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They saw the television commercials, they read the books, they played the video games, they read the reviews and interviews, and they even suffered through the shameless movie tie-ins and illconceived product placements.
May 19th finally arrived, heralding the release of the longawaited and much-anticipated finale to George Lucas’s “Star Wars” film franchise. All over the country, fans donned their best storm trooper or Wookie or Jedi or bounty hunter costume and clamored to be the first to see the final episode, “Star Wars:Revenge of the Sith.” Gulf Breeze’s Breeze 8 Cinemas was no exception to the hysteria. Like theaters all over the country, the eight-screen theater also offered a midnight showing of “Revenge of the Sith,” screening two separate prints in their largest auditoriums, which each seat upwards of 250 movie patrons. According to general manager Rick Fischer, the most ardent fans began lining up for the premiere at 6:30 p.m., nearly six hours before show time.
“Lots of people bought tickets in advance,” said Fischer, “We sold both auditoriums out before three o’clock on Wednesday.” Many of the theater’s employees were on hand during the event, and were privy to the unusual masquerade of Lucas lovers.
“There were two Tuscan Raiders that looked awesome,” said 18year-old Breeze employee Kaitlin Weeks, “and just about everybody had lightsabers.” “Seeing all those people made me want to dress up,” said 19year-old employee Kim Gonzales. “It got me excited about the movie again, plus all of a sudden it felt like Halloween.” Contrary to Lucas’s film, there was a good deal of fraternizing which would not normally take place in the “Star Wars” universe.
Jedi chatted with storm troopers, Wookies, or whatever characters they happened upon. The greatest excitement came when the house lights in the theaters finally burned down, and the time came for the show to start. When the first trailer hit the screen, the corresponding chorus of applause and cheering could be heard throughout the entire galaxy—err, theater.
No need to panic if you missed the big premiere. Those in the know predict that “Revenge of the Sith” will do enough business to hang in there for the next few weeks to come.
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