Star Wars: The Force Awakens teases with poster, video tidbits

Less than two months before fans return to a galaxy far, far away, the Star Wars machine is blasting off with a multimedia blitz for The Force Awakens.

On Sunday, Lucasfilm unveiled the film's official movie poster and two short teaser videos onlineto whet fans' appetite for anew trailer debuting on primetime televisionMonday night.

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The new trailer will debut during the halftime segment ofMonday Night Footballimmediately before tickets for the forthcoming instalment of the space saga go on sale.

Ravenous fans in the U.K. have already swarmed onto British cinema sites for advance tickets, sparking some websitesto crashor slowto a crawl due to the strain. The Picturehousechain reported "unprecedented" demand, while a Vue spokesman reported selling 10,000 tickets in 90 minutes.

The Force Awakens, the seventh movie ofthe blockbuster franchise, opensin North American theatres on Dec. 18, after a world premiere in Los Angeles on Dec. 14 and other premiere events around the globe.

Anticipation for the new slate of Star Wars films which will comprisenew chaptersof the main saga as well as spinoff movies is extremely high.

It hasbeen a decade since the last major Star Wars film was in theatres: 2005's Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

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For diehard fans, a host of North American cinemas have also announced amassive movie marathon: beginningon Dec. 17, they willshow the entire series, in chronological order, leading up to the grand finale screening of The Force Awakens on Dec. 18.

Theatres in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Kanata, Ont.,are among those participating.

George Lucas'soriginal Star Wars: A New Hope debuted at Hollywood's Chinese Theatre in May 1977.