Video: "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" trailer

There’s no opening scroll in the clip but this’ll do:

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Funny, and it implies an interesting question: How many bad “Star Wars” films would America need to endure before the franchise’s box office started to suffer? There’s no number, right? J.J. Abrams could fart out three or four “Phantom Menace” style snoozers and the YouTube trailer for “Star Wars XI: The Color of Money” will still get 20 million views on its first day. That’s the ultimate measure of the original trilogy’s cultural influence — not the cash each sequel generates (Marvel movies are insta-blockbusters too) but the intense excitement each new flick generates across generations. It’d be like people sleeping outside the record store the night before release day to buy Paul McCartney’s latest album circa 2000.

One potentially ominous note: There’s a lot here that’s familiar. Nothing wrong with that in a marketing tool like a trailer — nostalgia’s the big lure for older viewers, especially with the original cast returning — but I hope they don’t overdo it. That could be … unfortunate.

By the way, the “international trailer” that appeared online a few days ago is a big ol’ fake. But a really good one!

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