'Star Wars: The Force Awakens': Inside the Big Hollywood Premiere
— -- In a red carpet event for the ages, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher and the rest of the cast of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" took over some four blocks of Hollywood Monday night for the movie premiere and after-party.
"It's about time," star John Boyega said to ABC News. "We've been working on this film. We struggled. I auditioned for seven months. Damn right we should have a big-a** frickin' premiere. Damn frickin' right!"
Anthony Daniels, who plays persnickety protocol droid C-3PO in the movie series, noted the event was nothing like the launch of the 1977 original.
"I don't think we really had one. You see, “Star Wars,” when it opened, there was no budget for advertising or anything; it was minimal. And what happened was the few people who went out to see it ran out of the theater, grabbed their friends, went back. ... It just went viral on its own," he said.
Ridley, another one of the series’ new faces, said she was so nervous to see what the throngs of fans on hand had to say about the movie, and her character, Rey. "It's crazy! What if they don't like me? Imagine they're like, 'Boo! Rey!' I'm like, 'I'll go now.’"
Mark Hamill, who reprises his original trilogy role of Jedi Luke Skywalker, didn't explain why his character wasn't in the movie's posters, or why he was deliberately kept away from many promotional appearances. "Why? Well, you'll find out in a couple of hours. Why ruin it now?"
He joked before the show started. "I've gone this long," he said of the legally mandated vow of silence. "It's terrible. It's been torture."
As for the movie itself? "I don't think people are going to be disappointed," Harrison Ford tells ABC News. "The movie's good ... I'm really excited to get this movie out there for the audience, and see how they feel about it -- and have a nice long sleep."
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will officially be released Friday by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.
