7th ‘Star Wars’ installment zooms to American Film Institute honor

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has wasted little time getting into the awards season.

Two days after showing off its first screenings to the world, The

Force Awakens was named one of the best movies of the year by the American Film Institute on Wednesday. The seventh film in the franchise opens Friday.

The official selections of the AFI Awards 2015, celebrating the year’s outstanding achievements in the art of the moving image, included nine other films: The Big

Short, Bridge of Spies, Carol, Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Room, Spotlight and Straight Outta Compton.

AFI TV Programs of the Year: The Americans, Better Call Saul, Black-ish, Empire, Fargo, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Master of None, Mr. Robot and Unreal. In addition to those 20 honorees, AFI recognized Mad Men, which ended its run on AMC this year, with an AFI Special Award acknowledging its “landmark contributions to America’s cultural legacy” across nine years. In the history of the AFI Awards, no other TV program has earned as many honors as Mad Men.

AFI Award selections are made through a jury process consisting of trustees, scholars, and film and television artists and critics.

“This is the goal of AFI Awards — to bring together our community as colleagues, not competitors, and to shine a proper light on their collective efforts to entertain and enlighten the world,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO, in a statement.

Honorees will gather at the annual AFI Awards private luncheon Jan. 8 in Los Angeles.