Meteoric reaction as new Star Wars trailer debuts

A new trailer for the hotly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been released.

The clip, which runs for nearly two-and-a-half-minutes, debuted on US television during half-time at the New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles American football game in Philadelphia overnight.

It was also released online, nearly two months before the film hits cinemas, to the delight of fans on social media.

The Force Awakens, the seventh film in the franchise, is one of the most anticipated movies of the year, with flurries of excitement accompanying each trailer launch. The second teaser trailer, which debuted in April, has more than 64 million views on YouTube to date.

High demand has seen many fans complain of websites crashing as they tried to buy advanced tickets.

Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, reprising their original roles as Han Solo and Princess Leia, appear in the clip, which also features new faces John Boyega and Daisy Ridley.

The trailer also features lightsaber battles, dogfights between TIE and X-Wing fighters and a starring role for the Millennium Falcon.

TV presenter Lizo Mzimba was among those excited about the film's release.

He tweeted: "Some lovely images in the new starwars trailer plus finally little bit of plot. And and and beautiful John Williams music."

UK cinema chains announced they would also be selling a quantity of advance tickets yesterday, though some fans complained of difficulties making a booking.

Odeon tweeted: "StarWars Fans - When booking tickets please only book in one window at a time. It will save booking errors & get you your tickets sooner!"

Vue Cinemas said: "Our StarWars tickets have been flying off the shelves at 5 past lightspeed."

The film will be released in the UK on December 18.