'Star Wars' Fans Light Up The Internet As New Trailer Debuts

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The trailer for the new "Star Wars" movie is out. And if somehow you have managed to avoid it, here's a little summary. It's got good old-fashioned TIE fighters, light sabers, the Millennium Falcon and also some new faces.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS")

JOHN BOYEGA: (As Finn) I was raised to do one thing, but I've got nothing to fight for.

SHAPIRO: Expectations are strong with this one. NPR's Andrew Limbong has been keeping tabs on "The Force Awakens."

ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: Of course, people are psyched about the new "Star Wars" trailer - it's "Star Wars" - but how psyched? Immediately after it aired, the Internet dedicated itself to breaking down the trailer frame by frame.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS")

ADAM DRIVER: (As Kylo Ren) Nothing will stand in our way.

LIMBONG: Like, what exactly is Kylo Ren talking about here?

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS")

DRIVER: (As Kylo Ren) I will finish what you started.

LIMBONG: And who is Kylo Ren? The trailer aired last night during "Monday Night Football" on ESPN. ESPN in owned by Disney and so is Lucasfilm. Tickets went on sale after the trailer aired and ticket sites like Fandango crashed. But that didn't stop Brian Linder.

BRIAN LINDER: I did buy tickets after some drama.

LIMBONG: He's a programming manager for Wikia - essentially Wikipedia for different fan bases - "Star Wars" included. And he's also just a big "Star Wars" fan.

LINDER: I got tickets for opening night for me and my dad, who is the one who took me to see my first "Star Wars" movie, "Return Of The Jedi," in 1983. And then my family and I will watch it at least a couple more times that weekend.

LIMBONG: That multigenerational bridge has helped other nostalgia franchises - think "Jurassic World." That movie currently holds a couple big records, including the biggest opening weekend, not to mention it is the fastest movie to hit the $1 billion mark. "Star Wars' opens on December 18, and Fandango said it's already sold eight times the amount of first-day tickets as the previous record holder, "The Hunger Games." Though that's no indication it'll be better than "The Phantom Menace." Andrew Limbong, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.