‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Official Trailer Released During ‘Monday Night Football’ [Video]
The number of people that tuned into the Giants vs. Eagles game during Monday Night Football would have been impressive if they were there to see the game. But a lot of the viewers were actually tuning in just to see the official Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, which debuted during halftime.
Just moments after its release, it went online, and less than 18 hours later, it was well on its way to 20 million views.
The trailer, just two minutes and 35 seconds long, has fans captivated and teeming with speculation. It looks as if Rey (the character that seems to be mimicking Leia in deed and appearance) will be the movie’s main heroine, but there has also been speculation that one of the main characters will die in the end.
The trailer shows that the seventh installment of the Star Wars saga likely won’t be much different as far as plot structure as the other films. The Force will be strong, characters will fight a greater evil, and droids will serve as comic relief.
It even showed Han Solo and Leia, played by the original actors Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. There’s still no sign of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, but fans haven’t given up hope yet that he’ll make a cameo sometime before the film ends.
Watch the trailer in all its glory below.
This film takes off thirty years after the events of the previous installments, which is pretty close to real time for Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, who finished filming their last Star Wars film in 1983, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Along with the new trailer came an opening of ticket sales for the December 18 debut, and fans all over the world tried to work their way into the overcrowded servers in an attempt to buy tickets at their local theaters before they were sold out. Naturally, millions were disappointed when the websites were down because of the high volume of people, and the tickets sold out in minutes.
That time #TheForceAwakens broke the internet. pic.twitter.com/snbWnl2yc6
— Dustin Sandoval (@DustinMSandoval) October 20, 2015
Social media has been bursting with the trailer’s release, beginning with director J.J. Abrams sending a message to fans through Twitter, saying, “We cannot wait to share the trailer with ya tonight. I don’t care if you’re black, white, brown, Jawa, Wookiee, Jedi or Sith. I just hope you like it! Best, JJ.”
#TheForceAwakens #MNF pic.twitter.com/yw6XvlpJNe
— Bad Robot (@bad_robot) October 20, 2015
Fans have also been sharing their exultant reactions at the release of the trailer.
What? Who gets emotional over a movie trailer? (sniff) #TheForceAwakens
— Clark Gregg (@clarkgregg) October 20, 2015
Wow! Who just saw that trailer? Yikes! Amazing. #TheForceAwakens
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) October 20, 2015
I'm 46 and I have goosebumps. And I ain't ashamed. #TheForceAwakens
— Corby Davidson (@corbydavidson) October 20, 2015
Needless to say, everybody is pretty excited about the December release. This has by far been one of the most drawn out and long-awaited movie trailer reveals in history. With several teaser trailers before this, fans could finally take a deep breath when they knew a little more that was going on.
Still, the new trailer doesn’t reveal much more than the others. It gives a general, abstract idea of the plot structure, but it’s still unclear exactly who the main characters are, what the inciting incident is, or what evil force they will be fighting.
That’s the brilliant thing about this film. It doesn’t need a revealing trailer to get people excited about it. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will likely be the most watched and re-watched trailer of the year, simply because of reputation alone. The abstract Star Wars trailer will no doubt pack theaters throughout both December and January.
[Image via Laura Cavanaugh / Getty Images]
