens just two and a half weeks away (!!!), now seems like as good a time as any to look back at the films that got us here. Our friends at Fandango have commissioned a series of posters inspired by each of the Star Wars films, by various artists from all over the web. We're excited to help premiere Episode IV: A New Hope by Chito Arellano, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back by Ale Giorgini, and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi by Brian Miller, topped off by Episode VII: The Force Awakens by Jeff Delgado. Check 'em all out after the jump. 

Click through our gallery of Star Wars posters below:

The artists' styles couldn't be more different, but they're all united by a shared love of Star Wars. Which is kind of the great thing about Star Wars — it seems to bring everyone together. It's rare to find a pop cultural institution that strikes such a strong chord with such a wide variety of people.

Each of the artists offered a statement on what the franchise means to them. Here's Arellano, whose A New Hope poster we previously featured here:

Star Wars is the first movie I can recall ever seeing. I was only a few years old when I first moved to the United States in 1976. The following year George Lucas' Star Wars: A New Hope released in theaters. My parents took my older brother and I to watch the film. Though I was too young follow the story exactly, I remember a boy got a lightsaber and went on an adventure in space. I went home that night with lightsaber in hand (that my parents bought me) trying reenact the lightsaber duel with my brother in our apartment living room. Today I still feel the same magic when I rewatch A New Hope for the thousandth time. I'm still that kid with a lightsaber ready to go on an adventure in a galaxy far, far away.

And here's Giorgini, whose work we've showcased on /Film many times before.

Watching one of the first three Star Wars episodes it's like jumping back into my childhood, that's the magic of the movies: They bring you somewhere else in space and time. Empire Strikes Back is my favorite film. I remember when it was Christmas and I was a child I used to play with the paper box of Pandoro, a typical Italian Christmas cake. The box looks like Darth's helmet. I was just waiting for that cake to take the box, cut two holes for the eyes, wear it to cover my head and walking through my parents house saying, "Luke... kffff... I'm your father." That was one of the very first sentences I learned in English.

Miller, whose Star Wars art we've admired in the past, explains his piece:

One of the aspects of Return of the Jedi I am always drawn to is the duality of the film. We have the story of the Rebels versus the Empire as well as the emotional story of Darth Vader's internal struggle between the light and dark side of his soul. I wanted to depict that duality in my Return of the Jedi illustration for Fandango so I chose to divide the poster into two scenes. One depicts Darth Vader battling for the approval of the Emperor or the love of his son. The second shows the external conflict of the Empire being defeated by the Rebels and the Ewoks who inhabit the forest moon of Endor. Yub-Nub!

You can see the rest of the pieces (Episode I: The Phantom Menace by Jerome Lu, Episode II: Attack of the Clones by Jeff Welborn, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith by Sket One) at Fandango.