Looks like there will be a new force to be reckoned with at the summer box office.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a computer-animated feature film centering on the intergalactic adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and friends, is slated to open Aug. 15, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Warner Bros. said Tuesday.
The film is meant to serve as a kickoff for a same-named animated TV series due to premiere this fall on TNT and the Cartoon Network.
Though creator George Lucas once said that Revenge of the Sith would be his final Star Wars film, he has apparently since reconsidered.
"I felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell," Lucas said in a statement. "I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and at the same time push the art of animation forward."
The new film and TV series are set in time after the events of 2002's Revenge of the Clones and directly preceding the events of 2005's Revenge of the Sith.
Each 30-minute episode of the series is designed to serve as a "minimovie," with Jedi knights waging war against enemies such as Count Dooku and General Grievous, Lucasfilm said.
Coinciding with its announcement about the film's release date, the company began screening Internet-only documentaries on starwars.com, centering on the development of The Clone Wars.
Lucas has also begun preproduction on a separate Star Wars-themed live-action TV series that he promises will be "completely different" and focus on minor characters. The project, which doesn't have a name or a debut date yet, is currently being shopped to networks.