The Force was with many Japanese, as well as visitors from abroad, at a Star Wars event where Lucasfilm announced that the next installment in the franchise will hit theaters in May 2027, starring Ryan Gosling.

Appearing on stage before a lightsaber-waving crowd at Makuhari Messe center outside Tokyo, Gosling showed a photo of his childhood bedsheets, plastered with illustrations from the space epic created by George Lucas.

I guess I was dreaming about Star Wars even before I saw the film, Gosling said.

Shawn Levy, who will direct the movie, told the crowd that Star Wars: Starfighter will not be a prequel or a sequel, but a new standalone adventure with new characters set several years after Episode IX. Filming starts later this year, he said.

Levy, who also directed the 2006 film The Pink Panther and the recent Netflix series Stranger Things, said little else, noting, I can't say much about it because I understand the rules.

Only the title was shown on a giant screen, although that was enough for the crowd to burst into cheers.

The event, called Star Wars Celebration, is full of Star Wars-themed merchandise including T-shirts, toys, books, manga comics, AC chargers, cellphone covers, autographs, posters and more.

The LEGO booth featured a man wearing the ominous black mask and cloak of Darth Vader, made out of LEGO bricks. The deep-breathing villain also appeared as traditional Japanese lacquerware decorating earphones in a limited edition of ten, each selling for 990,000 yen ($7,000). Darth Vader T-shirts were more affordable at 8,000 yen ($56).

It makes me so happy to think everyone here loves Star Wars, said Yoshiki Takahashi, 26, who was holding a remote-controlled R2-D2 miniature robot.

I love the directing, the sound of the gun and the lightsaber, but above all the story, with great fight scenes and, of course, human drama, he added.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.