Star Wars Fanatics Gather For 'Force Friday'

Shops around the UK opened at midnight for the launch of the new film's merchandise tie-in event.

Some fans dressed as characters from the films while they queued

Star Wars fanatics have queued through the night to be among the first to get their hands on toys from the new film in the series.

Some 300 fans, some dressed as characters from the films, waited patiently outside UK shops which opened at midnight for the launch of the merchandise tie-in for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Toys on sale include action figures, toy lightsabers and fancy dress costumes - in an event that has been dubbed "Force Friday".

Shoppers enter the Disney store in London for the midnight sale

The film sees original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Peter Mayhew return as Hans Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Chewbacca.
James Burns, 44, who co-runs the Jedi News fan website, explained his fascination with the films as he queued outside London's Disney store.

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"I was six years old, my aunt took me to a cinema in Southend - I remember it vividly - and the whole thing just changed my life," he said.
"Star Wars is the classic story of good versus evil, with good overcoming evil.
"I think that's the way a lot of us want to live our lives, we're always trying to be good to each other and try to see the best we can in everybody. The community of Star Wars fans all over the world takes that on board.
"I can go anywhere in the world now and find a bunch of like-minded Star Wars fans and strike up a conversation as if I've known them all my life."

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Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4bn (£2.6bn) in October 2012, adding the legendary Star Wars franchise to its stable of lucrative characters.
This is Disney's first of three Star Wars instalments as it expands the universe originally devised by George Lucas in the 1970s.
The film will be released in the UK on 18 December.