The movie franchise whose seventh episode was released in 2015 as The Force Awakens was Star Wars. The film’s full title is Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.
Directed by J. J. Abrams, the film was released in the United States on December 18, 2015. It begins a sequel trilogy set roughly 30 years after Return of the Jedi and introduces new central characters including Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren.
The story also brought back original-trilogy figures Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker. Its plot centers on the Resistance’s search for the missing Luke and the First Order’s attempt to destroy its opponents using Starkiller Base.
The Force Awakens was the seventh numbered episode in the Skywalker Saga, but it was not the seventh Star Wars film released overall. Earlier standalone films and later spin-offs, such as Rogue One, use different positions in the broader franchise. The sequel trilogy continued with The Last Jedi in 2017 and ended with The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.