The Force Awakens writer says Star Wars is NOT sci-fi

After co-writing The Force Awakens, Lawrence Kasdan has arrived at the surprising conclusion that Star Wars is not part of the sci-fi genre. While many would definitely describe the saga as a sci-fi, or at a push fantasy, Kasdan believes the property defies categorisation. Here's what he thinks...

"Star Wars is its own genre," he told Wired. "It's not really science fiction. It's really something on its own, fantasy and myth and science fiction and Flash Gordon and Akira Kurosawa all mixed up together. For that reason, like all genre it can hold a million different kinds of artists and stories... It can be anything you want it to be."

Kasdan also addressed the hopes that both he and director JJ Abrams had for the long-awaited sequel: "The feeling we wanted was from the first trilogy, which was, it’s fun, it’s delightful." He added: "You take all of JJ's gifts, the dynamism of his camera and his sense of humor and feeling of momentum, his ideas of story, and I feel like we were able to achieve that delight. It's an unusual feeling even for me. When I look at the movie, I can't resist it. It just tickles me." The question is, will it tickle you?

Directed by JJ Abrams and starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac and Gwendoline Christie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is released in UK cinemas on December 17 2015 and in the US a day later.