Entertainment

Star Wars: The Last Jedi drops trailer during NFL halftime

The trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi debuted in dramatic fashion during Monday Night Football halftime.

Latest instalment in venerable franchise to be released in mid-December

Stormtroopers march down the field during the halftime of an NFL football game between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings on Monday as the trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi debuted during Monday Night Football halftime. (Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press)

The trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi debuted in dramatic fashion during Monday Night Football halftime.

Stormtroopers marched onto Chicago's Soldier Field and pyrotechnics fired as the preview played onscreen.

The clip featured all the latest characters from the Star Wars universe. Daisy Ridley's Rey is practising her lightsaber skills and questioning her destiny, and it appears Adam Driver's Kylo Ren is prepared to lend her a hand. John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher also appear in the trailer, as does Chewbacca and a new bird-like creature known as a Porg.

The Last Jedi is the latest instalment in the Star Wars franchise since the Disney reboot that began with 2015's The Force Awakens. It's set to hit theaters Dec. 15.