The second teaser – the first one generated more than 60 million views in its first week online in November – opens with a vista on a desert planet (no, it’s not Tattooine). There are images of an Imperial Star Destroyer crashed into a giant sand dune, a formation of X-wing Starfighter jets zooming by and some new villains. Then the Millennium Falcon takes a fiery spin into the ruins of a bigger ship.
After a moment of blackness, Han Solo appears with Chewbacca. “Chewie,” he says. “We’re home.”
The new teaser was unveiled at the opening presentation of “Star Wars” Celebration, a biennial fan gathering that is expected to attract roughly 45,000 people over four days here. The presentation was live-streamed on StarWars.com. Lucasfilm also streamed the hourlong session to theaters in 23 countries, including China.
Wearing a “Star Wars” baseball cap, J.J. Abrams, the director of “The Force Awakens,” kicked off the presentation, receiving a prolonged standing ovation. Kathleen Kennedy, wearing a black “Star Wars” T-shirt under a white jacket, started by putting in a plug for the exclusive merchandise on sale outside the doors.
The pair played coy with “The Force Awakens” plot points, but wowed the crowd with a guest appearance by BB8, a ball-shaped rolling droid that made its debut in the teaser trailer. Also appearing were seven cast members – three new ones, four weathered veterans – and 10 Stormtroopers with slightly modernized costumes. (“The Force Awakens” takes place a few decades after “Return of the Jedi.”)
“The buns are tired now,” Carrie Fisher, a k a Princess Leia, said when asked if she would sport her character’s famous circular hairstyle in the coming movie. “No bikini, either,” she added, another inside joke from the initial trilogy that got a big laugh.
The scene outside the Anaheim Convention Center on Thursday morning was nothing short of mayhem, as thousands of mostly adult fans clamored to get inside. A quartet of men dressed in Jedi capes performed a synchronized dance number as squads of Stormtroopers patrolled in head-to-toe white plastic.
As fans began filing into the Anaheim Convention Center’s arena at 9 a.m., a D.J. played thundering snippets of 1990s pop — Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes the Hotstepper,” “Jump” by Kriss Kross – mixed with the “Star Wars” score. “You’re around family, so just let it go,” the D.J. shouted, encouraging fans to wave their toy lightsabers in the air. They gladly did.