Star Wars: Force Awakens gets world premiere
The hotly-anticipated latest addition in the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens, has had its world premiere in Los Angeles.
Stars from the original series Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were joined by newcomers like John Boyega and Daisy Ridley at the event.
Security was tight, with a giant tent shrouding the red carpet.
The plot of the film remains a closely-guarded secret and a media embargo on reviews is in place until Wednesday.
Although some reviewers did comment briefly on Twitter.
Adam B Vary, senior film reporter for Buzzfeed, tweeted: "Rest easy: #TheForceAwakens is 100% #StarWars."
LA Times film writer, Rebecca Keegan, wrote: "Story, characters, design, humour - #StarWars fans, this is the movie you're looking for."
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According to the Matthew Belloni, executive editor at Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, one man was forcibly removed from the premiere.
Fans had been camping out for days outside the TCL Chinese Theatre, which along with other LA venues screened the seventh Star Wars instalment.
More than 150 of them were lining up to get tickets for the first public screenings of Episode VII when it opens in the US on Thursday but they got a surprise when they were all invited into one of the three cinemas showing the premiere.
But two fans, Australians Caroline Ritter and Andrew Porters, turned down the offer because they are getting married on the forecourt of Hollywood Boulevard on Thursday and will be watching the film with their friends and family afterwards.
Mr Porters said: "They invited us in. We declined. It's part of our wedding reception with friends so we passed to see it on Thursday. It was hard but it is the right decision."
Ms Ritter will walk down the makeshift aisle in a white dress accompanied by Darth Vader, while Mr Porters will wear a traditional suit but with a Stormtrooper bow tie and braces.
Stormtroopers joined robots C-3PO and R2D2 on the red carpet as the human stars arrived at Tuesday's world premiere.
Reuters
"Now we have to live up to what the first films delivered,'' said Harrison Ford, who is returning to his role as Han Solo.
Star Wars' creator George Lucas said of the new entry in the series "it's a film about families and what one generation leaves behind another generation has to deal with".
On the red carpet with Lizo Mzimba, BBC News
Fans, many in costume, camped out for days for the chance to see the stars on the red carpet for what is probably the most eagerly awaited film of the decade.
The size and scale are a reflection of the enduring popularity of this sci-fi saga, and of the anticipation surrounding this latest instalment.
The red carpet here is around half a mile long, under a huge marquee which stretches the length of four blocks of Hollywood Boulevard.
The world premiere itself has taken over three different cinemas, and 4,000 guests are expected. Security has been tight with everyone entering the area around the event subject to bag searches and metal detectors.
There is a huge degree of excitement surrounding what is rivalling the Oscars as the film event of the year.
Disney, the studio behind the film, is hoping this will all give this new Star Wars movie a stellar launch. They paid more than $4bn (£2.6bn) for the rights to the franchise.
The TCL Chinese Theatre - formerly known as Grauman's Chinese Theatre - hosted the premiere for the first Star Wars movie in 1977.
Invitations sent to members of the press have asked journalists not to reveal spoilers in their reviews.
The Force Awakens will have its UK premiere in London on Wednesday.
In October some cinema websites collapsed under the weight of demand for tickets.
Reuters
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