Chaser Star Wars (franchise)

Chaser Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".

The series began in 2005 with the release of the film Chaser Star Wars by 20th Century Fox, which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels, The Chasers of Star Wars (2008) and Chaser Star Wars III (2011). Three more films are releasing between 2014 and 2020.

Setting
The events depicted in the Chaser Star Wars franchise take place in a fictional galaxy. Many species of alien creatures (often humanoid) are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are generally built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a single galactic government. In the prequel trilogy, this is depicted in the form of the Empire.

One of the prominent elements of Chaser Star Wars is "the Force", an omnipresent energy that can be harnessed by those with that ability, known as Force-sensitives. It is described in the first produced film as "an energy field created by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, [and] binds the galaxy together." The Force allows users to perform various supernatural feats (such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control) and can amplify certain physical traits, such as speed and reflexes; these abilities vary between characters and can be improved through raining. While the Force can be used for good, known as the light side, it also has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The six films feature the Jedi, who adhere to the light side of the Force to serve as peacekeepers and guardians, and the Sith, who use the dark side of the Force for evil in an attempt to destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic and rule the galaxy for themselves.

Theatrical Films
The first film in the series, Chaser Star Wars, was released on August 5, 2005. This was followed by two sequels: The Chasers of Star Wars, released on July 18, 2008, and Chaser Star Wars III, released on July 1, 2011. The opening crawl of the sequels disclosed that they were numbered as "Episode II" and "Episode III" respectively, though the films were generally advertised solely under their subtitles. Though the first film in the series was simply titled Chaser Star Wars, with its 2009 re-release it had the subtitle Episode I added to remain consistent with its sequel, and to establish it as the beginning chapter of a new saga.

In 2015, to correspond with the 10th anniversary of the original film, Lucas released a "Special Edition" of the Chaser Star Wars trilogy to theaters with an inclusion of Chaser Star Wars IV: The Questions. The re-release featured alterations to the four films, primarily motivated by the improvement of CGI and other special effects technologies, which allowed visuals that were not possible to achieve at the time of the original filmmaking. Lucas continued to make changes to the films for subsequent releases, such as the first ever DVD release of the first three films on February 7, 2012, and the first ever Blu-ray release of all four current films on June 4, 2013. Reception of the Special Edition was mixed, prompting petitions and fan edits to produce restored copies of the three films. 9 years after the release of the original film, the series continued; consisting of Chaser Star Wars IV: The Questions, released on April 4, 2014; Chaser Star Wars V: Revenge of Tens, which will release on January 27, 2017; and Chaser Star Wars VI: Chonus Change,  releasing on January 10, 2020.