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The Force has awakened in these dedicated Star Wars fans

For Star Wars fans the decade-long wait for the next film is almost over. In the run-up to the release of The Force Awakens, Reuters photographers in Japan, Britain and the U.S. captured pictures of some of the film franchise's most dedicated fans.

From collectors to tattoo enthusiasts, these are some of the biggest fans in the galaxy

Thomson Reuters Posted: Dec 15, 2015 7:51 PM EST | Last Updated: December 16, 2015

'It's a wonderful community of like-minded people. There's nothing else like it,' says 44-year-old London Star Wars collector James Burns, who was photographed with some of his memorabilia. (Paul Hackett/Reuters)

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

Ahead of its highlyanticipated release,Reuters photographers in Japan, Britain and the U.S. ventured out to photograph some extremely dedicatedfans 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 theredRoyal Guard costume) with children,Pellitteri says hisfriends and extended family are "cool" with their costumes since "most of it is for charity."

The Pellitteri family, including eight-year-old Jay dressed as a Stormtrooper next to his six-year-old sister Lily, who is an Ewok, pose in their Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., home on Dec. 10. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

This couple met at a Star Wars convention.

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

Yusuke and Anna met at a Star Wars fan event in Japan in 2011 and got married in 2015. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

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

Star Wars fan Testuyuki Nakagawa, a50-year-old businessman who lives in Tokyo, posed in hisDarth Vadercostume inNovember.

Nakagawa says his wife cannot understand why he buys so many lightsabers. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

A serious collector he is.

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

Luminous beings are these Star Wars fans. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

A hunter and his bounty.

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

Matt Booker has over 8,000 Boba Fett pieces... and one pillow shaped like Animal the Muppet. (Paul Hackett/Reuters)

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 otherbit of life.

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

Ninety per cent of Matt Warner's body is covered in Star Wars tattoos. (Paul Hackett/Reuters)

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

Dave Oldbury, a47-year-old postal worker in Southampton, stripped to the waistto 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."

Dave Oldbury might just have the toughest tattoos in the galaxy. (Paul Hackett/Reuters)

This man paid over $1,100 for aLeia 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 hisbedroom as proof.

Richard Mitchell describes his passion for Star Wars as 'a way of life.' (Paul Hacket/Reuters)

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

JulianPeacock described his hobby as a "happyescape" andconnection tohischildhood."My fiance, she puts up with it, she's quite happy with me having my own little crazy world of collectible toys," Peacock said.