As the clock struck one minute past midnight, tens of thousands of fans who had queued to be among the first in the world to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens were glued to their seats. Odeon cinemas said they had sold 60,000 tickets for the 113 midnight screenings, and over 700,000 tickets overall, for the long-awaited film’s opening weekend. A spokesperson said the cinema chain was selling tickets at a rate of one a second.
Vue cinemas reported similar figures, with 55,000 tickets sold for their midnight screenings across the UK and over 355,000 pre-sale tickets for the film’s opening weekend. Episode VII is widely expected the break the current UK box office revenue record of £103m, currently held by the Bond film Skyfall.
At the Imax screening in London, the capital’s biggest midnight showing of the film, Nicholas Ravery, 26, said he had made sure he got tickets to a midnight screening to ensure he avoided spoilers. “I’ve been off Facebook and the internet for three days to make sure this film is a complete surprise,” he said. “I’ve watched Star Wars since I was a kid. It was the first movie I ever saw.”
Ravery said he was confident that the franchise was in safe hands with director JJ Abrams, and said he couldn’t remember the last time he had been so excited to watch a film. “They were also very smart to hide all the important plot point, which never happens. Most trailers these days give the entire plot away, so it’s amazing that Star Wars really made the point of not revealing anything,” he said.
Ravery said he was usually a very vocal viewer when watching Star Wars, knowing all the words after watching it “endless times”, but said that aside from cheering when the credits opened, he intended on being “deathly silent”. “I think it’s going to be an almost religious atmosphere,” he said. “After all, this is a bit of a sacred experience.”
For siblings Edie Earl, 17, and Paddy Earl, 20 – both showing off Star Wars wigs – the midnight screening was “the event of the year”. They had booked their tickets for the screening back in October.
As a female fan, Edie said she had been particularly thrilled by the strong female leads introduced to The Force Awakens. “What has got me really excited to see this film is Rey, Daisy Ridley’s character, because it proves that women can be in action films, and they can be developed, strong characters,” she said.
“Leia was great, but she was also pretty much the only woman in the galaxy. Whereas now the biggest action film in Hollywood now is centred around a female – and I think it will mean the new generation of Star Wars fans [is] going to be equally male and female.”
