The two-and-a-half minute trailer, which debuted during halftime of ESPN’s National Football League game, quickly attracted more than 17,000 tweets per minute, according to Twitter. It was viewed on YouTube more than 220,000 times within the first 20 minutes.
Tickets for the film’s US release on 18 December went on pre-sale at the same time as the trailer, with US ticket seller Fandango crashing temporarily.
The trailer, which featured franchise veterans Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher alongside a cast of newcomers, kicked off with lead character Rey (Daisy Ridley) as a scavenger presumed to be the daughter of Princess Leia (Fisher) and Han Solo (Ford).
