I work in an IT department of a University. I walked into the heart of this department and shouted, "Who has their Star Wars tickets?" I got zero responses. My faith was shaken. I was not expecting a 100% response . . . but 0%?

got mine 4 tickets for the grandkids and myself

Have 4 tickets for the opening weekend since weeks!

Heh heh, pure fun! I hope every one just enjoys this! Happy Holidays!

Friday, 12/18, 10am, IMax theater by my house. I'll just turn off my phone and pull the plug on the internet the night before.

Tried to get tickets for the night before, watched all the theaters sell out while I was waiting for the go-code from my usual nerd friends. Probably for the best- we have a big package going out Thursday, so I'm pretty sure that most of the engineers are planning on taking Friday off and going to see this.

Local theater uses fandango for preorder sales which means they oversell the theater. We have been burned quite a few times with arriving only to find our preorder ticket was no good because they were at capacity already. We are going to just wait and go the following saturday or sunday.

I do.

Got them 12 hours before the trailer played at Superbowl Halftime and the tickets were due on sale right after that.

I caught the website doing a maintenance thing and all the showtimes were highlighted and clickable to be chosen and added to cart and checkout.

My sister bought the family a set of tickets for Christmas Day.

2 tickets with reserved seats for the opening weekend.

I think a friend of mine got me covered...he's planning something more, no clue what yet.

Got my ticket for the 16th (Force is with the french on this )

The Force Unleashed shattered the record for the most pre-release tickets sold. Domestically it has sold over 50 million in tickets and I'm sure it sold just as much or more internationally.

I have low expectations, I'll wait a few weeks after release

I'm pretty confident that it will be better than the prequels. Let's see how it compares though to the original Star Wars and especially Empire Strikes Back.

I am going to wait till all the fuss has died down then I am going to view it in a Imax cinema
Unfortunately my wife and kids have no interest, I really hope it generates a whole new generations of star wars fans
May the force be with you.

I'm going to wait for netflix.

Pretty much anything with JJ Abrams on the name has disappointed me in the past. So I'm just going to wait this one out.

I will be very curious to see how many people under the age of 20 will be interested in seeing this movie.

Will it indeed create a new generation of fans or will it just attract the older established fans?

Indeed,

I think a lot of dads will take there sons as mine did for the original don't wish to sound sexist but girls/women don't seem to have the same enthusiasm as guys/boys I was in a toy store over the weekend there's some pretty cool star wars toys including a pretty good model of the millennium falcon I was dropping hints to the family all day. LoL
I have a friend who is a star wars merchandise and toy collector prices are already starting to go upwards according to him.
But the hype for the movie has not been what I expected thus far anyway. what's it like in the states

I am going to watch it the first day so I don't read up on any spoilers if I wait.

We have booked seats for the 16th which is a half day for school, it was the earliest that we could co-ordinate the availability and the grandkids being able to go.

I'm not sure how this is going to work 4 tickets and 5 grandkids

3 of them are too young, so they are going to see something else in the cinema with the wife, and I'm taking the 2 eldest and the youngest son to see The Force Awakens

Sounds like a plan...

Edit:
Son is 19
Granddaughter is 16
Grandson is 15
Oh and I'm 59

10 hours of whale farts would be better than the prequels

Going to wait. I didn't see any of the original trilogy until Return of the Jedi came out and I then saw all three in one day.
Best friend at the time was a huge Star Wars fan and couldn't believe I hadn't been to any of the movies so he "forced" me to go with him to watch them. IIRC I saw them a little out of sequence too. Return of the Jedi, Star Wars, Empire, and then we stuck around to watch Return of the Jedi again. At least it kept us busy that day.


Wheels

I don't have my kids till the following weekend which is a good thing, I could possible go see it myself and then bring them. My GF has ZERO interest in SciFi and has only seen the first one because my youngest made her.

Got my three tickets for the 16th

(no, not a typo - it premieres in Norway 2 days before the US :P )

I am surprised it took to page 3 for someone to use this

...or this:

Yay, I'm going to see it twice! The first time will be on the evening of Dec 17th because of a special screening for employees and students of the university where I work. So until further notice, the president of Columbus State University - Chris Markwood - is my official hero!

I'll wait for it to show up in my living room.
Tempting, but crowds bother me.
One idiot in the theater could ruin my night...and with my luck, he'll be sitting right next to me.
Nope.
Live and learn.

But I do want to see this one.

My wife got us 2 last month. We are going to see it first (date night). Then take the kids at a later date.

Yeah the wife and I are going to the same cinema but different halls.

But this weekend we are off to Koblenz - without the kids

You don't know how to live. Idiots talking through the whole movie, cell phones, people trying to be quiet with super crunchy bags and actually being loud longer than if they'd just grab some damn candy quickly, sticky floors, incredibly overpriced food, crowds, kids that can't sit their ass still, and let's not forget the token crappy joke in the movie that someone will bust out laughing at. Theatres are awesome!

Oh wait. No they aren't

I'm honestly surprised they still exist with home theatre experiences being so cheap. Straight to streaming is going to come around sooner or later and they'll go the way of Blockbuster.

One of those idiots WAS sitting next to me when I saw "First Blood" thirty+ years ago and sad to say he was tame compared to the lack of courtesy I see now.


Wheels

How about the man who takes his date to see an R Rated movie that is violent: most of the time a horror porn or a gory action film)

She doesn't like those kind of movies and blood and guts and violence makes her squeamish so every minute she opens her mouth and ask him loudly:

What is he going to do now?

What is she doing?

Is he going to die?

Is she going to die?

Oh no he is going to shoot that other guy!

Oh I can't watch (cover her eyes and shriek/scream/whimpers) this!!

I remember being in the very first showing of Casino Royale in 2006 on Opening Day and right at the start of the torture scene, a lady in the theater couldn't watch that part and she got her phone and she started a loud conversation.

A couple of people asked her nicely to please be quiet or go outside and she didn't.

I finally yelled out to her.

Hey you inconsiderate B****, if you don't get off that phone now, I am going to take it and smash it and then make you pay for all of our tickets and then ask management to escort you out of the theater.

The entire auditorium cheered like they were cheering the end of a good movie.

She complied.

NO! I don't believe in being Politically Correct and Polite in certain situations.

Dad always brought me up to 'tell it as it is' and 'not be afraid to speak your mind'!

Reaction to OP:

Not surprised. It doesn't mean they're not going to watch it. They're just not that hyped. As for me, no... not watching it in theaters.

About the theater thing:

With today's technology, the proliferation of movies being uploaded for streaming for everyone to see (even in HD), IMO the theater is a social event. I view the theater as a place where you can go and watch a movie with other people.

If I want to really experience the movie so that I can criticize the script, scrutinize the camera angles, shots, the lighting, the story... the best place is at my home alone only a few feet from the monitor.

This is exactly why attendance (ticket sales) have been pretty stagnant in the US for the past 10 years or so. Attendance is increasing though in the foreign box office but that's because it's still not a fully tapped out market like the US domestic box office is.

Some movies just need to be seen on a big screen with a decent sound system....something you can't easily emulate at home without spending 30,000 bucks and driving the neighborhood crazy to the point of them picking up torches and pitchforks.

You can get a 70 inch flat screen HDTV and a first rate DTX surround sound system for a lot less than 30k.

Got tickets... for the Exhibition:
http://www.starwarsidentities.com/

Gonna take the friend who gave it to me for the actual movie, but only after Christmas. Too busy before, and it opens only on 19th anyway...

70 inch is small compared to the big screen at a decent theater (= not the one at your local mall ). Same is true for the sound system.

I don't think I've ever seen a movie I thought demanded a screen or speakers I don't have at home

I get Jayhawk's point about there being certain "big event" films that really look the best on a massive theatre screen and huge surround system but for me at least those films are becoming less and less frequent. I don't go to the movie theatre to watch a comedy or some art house drama unless I get dragged to see one by someone else.

Same for me. Movies like Star Wars or Marvel's Superhero films profit from a big screen.

On the other hand, I've seen Interstellar on one of the smallest possible screens (which was located in the headrest of the seat in front of me on a JAL 787 ), and I didn't think it would have been any less tedious (IMO) on a bigger screen.

LOL Jayhawk.

I still enjoyed "Interstellar" even with its flaws.

Well sometimes it is the atmosphere in the cinema, making an event out of it, I have a biggish screen at home and a decent sound system but only once have I allowed the grand kids to eat popcorn in there, I could have cried at the mess they left after them.

So it is worth the price of admission to the cinema to let someone else clean up the dropped popcorn

My screen is 3.5m wide 1.5m high (150" diagonal) and the sound system is 5.1 with about 280W per channel

It is great to sit back and watch anything on it, it is what I use to watch American Football and Formula 1 as well as films

I have seen a pic of your home system Alicat .
Its very impressive, I to have mixed feelings about going to a movie theatre
But also hold the view for a few select movies you simply have too
For Star Wars I will be traveling about fifty miles to the nearest IMAX cinema.

Given the sad state of this world I have to preview this movie first before I take my five year old to see it. Sad, isn't it? But you never know if they'll manage to sneak some sort of agenda into things.

Or cleavage... in a Star Wars film? Heaven Forbids!

Considering my 5-year old is a girl, yes, I have an issue with that. I want her to grow up thinking she's not some trailer trash whore who's only asset in life is her body.

The film is rated PG-13 so a 5 year old most likely shouldn't be watching it.

That's what G and PG movies are for.

Well as a parent I'm open to decide what is and is not appropriate for my child. The original movies were rated PG and she has seen A New Hope and Empire already--but PG-13 didn't even exist when those movies came out. I saw the original when I was three years old.

But seeing how Disney owns ABC and the increasingly liberal slant on that network (not NBC of the 80s and 90s bad but on its way) I have legitimate reason for concern.

I'll just preview the movie like any responsible parent should do and go from there. I had been hoping for a long time they would realize the potential toys and promotional material sales for such a film would outweigh caving to social pressure and putting risque material or other inappropriate subject matter in to be politically correct.

But these days you just don't know.

I am excited, regardless. I just want it to be all that it can be.

Would love to see some films in an IMAX, but like you it is a bit of a trip to the nearest one, it is only 47km (about 35miles) to the cinema we are going to.

Just checked, it is closer to the IMax in Eindhoven at 35km Hmmm...

I agree completely. I've just seen many PG-13 movies where I thought the violence factor was pretty high and possibly not appropriate for small kids.

I can pretty much guarantee that this new Star Wars film will have zero or close to zero sexuality. The previous films had very little of that.

Old man Obi Wan in that hermit robe still gets me all tingly inside.

To be fair lest we forget, Leia wasn't exactly a prude in Jaba's palace and that was decades ago. The series isn't a hardcore children's film despite what goofball Lucas demanded from his crappy prequels. It's still largely focused on situations with people being shot and killed.

So why do they stormtroopers even bother to wear all that 'armor' when one shot from a hand held blaster is enough to bring them down?

Because the armor made them look cool and because Lucas and the other writers didn't feel it necessary to have exact and realistic explanations for everything you see in a sci-fi/fantasy movie.

A: It looks cool and menacing, and is an iconic demonstration of power
B: It protects from the elements of the majority of the thousands of planets the Empire controls
C: If you pretend the stupid Ewoks never existed it would also make sense protecting against less-than-blaster fire
D: It's a friggen movie
E: Space nazis need a fancy uniform

Probably would make more sense if they wore armor that was lined on the outer surface with mirrors.

LOL!

Peally's explanation is better than mine!

This movie was PG and yet it had a strip tease scene toward the end showing naked female breasts.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080895/

Mom wasn't happy about it. She took us to see it.

Of course me being 15 at the time, it was a HOORAY moment!

Remember back then we had no internet, no cable tv, no VCR, and only 4 channels on TV.

We had no access to titillation as teenagers in those days.

If we even gotten hold of an issue of PB, it was like winning the lottery.

That's an odd one to take boys to. Moms do weird things sometimes. So many other great movies rated PG came out that year besides Star Wars, stuff like Superman II and Flash Gordon. Most of the really great ones were rated R though.

I'm not a total prude--my daughter has seen Ghostbusters probably ten times now.

But I do have limits and it always isn't skin but content and subject matter.

I think its worth the journey
I am even going to buy my candy/sweets at the theatre
Something a tight git like me never does, much to my family's annoyance
I refuse to buy popcorn at the movies. LoL

My educated guess is that movie theatres probably have like a 200-300 percent margin on popcorn.

I would agree with that
The same for soda and ice cream, I appreciate they need to make a profit.
But I hate being ripped off.

I'd love to go see it but I'm not having the experience ruined by a theatre full of strangers. I'll wait for the blue-ray.

Completely OT really but my virtual IL-2 squadron will be visiting Eindhoven tomorrow. May want to check after our visit to make sure the theater is still standing.
Operation Oyster: http://www.amazon.com/Operation-Oyster-Forgotten-Daring-Philips/dp/1473821096


Wheels

I will see this on my birthday in January, hopefully in an almost empty IMAX theater in the middle of the week.

Movies are like digital download games. No need to pre-order. It's not like they are going to run out.

You guys just want to do it for the multiplayer.


At least games get patches if they are bad.


I am afraid that no matter how good the movie is, it will not be able to live up to the hype, specifically for the most hardcore fans. See Fallout hardcore fans and Fallout 4 scores for reference.

Remember Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull and how awesome that was going to be?

Low expectations...yup, that's me.

Your probably right
but its good to have something to look forward to
I will probably wait till January as well.
My boss said today he would like to come with me so that's a day off sorted. LoL
Like you I will go midweek afternoon viewing (less people)
We were joking today about wearing full storm trooper uniforms on the train up to the city.
And humming DA Da Dada Da all day.

I'm going to go to a matinee after the madness

Someone sent me this.

No offense intended toward any Hispanic folks.

LOL!! Hilarious.

Funnily enough, in the original Spanish dub of Star Wars, R2-D2 was indeed "Arturito", and C-3PO was "Tripio". That has changed in the new versions, as new dubs have been recorded.

Here's a College Professor with too much time on his hands.

His report in PDF format:

https://consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/itsatrap.pdf

Related online articles:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/death-star-star-wars-economics_565f6e7be4b079b2818d21ea

https://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/Star-Wars-economics.aspx

There is already an agenda sneaked into the the film. That's the reason why it turned me off. I can't discuss it because it will throw the whole thread into PWEC and open a nasty can of worms.

You look at a film/trailer and some qualities of the film sometimes stick out. Sometimes you can feel that a decision was made by (here I go again) people who have a social agenda. Then because these people have money, they have screenwriters and directors whose job now is to make artistic sense of those decisions.

I have no doubt that with the enormous talent their money can buy the story will be a coherent piece of art. But I can't shake the motivation behind it and this kills the immersion of an entire movie for me.

Fifty years from now people will look back and think: Oh, this is a film from that era where they "did these type of stuff".


For the Record:
On my comment preferring to watch films outside the theater, I think David Lynch will be very much displeased with what I said lol.

First Arnie did it. Now it is Mark's turn.



Mark Hamilton?

I am not sure if this has been posted already.

Oi!
Philips is on the ring road, or was the last time I was there, I guess I'll have to go round the other way now after your visit

He may not care. Lynch himself hasn't had a theatrically released movie for 9 years now and that film had a very, very small limited release (Inland Empire).

Got the video I was referring to with that... I think the message Lynch has is that movies are better experienced in theaters (although he did not say it directly).



Don't ever, ever let David Lynch catch you watching a movie on a phone

IMO the most revealing trailer so far...which, incidentally, is the one made for the Chinese market:

"I will finish what you started".

Definitely sounds like something that would be said by Luke huh?

Or a Vader fanboy, leading a croup of dorky Cosplay nerds.

Which, (again) incidentally, the "Knights of Ren" pretty much are. Life-action role players who accidentally got their hands on the remnants of the Imperial Navy.

Yeah... Kylo Ren being played by a different actor than Mark Hamill is kind of a giveaway too.


Still interesting the comment I heard Mark make in an online audio blog -


"I might, or might not be in this movie, and I am contractually obligated to not answer that question."

I'm still quite curious that Max Von Sydow has not appeared in any of the trailers.

I used to be a manager at a movie theater (part time, gotta pay the kids college bills!) and I can tell you the markup for popcorn is over 1000%.

Movie theaters make $.25 per ticket, more if the movie plays for a while. The profit in movie theaters is almost all concession sales.

I just hope that they gave him more than a cameo. As long as they gave him some decent lines, he can make them into gold.

I thought the movie theatres and the studios split the ticket sales 50/50 or somewhere close along those lines?

Not even close. We would get $.25 a ticket for the first three weeks of the run. After three weeks, the theater would get closer to $.40, and if played even longer, the number would rise accordingly.

That's why you pay $7.00 for a bag of popcorn that really costs the theater $.10 (or less)!

Lots of theatres here (especially small-town theatres) are boycotting the new Star Wars (and Disney movies in general) altogether:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entert...m-10207691.html

The contract with Disney also includes provisions where Disney can force the theatre owner to show the movie for a longer period that he'd intent.

Germany is pretty small, just drive across the border and enjoy

Well, here's one you won't need tickets for:




And now, the truth is out... Jerry shot first!

Two days!

Jerry, continuing on with the Star Wars related fun:

Who goes to the movie at 6 am to see an IMAX show?

A college student who lives at home with his parents?

When I was in college, I had classes at 8:00 am.

Know someone who has not watched Star Wars? Need to catch up quickly? Here you go...

9th of January in China. I expect you all to not talk about the movie until I've had a chance to see it

Hey.

Darth Vader is Luke's father!

DUDE!

Spoiler Tags!

Oh.... and Titanic sinks! (yeah, different movie)

Excluding spoilers, I'm eagerly waiting for the reaction here. Good or bad, hope to hear some feedback about the movie.

Honestly, to quote an annoyingly cliche STar Wars line, "I have a bad feeling about this."

I didn't enter DIS again, was discussing the stock months ago with a friend and we surmised a lift off in DIS stock during the Star Wars release (admittedly I'm the one who initiated that thought). When I exited to take profits, I never entered DIS again.

If it indeed lifts off, ugh, that happens.

Someone who doesn't like the press of crowds. Probably a safer time than 11:00pm.

I'm going at 8am! I'm a hardcore fan, yet don't like all the nerds who cheer and clap and all that crap during the movie. I went to Revenge of the Sith on opening night and it was like this, very annoying. I want to avoid that and watch the movie. Plus I don't work till 10:30 so it's not a big deal

Granddaughter has an audition for a play this afternoon she is hoping that she can be out in time so we can all get to the cinema in time, son has finished his exams at school so is working over the holidays, he went in early this morning so he could get away in time to go to the cinema, what was no problems a month or so ago suddenly is going to be difficult to get to the cinema on time.

Wife is taking the youngest 3 to see an animated film while I take our youngest son and the two eldest grandkids to see Star Wars.

Still I'm looking forward to it, we should be out the cinema by 19:30cet this evening

I'll be seeing it on Sunday night. Got my two tickets to see it at Cinebistro. Alcohol is served there so no one allowed under 21.

Just come home from the theatre. I'm not a hardcore devotee but it was certainly a fun ride. Entertaining, and the new actors were all solid and gave good performances. The soccer droid was adorable! There was one thing I didn't like with the movie but I won't spoil anything.

Just back too, grandson and daughter thought it was "Awesome", son liked it so much that he is going to see it in the Imax on Friday with his friends

Film was well done and a lot better than I feared, there is a story to it, it is not all CGI, and I think I know the bit you mean M@verick won't spoil anything either and what is below is not really a spoiler but it reveal too much ...

Last night I kind of skimmed thru the prequel trilogy.

You have to admit for a future great Jedi Master, Anakin sure was a whiny pissy ungrateful brat!

Cinemark has the Star Wars Marathon starting at 3 am tonight. All 6 movies, 1100 minutes running time. By the time you are done it will be after 10 pm tomorrow night. $50 per person. No passes. It's sold out too! People are NUTS!

Saw it. Loved it! In my Star Wargasm after-glow I see it as one of the best, perhaps THE best of the series thus far.

Something not related to the movie itself that made the experience extra enjoyable was the fact that I saw it with mostly employees and students from the university where I work (special screening). The new university president was there in jeans and Star Wars t-shirt - I'll give him a free pass to screw up at his job for a year just for arranging the special screening.

Just got back. It did not disappoint. I was both very pleased and very bummed. The story was good, the acting was good, and the cinematography was beautiful. Not overly CGI'd and alot of attention to detail. Although I did find a pretty big plot hole, but I'm hoping they explain it in the next episode(s).

v6,
boNes

This theater has 59 showings today!



http://www.santikos.com/locations/theatre?house_id=29811&date=2015-12-18

I fear I know the scene you mean, which would be a huge bummer indeed (at least for me).

Tickets for 3d tomorrow morning. I'm actually excited.

I turned down the chance to go see it this week.I'll wait until I can watch it in the comfort of my own home.

For those of you that have seen it please tell me they didn't shoe-horn Fisher into a metal bikini?

A great review, from the Belgian TV website , which sums up everything that can be said on Star Wars

STAR WARS

Sitting in an Imax 3D waiting for it to start.

Grrr....I won't be seeing it until Sunday but I should be fine in avoiding spoilers.

That just about sums it up, and the link... LOL!

JJ, you magnificient b***ard.

Nailed the formula, and just Star War'd better than George Lucas has Star Wars'd since 1983.

Even though George produced and had a say on ESB, direction and creativity were mostly provided by Irvin Kershner.

Heck, even ANH was saved by the editing of George's wife, Marcia http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/...e23b06e98805ffb

I wish they had a CineBistro here in Columbus! Enjoy!

We waited 32 years for a sequel to Return Of The Jedi and this is what we get?

I won't say why I feel this way because then I will ruin it for those who hasn't seen it.

2/5 or IMDB rating of 4 out of 10.

Going now. Getting ready and then off I go. I'm so excited!

I find your lack of nerd glee disturbing.

Man was I blasted away!
Loved it and I can't wait to watch it again.

This is the movie I was looking for.

http://www.anovos.com/collections/star-wars

http://originalstormtrooper.com/original-armour-31-c.asp

People really spend that much $ on this stuff?

This was NOT the movie you were looking for. *waves hand*

Lots of people:

http://www.501st.com/

Then again, how much has any of us spent on our computers, HOTAS, pedals, TrackIR, software, etc?

I am a member of the 501st. I'm not active at the moment but this was me during the release of EP3 back in 05.

AWESOME!
How do you buy that? I mean- where?

I bought the base armor as a kit. I had the option of buying it on ebay or from the local 501st garrison. I chose the local Garrison option as it was cheaper. The kit was $450. It was in many pieces and required a few days of construction time using a combination of velcro and hot glue. The most challenging part was the helmet or "bucket" as we like to call it.

I also had to buy the undersuit, boots, gloves, neck seal and blaster. All combined I spent about $900 on the entire suit. I also ended up putting together a Scout and Spec Ops (Black Stormtrooper) suit. Fun times.

Awesome man! Awesome!

I wouldn't mind having a Storm Trooper armor suit.

Overall the movie was pretty good but it also won't be joining the annals of scifi classics like 2001 or Blade Runner.


IMHO the movie was a bit too far on the "tongue & cheek" side. That may have been fine when I was 12 years old but not now at 43.

I'm still glad I saw it though.

For me it didn't "feel" like a Star Wars movie. Somehow the lighting and sets were all wrong (except maybe for Jakku).

It felt more like the pilot movie to a new Firefly-like series than a Star Wars sequel big-budget film.

+1 I knew the film was going to have a very different look and tone to it though since JJ Abrams's directing and artistic style is quite a bit different from that of Lucas.

It's like 2001 and 2010. They were directed by two different people and boy does it show. A LOT.

I also think a big difference was that Lucas - despite his storytelling abilities - always had a broad vision and with an experimental mindset. He was always pushing the envelope, especially visually and technically.

JJ played it safe: he made a conservative movie with lots of "fan service" elements and a tried-and-true main plot. Not bad, but not outstanding either. My fourth-favourite Star Wars movie.

It also felt a little cheap regarding the visual effects and sets: oh, look, we're on an abandoned RAF airbase in the UK. With spaceship models and people in costumes. I did like Jakku, though. That felt "real".

In the original trilogy, the sets felt like they really were on Yavin IV, Hoth, Bespin, Endor. This time, they were clearly on Earth, with people pretending to be somewhere else. Especially the very last scenes of the movie were way too "terrestrial".

Just IMO, of course.

So Force Unleashed made 238 million in the US on opening weekend. That is 30 million more than what Jurassic World made on its opening weekend.

Assuming there is not steep drop-off, Force Unleashed has an excellent chance of beating Avatar for the all time biggest box office.