The Force has awakened in these dedicated Star Wars fans

Star Wars: The Force Awakens had its premiere in Hollywood on Monday and hits theatres around the world on Friday.

Ahead of its highly anticipated release, Reuters photographers in Japan, Britain and the U.S. ventured out to photograph some extremely dedicated fans for a feature exploring the breadth and depth of Star Wars fandom. 

Friends and family think they're 'a little crazy.'

Chris Pellitteri, dressed as a Scout Trooper, saw Star Wars in 1977 at a drive-in when he was seven years old. Now 45 and married (his wife, Christine, is in the red Royal Guard costume) with children, Pellitteri says his friends and extended family are "cool" with their costumes since "most of it is for charity." 

This couple met at a Star Wars convention.

Star Wars fan Yusuke Yamana, 41, (that's him on the right) and his 33-year-old wife, Anna, originally from Minnesota, dressed as Tusken Raiders for their photo, taken in their home in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, in November. 

A lot of Star Wars fans are grown men, with jobs.

Star Wars fan Testuyuki Nakagawa, a 50-year-old businessman who lives in Tokyo, posed in his Darth Vader costume in November.

A serious collector he is.

This man, who gave his nickname, Tsukikage, is 42 and lives in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo. Tsukikage mainly collects items relating to his favourite character, Yoda.

A hunter and his bounty.

Collector Matt Booker, 38, says he has some 8,000 Boba Fett the bounty hunter pieces in his home in Corsham, Wiltshire, U.K,, where he was photographed in November.

These fans prefer to express their devotion in tattoos.

Matt Warner, a 42-year-old carpenter who lives in London, says Star Wars is like a "favourite band, car, or other bit of life. 

"When I need it to be there it's there," Warner told Reuters photographer Paul Hackett, who visited him at his home on Nov. 29. 

The Dark Side lives ... on this man's arm.

Dave Oldbury, a 47-year-old postal worker in Southampton, stripped to the waist to show his Star Wars ink. His love of the films, and unique body art, has taken him around the world to meet "people I would never associate with normally," Oldbury told photographer Hackett. "The thing that unites us is the fact that we all love the films."

This man paid over $1,100 for a Leia figure.

Richard Mitchell, 46, who drives trucks in Buckinghamshire, in southern England, is a committed collector. He described his obsession as "a way of life" and showed his bedroom as proof.

Star Wars is an escape to a more 'innocent time.'

Julian Peacock described his hobby as a "happy escape" and connection to his childhood. "My fiancée, she puts up with it, she's quite happy with me having my own little crazy world of collectible toys," Peacock said.