NATCHEZ — A long time ago, in a theater near you, Star Wars made its first appearance.

And now, 10 years after the most recent film was released, the Force has awakened.

Star Wars hit the silver screen Thursday night for the seventh time since 1977, and fans across the generations are giddy with excitement.

The anticipation for Thursday night’s release of the latest film, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” has been building for years.

The filmmakers have carefully guarded the secretive storyline, which does not follow the plot of any expanded universe novels or videogames, like some of the other films in the Star Wars series.

Excited fans, however, have devised quite a few theories, based on clues from the trailer.

Most notably missing from the trailer was Luke Skywalker, a role reprised by the one and only Mark Hamill.

Local resident Alvion Sampson shared one tongue-in-cheek theory before the show. “Darth Vader sleeps with a CPAP machine,” Sampson said, referring to the original movie villain’s ominous robotic breathing.

Lifelong fans Julius and Carla Steele were lined up with their 5-year-old son, Logan, for the 10:30 p.m. showing Thursday at United Artists in the Natchez Mall.

“I watched A New Hope in theaters back in the ’70’s,” Julius Steele said. “Not that I’m that old.”

Though Steele has seen every Star Wars film in theaters, he is hesitant about the prequels released from 1999-2005.

“My favorites are the originals: four, five, and six,” Steele said.

His son Logan was raised on all things science fiction, to include every Star Wars film.

Logan’s only comment was vigorous humming of the Darth Vader theme and a slight up-and-down hopping motion before entering the theater.

After the film, the crowd of fans wearing themed T-shirts gathered on the sidewalk to share their thoughts.

“I like the way it turned out, it made sense,” local fan Robby Robertson said. “I had my theories, and they didn’t turn out. That’s why they call them theories. It was a fantastic movie, though.”