LOS ANGELES — The
VIP audience at "The Force Awakens" world premiere began cheering
from the moment the movie's first words appeared on screen, with special
enthusiasm for the return of Han Solo and Chewbacca after a 32-year hiatus.
The crowd at the TCL
Chinese Theatre in Hollywood also greeted franchise newcomers with excitement,
including Gwendoline Christie's Captain Phasma and Daisy Ridley's Rey, and
loudly gasped at the film's various twists and turns.
After the premiere's
showings at three separate theaters Monday night, audiences spilled out into an
after-party held inside a giant tent erected along four blocks of Hollywood
Boulevard. They snapped photos with Stormtroopers, lined up to build their own
droid toys and noshed on salmon and short ribs.
Director J.J. Abrams'
vision for the first new live-action "Star Wars" film in a decade met
with wholehearted approval from many of the celebrity guests.
"I loved it,"
actor-director Zach Braff told The Associated Press immediately after the
premiere. "I thought J.J. did an amazing job. My favorite part was just
seeing the camaraderie between the veteran and the new cast members."
"The Force
Awakens" mixes old-school characters, such as Harrison Ford's Han Solo and
Carrie Fisher's Leia Organa, with a new cast that includes John Boyega, Adam
Driver and the spherical droid BB-8.
Patton Oswalt said
"The Force Awakens" represented a return to what made him fall in
love with "Star Wars" in the first place.
"It was a lot of
fun," the actor-comedian said after watching the film inside the TCL
Chinese Theatre. "I had the same feeling as when I would watch these films
as a kid."
Disney screened
"The Force Awakens" simultaneously at three Hollywood venues, with
the cast and crew watching the film together inside the adjacent Dolby Theatre.
"It can't be said
enough — not nearly enough — that none of us would be here tonight without the
miraculous creation of one man," Abrams told the crowd before the film.
"George Lucas, from the bottom of my heart, and behalf of everyone
involved with 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,' thank you, sir."
"The Force
Awakens" will be released publicly Friday, with some box-office analysts
expecting it to smash sales records. "The Force Awakens" has already
broken presale ticket records, and many fans are eager to see the reunion of
original trilogy characters last seen in 1983's "Return of the Jedi."
The premiere's red
carpet kicked off Monday with Stormtroopers marching and droids rolling past
cameras before the film's stars arrived. John Williams' soaring score played in
the massive opaque tent spanning four blocks in Hollywood.
While most stars opted
for chic red carpet attire, Joseph Gordon-Levitt showed up dressed as Yoda and
actor-comedian Rainn Wilson dressed as a Jedi.
The celebration melded
classic "Star Wars" mythology with the new generation that will carry
the weight of two more sequels, spin-offs, video games, comic books, toys and
other merchandise.
At one point on the red
carpet, Fisher turned the microphone on her co-star, Oscar Isaac, and conducted
an interview broadcast on StarWars.com that included her dropping an expletive.
Ford reflected on the
impact of the film and the role that catapulted him to superstardom.
"Well, in the '70s
nobody knew what to anticipate," said Ford. "Nobody had ever seen
anything like it. Now we have to live up to what the first films
delivered."
Abrams and "Star
Wars" creator Lucas posed together for photos, and both men took time to
chat with fans — some dressed as X-Wing pilots and others as new "Force
Awakens" characters — before heading inside.
For those without
tickets to the premiere, the most they could see was the outside of the tent.
"We're really
disappointed because we are big 'Star Wars' fans, and we were hoping to at least
see a little of the celebrities," said Natalie Arnet, a tourist from
Paris, who attempted to catch of glimpse of attendees from behind a barricade
with her family.
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