'Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens' Trailer Launch - What You Need To Know

UPDATE
The 'Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens' trailer has landed and it looks epic.

UPDATE ENDS

Fan fervour is at an all-time high as we count down the time to the official trailer launch today, Friday 28 November (US time), but what do we know about the first trailer?

Quite a lot it seems. Here are the most frequently asked questions about the first trailer for ‘Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens’.

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Has the 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer leaked?

No, not yet anyway. There are a few well-made fakes out there online, but none are the real deal.

When can we see the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer?

To see it on a cinema screen, you’ll need to be in North America. The first 'Star Wars 7' trailer will play in front of every film at 30 selected cinemas from Friday morning (US time) until Sunday night this weekend – click here for a full list of participating theatres.

The American East Coast will be the first to see it because of the time zone difference, so we can expect to hear fan reactions online from around 1 - 2am AU time on November 29 (damn you timezones!).

Related: How much were the original Star Wars cast paid?

When will ‘The Force Awakens’ trailer be online?

The first trailer is being released online on Friday, 28 November (US time -- remember Aussies this will be around the midnight mark for us) exclusively on iTunes (but this might be just in the US).

It's currently not clear at what time precisely, but we expect it to be online late afternoon, probably at 4am or 5am locally.

Keep an eye on the official Star Wars social media accounts for the reveal.

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How long is the 'Star Wars 7' trailer?

JJ Abrams has revealed that the first teaser trailer will be 88 seconds long - that’s just shy of 1.5 minutes if you can’t be bothered to do the maths.

What will we see in the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ trailer?

88 seconds is not a lot of time to cram much in. Considering the film only wrapped shooting recently, we expect the first trailer to be more character driven with sparse use of visual effects.

There are a number of company idents to get through at the start – Disney, LucasFilm, Bad Robot - which could use up 8-10 seconds of airtime, then there will be the film’s title and release details at the end, which could use up another 5-10 seconds, which means we're probably looking at around 70 seconds of pure film footage.

Recent reports claim that we'll hear a haunting rendition of John Williams’ The Force Theme played on panpipes, accompanied by flashing images that reveal the film’s main leads. There’s thought to be no actual dialogue from the film, and the trailer ends with the title card followed by the Millennium Falcon flying towards the screen, firing its blasters.

It's not clear whether the trailer will be shown in 3D or 2D, but it will be shown in IMAX at certain locations.

Who will we see in the ‘Star Wars 7’ trailer?

The early reports suggest we’ll see the film’s “main leads”, but as we don’t know who the cast is playing yet, it’s not clear exactly who they mean.

John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are said to be the film’s primary protagonists, so you can assume they’ll appear in the trailer, as will Adam Driver who’s thought to be playing the main villain.

We also hope to see original cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, plus Anthony Daniels (C3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), and Kenny Baker (R2-D2).

Other actors that could appear include Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max Von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’O, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, and Pip Anderson.

Rest assured, as soon as the trailer drops we’ll have it live on Yahoo Movies UK with a full comprehensive analysis.

May The Force Be With You… until Saturday morning.