'Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens' Trailer & Plot: BB-8 Meaning Revealed; Gugu Mbatha-Raw Set To Join Next Spin-Off [Rumors]

Fans will soon see the galaxy far, far away  as  director J.J. Abrams brings us "Stars Wars 7: The Force Awakens." Since the film was announced, many wonder the significance of the name BB-8 in the upcoming film.

In the original "Star Wars" films creator George Lucas brought a mischievous robot in R2-D2. R2-D2 is a major character in the blockbuster series. According to The Week, it was named in homage to the film "American Graffiti" directed and written by Lucas.

When Abrams took over the sci-fi franchise fans were wondering how Abrams came up with name BB-8 for its new droid who is featured prominently in the trailers of "Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens." Yes, many are very interested where Abram took the said name.

According to Star Wars7 News.com, there are chances that BB-8 is a reference to the popular American hip hop band Beastie Boys of whom Abrams is a fan. In fact, Abrams used the band's song "Sabotage" in his first "Star Trek" film.

The use of the said musical springs controversy because it was uncommon for the franchise to use popular songs. However, it was later revealed that the director used the song probably as a nod to William Shatner, who had a difficulty in pronouncing the word "sabotage."

 In an interview with Abrams earlier, he admitted that he came up with the name BB-8 himself for the droid in "Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens" due to its round and bouncy look.            

"I named him BB-8 because it was almost onomatopoeia. It was sort of how he looked to me, with the 8, obviously, and then the two B's," Abrams said.

It's easy to say that BB is for Beastie Boys, but how about 8? Well, according to the report the Beastie Boys released a total of 8 albums in their whole career  from 1986 to 2011. Well, that seems to be a logical explanation, very interesting!

Meanwhile, Collider confirmed that the "Beyond the Lights" star Gugu Mbatha-Raw will be joining the cast of "Star Wars: Episode 8." However, no details about her role can be confirmed at the time. The publication also stressed that nothing is official until Disney announces it but they are confident with the report.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is expected to be 2015's highest grossing film since it released its first trailer November last year. At the same time Abram's film is also predicted to grab the world record for the biggest global box-office weekend, which is currently held by "Jurassic World," The Guardian  reports.

"Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens" will premiere on Dec. 18. On the other hand, "Star Wars: Episode 8" is slated for a 2017 release.