Although it was past midnight on a weeknight, die-hard Star Wars fans of Swan Hill weren’t deterred from lining up to see the first screening of the latest film in the franchise, Rogue One.
Fanatics and fans dressed in their finest Star Wars merchandise swarmed Swan Hill’s Showbiz Cinema on Wednesday night to watch the session that started at exactly 12.01am.
Swan Hill Showbiz Cinema manager Trevor Johnson said it took a special type of film to encourage midnight screenings.
“It depends on the product. A lot of films wouldn’t work at an event like this one,” he said.
“It’s always the biggest stories that work the best.”
In the past, the cinema has held midnight screening events for films from the Harry Potter, Fast and Furious and Hunger Games franchises.
“These franchises are popcorn movies and people will come back to watch them two or three times,” Mr Johnson said.
“Tonight we have sold 75 percent of seats in our largest cinema. At last year’s Star Wars midnight screening we had three cinemas packed with fans; it has been incredibly popular.”
Showbiz Cinema director Andrew Taylor said it was “great for Swan Hill residents to be among the first in the world to see the film”.
To read more about this story, grab a copy of Friday’s Guardian (December 16).
