Entertainment News – For all you Star Wars fans, this trailer will keep you wanting more until the new Star Wars hits the big screen.
The Force is that much closer to being with us.
The hotly anticipated trailer for the seventh installment of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” arrived Thursday, when director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm executive Kathleen Kennedy unleashed it on the first day of the “Star Wars” Celebration event at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
“The Force is strong in my family,” intones the voice-over, likely delivered by Luke Skywalker, played by original “Star Wars” cast member Mark Hamill. “My father has it. I have it. My sister has it. You have that power, too.”
Clocking in at just under two minutes, the new teaser is full of goodies. In addition to clips of first-time “Star Wars” cast members Oscar Isaac, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley — who appeared at the convention — there’s a cameo by Harrison Ford as Han Solo, who appears beside beloved Chewbacca.
“Chewie, we’re home,” Solo says, sparking nerd cheers around the world.
And if headgear, unto itself, were ever the kind of thing to inspire awe, Darth Vader’s destroyed helmet definitely does the trick.
Before Abrams and Kennedy revealed the new video, panel moderator Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly asked Abrams — who also co-wrote and produced the film — how the movie will please every last “Star Wars” fan.
“Well, we just will,” said Abrams, earning a rousing round of applause in the convention center. “Here’s the thing: Obviously, as they say, you can’t please everybody, though we are trying very hard to do just that.”
Hamill, who joined Carrie Fisher and other original cast members for a segment of the panel discussion, thanked fans for their support through the years.
“You’re more than just fans,” he said. “You’re family.”
Abrams also updated fans on the condition of Ford, who’s recovering after crash-landing his airplane in March. “He’s doing great,” Abrams said. “I had respect for him all my life, but I’ve never had more respect for a guy until I saw how he landed that plane. That was an amazing thing that he did. He was more of a hero in that move than, I think, all of the movies he’s been in.”
An earlier “Star Wars” teaser-trailer took the Internet by storm in November, when frenzied fans obsessed over a one-minute, 39-second video montage of quick cuts and an ominous voice-over: “There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?”
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is scheduled to arrive in theaters in December.
Follow TODAY.com writer Chris Serico
