FIGHTING off late night yawns, almost 170 locals were among the first in the country to watch Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens on Thursday morning.
Fans dusted off their lightsabers and headed down to a sold out midnight screening at Showbiz Cinema to get their galactic fix, in what is the first instalment of the cult classic series in over a decade.
Swan Hill local Ann Murray has been a Star Wars fan for almost forty years, first watching A New Hope as an 11-year-old in 1977.
She passed her love of the franchise on to her children, who were all in attendance at Thursday’s early morning showing of the new movie.
“My kids were raised with it so I shouted the whole family. There are seven of us here tonight, it’s cost me a fortune,” she said with a smile.
Son James Murray, dressed in full Darth Vader attire, said he hoped the movie lived up to the huge hype and joined the hallowed ranks of the other six critically acclaimed films.
Mr Murray said Star Wars fans were in good hands with the Walt Disney Company, who acquired original Star Wars production company Lucasfilm three years ago.
“[Disney] have done well with the Marvel franchises, they can probably handle Star Wars,” he said.
“There’s a lot of faith … they know how to handle nerdy property.”
Showbiz director Andrew Taylor said the movie was on track to be the biggest opening in the McCrae Street cinema’s two year history.
“We generally don’t do the midnight launches because we’re a smaller market,” he said.
“When we’ve done them previously, with Hunger Games, we’ve been lucky to get 20 people [so] to sell out three cinemas was amazing.
“People told me I was mad opening a cinema in Swan Hill, but when you get a movie like this and everyone watching it, it’s just fantastic.”
Mr Taylor pinned Star Wars’ success to an enduring storyline he described as “cowboys and Indians in space” combined with the latest special effects.
“Every time Star Wars comes out it is very cutting edge,” he said.
“They were the first films shot entirely in digital.”
In anticipation of the movie’s release, Showbiz placed Stormtroopers at various Swan Hill landmarks during the week, including the Murray Cod, the Gem and the Swan Hill Police Station.
For more Star Wars coverage, pick up Friday’s Guardian (December 18).
