“Star Wars” fans eagerly await the release of “The Force Awakens” trailer as fans in the U.K. sets record pre-sales on Monday (October 19).
Although Disney is keeping the plot of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” under wraps until the Dec. 18 release, British movie theater chains reported record business for advance tickets, underscoring projections that the movie will take in about $2 billion globally.
Online ticket retail company Fandango says the sale of tickets and the anticipation for the film release was built my Disney and ‘Star Wars.’
“Today is a massive day for Star Wars fans because it’s been 10 years since the last Star Wars film came out and the anticipation, from Star Wars Celebration to ComicCon to D23, everyone has just been building and building the excitement to see more footage of this movie. I mean obviously we heard J.J. Abrams and it’s like, you see tiny clips here and there. And what I think Star Wars has been doing and Disney has been doing so well is getting people excited with little snippets here and there. I mean, doing the tiny clips on Instagram or on Facebook or Twitter, you know, where you can see small things to get to know some of the characters. And then obviously yesterday the poster came out, which raises so many questions because for a lot of people, as a Star Wars fan, you want to see the original characters and Luke Skywalker is not on that poster. So, I think what we’re most excited about today is the fact that the trailer is going to drop during the NFL Monday night football but we’re going to get story and plot, which we haven’t really gotten yet, said Tiffany Smith, a correspondent for Fandango.
Tickets for U.S. screenings of “The Force Awakens” went on sale on Monday evening, ahead of Walt Disney Co’s debuts of a trailer on sports channel ESPN during halftime of the NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.
The movie brings back actors Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher who starred in the original 1977 film.
Smith says nothing in the past can really be compared to the anticipation building for ‘Star Wars.’
“I think that Star Wars is really unique in building such a massive audience because not only do they have the fans from the original films but then they have other fans that came out when the prequels came out, which, yes some people say some crazy things about those movies but there are fans of those movies and it still build the mythology. So, you’re now going to have grandparents and their kids and then their grand kids are coming to see these movies. So, it’s just a family event that all through the generations and then I think they do such a good job of permeating all of pop culture – whether it’s films or animated shows or books of comic books or temporary tattoos,” said Smith, who wore a ‘Star Wars’ t-shirt and tattoos.
“Star Wars,” created by filmmaker George Lucas, has grossed more than $4.4 billion globally since 1977 with six films. “The Force Awakens”, directed by J.J. Abrams, is the first of three new “Star Wars” movies being produced by Disney since it purchased the franchise from Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.05 billion.
Fans have seen two teasers: November’s 88-second trailer and April’s 2-minute trailer, which showcased a new cast of characters led by newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. Disney has buffered the film’s release with strategically timed events such as April’s Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California, and May’s “May The 4th Be With You” Star Wars day.