The force won’t officially awaken until December, but Star Wars fans have been given an early glimpse with the debut of a spooky new teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

As well as the wreckage of a star destroyer, X-Wing battles, the Millennium Falcon in action, and a first look at Harrison Ford as Han Solo, we’re also treated to a key line.

“Chewie, we’re home,” Solo says at the close of the brief teaser, prompting the first audience to see it to scream and applaud.

Hans Solo and Chewie in the Star Wars trailer.
(Star Wars/Screenshot)

Die-hard fans packed the main hall at the Anaheim Convention Centre for the Star Wars Celebration event, donning costumes and wielding light sabers as they watched director JJ Abrams and producer and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy kick off the four-day event.

J.J. Abrams signs autographs for fans on the Cantina set at Star Wars Celebration: The Ultimate Fan Experience.
(Richard Shotwell/AP)

Abrams, who is finishing the edit of the film, spoke about his love for the series and his insistence on keeping sets for the new episode as real as possible, even in the age of computer-generated images.

“The thing that struck me … is how real you knew and felt Star Wars was when you first saw ‘A New Hope,’” he said. “You want it to be legitimate. You want it to be authentic. Building as much as we could was really the mandate.”

The planet Jakku in Star Wars.
(Star Wars/Screenshot)

He also revealed that the desert landscape seen in both teasers was the planet Jakku, not Tatooine as seen in other episodes. Filming took place in Abu Dhabi to get the “John Ford landscapes” – a reference to the renowned director of Westerns.

It’s “a Western and a fairy tale as much as anything else,” Abrams said of The Force Awakens.

Daisy Ridley's character Rey.
(Star Wars/Screenshot)

Newcomer Daisy Ridley said her character Rey is a scavenger who is completely self-sufficient and solitary until she meets another character. In the new teaser, viewers see Rey meeting Finn, the character played by Boyega, who wears a storm trooper suit in the clip and is in unspecified immediate danger.

Oscar Isaac plays an X-Wing pilot in Star Wars.
(Star Wars/Screenshot)

Oscar Isaac said his character Poe Dameron, an X-Wing pilot, “is the best freaking pilot in the whole galaxy”.

James Allen, 22, of Suffolk, travelled to the event and marvelled over the atmosphere – and the surprise of getting to see the new cast.

“The footage showed us everything we need to know about the film’s vision, but nothing about what the film is actually about,” Allen said. “It was a very well-made trailer and worth the 24-hour wait.”