The Force has awakened!
In a galaxy where the release date for the new Star Wars movie is far, far away . . . its trailer finally debuted Friday after weeks of anticipation.
Grown men cried, celebrities blew a gasket — and die-hard New York fans gushed like schoolgirls at a Justin Bieber concert.
“The trailer was so amazing . . . I think it’s going to be the greatest movie ever made,” Bobby Torres, 32, of Glendale, Queens, said at Midtown Comics in Times Square on Friday. “I can’t wait to see it. It’s going to be a whole year filled with anticipation.”
“Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens” isn’t slated to be in theaters until Dec. 18, 2015, but director J.J. Abrams offered fans an exhilarating 88-second sneak peek on Friday.
It offered glimpses of X-wing fighters, stormtroopers and even a brief appearance by the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy: the Millennium Falcon.
“I loved the last part of the trailer, seeing the Millennium Falcon . . . It really gave me goosebumps,” gushed fan Tony Rodriguez, 44, of Yorkville, Manhattan. “I really think it’s going to be great. It’s exciting to have the original cast members in it like Harrison Ford. I’m very optimistic that it will be a good movie.”
The Internet exploded with excitement after the teaser was released, sending the hashtag #TheForceAwakens skyrocketing on Twitter.
Another fan, “jeanneofsnark,” gushed on Reddit, “Apparently all I’ve wanted for the past decade is to see just 5 new seconds of the Millennium Falcon flying around with the Star Wars theme song playing in the background . . and I only just now realized it.”
“Excuse me while I cry and rewatch this obsessively,” she said.
Another enthusiastic Reddit user wrote: “As a grown ass man . . . this put tears in my eyes.”
Even stars could barely contain their excitement.
Among the teaser’s revelations were a new lightsaber fitted with two additional laser blades at the hilt along with a glimpse of a mysterious villain.
The first look also revealed a single-person landspeeder and a never-before-seen droid, a ball-shaped robot that zoomed across the screen.
“That little soccer droid is pimpin,” Reddit user “Skyhooks” wrote.
Others poked fun, insisting the design was not the droid they were hoping for.
“Pretty sure I saw a woman riding a giant biscuit in that Star Wars trailer,” tweeted @palinode a k a Aidan Morgan.
But most fans’ reactions stayed away from the dark side.
“Forget Kim Kardashian’s backside,” Gary Buchanan, @Gary_Jerry, tweeted. “If anything breaks the internet, I think this should be it.”
Cast members who appeared in the original Star Wars trilogy, including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, will appear in the new movie.
It also stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Oscar Isaac and several other up-and-coming actors.
It features John Williams’ signature “Star Wars” theme and was shot on 35 millimeter film.
Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of other Star Wars flicks, including “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.”
That gives some fans confidence in the new movie.
“It looks awesome,” said Alfredo Sindona, 26, of Harlem, who has loved the Star Wars franchise since he was 13. “The graphics are amazing. The lightsaber is different, which is really cool.The effects look amazing.”
“I’m very excited to see it but also a little scared because ‘Star Wars’ is really the perfect story.”