Geeks around the world (pictured: Peruvian Star Wars nerd as Darth Vader) turned out for the final Star Wars installment, which premiered to the public at midnight (SFist, of course, had already seen it). Meanwhile, rebel h4xx0rs managed to get a message out from behind the Empire's lines, smuggling a work print from the Death Star aboard the BitTorrent Falcon, Han and Lando style.

After the jump, reports of Star Wars fever from across the Bay Area -- which is where the movie magic happened (except, of course, for the principal photography, which was done in Australia so Lucas could work with a non-union crew and actors).

AP photo by Karel Navarro, via Something Complicated.