20 THINGS ABOUT THE NEW STAR WARS

By Rafer Guzman

Newsday

If you thought the pre-release buzz about superhero movies was out of control, just put your ear to the Internet these days.

That roaring sound is the online chatter over “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Episode VII in George Lucas’ iconic franchise – and the first film since 2005 – has sent fans on a scavenger hunt for every scrap of information they can find, from the name of new heroine Rey’s home planet to the color of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber.

Other details and bigger surprises will be revealed when the film arrives in theaters tonight. For now, here are 20 things we know so far about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Is that because one might be a Skywalker, a Solo or something else surprising? “It is completely intentional that their last names aren’t public record,” Abrams said.

Indie film fans know Johnson as the writer-director of such offbeat movies as the time-travel thriller “Looper.” Johnson recently tweeted a storyboard drawing of a Jedi fighting a dog in a canoe.

The United Kingdom release date was bumped up to today, and France, which has a new rule mandating that all films must open on Wednesdays, already has it. It opened on Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates, where parts of the movie were filmed.