"Chewie, we're home."

So declares Harrison Ford's Han Solo in a new trailer released on Thursday for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the much anticipated return of one the most celebrated movie franchises of all time.

The trailer was the highlight of the annual "Star Wars Celebration" fan convention, where thousands of fans flocked to see old and new cast members discuss the movie set for release on Dec 18.

Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) joined Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, the lead actors of The Force Awakens, director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy to answer questions.

Ford, who first played Han Solo in the original 1977 movie, was unable to attend after being injured when he crash-landed a small plane on a golf course last month. Abrams said the actor was well and resting.

The first look at Ford in the new film prompted wild cheers in the convention hall from fans dressed in costume and wielding glowing lightsabers.

The new trailer opens with a vehicle racing along a desert-like planet called Jakku, as Luke Skywalker's voice says, "The Force is strong with my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it. You have it too."

Other glimpses in the roughly 90-second clip show Isaac's Poe Dameron in his X-wing, John Boyega's Finn in a Stormtrooper suit, Daisy Ridley's Rey running from a big explosion and new droid BB-8.

It concludes with Han Solo donning a leather jacket and standing next to Chewbacca.

The Force Awakens, produced by Walt Disney Co, picks up 30 years after Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Isaac, Ridley and Boyega revealed tidbits about their characters in a film that has been shrouded in secrecy.

Rey is a "very self-sufficient and solitary" scavenger in a ship graveyard, Ridley said.

Boyega's character Finn has confused fans about whether he's a villain or a hero. Boyega nodded when asked if he was a Stormtrooper, a soldier of the dark side.

"We find Finn in incredible danger and the way in which he decides to react to the danger changes his life," Boyega said.

Poe Dameron was "sent on a mission by a certain princess and he ends up coming across Finn, and their fates are forever intertwined," he said.