It's a movie moment decades in the making and die-hard Foothills Star Wars fans are eagerly anticipating the next installment in the series' tales from a galaxy far, far away.
It's a movie moment decades in the making and die-hard Foothills Star Wars fans are eagerly anticipating the next installment in the series' tales from a galaxy far, far away.
“Seeing everything that we've seen, especially the fact that Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamel and Harrison Ford are coming back to reprise their roles, I'm really anxious to see where the story's going now,” said Okotoks resident Eleazer Salazar.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiers in theatres on Dec. 17, including the Okotoks Cinemas.
Like other venues, the Okotoks theatre is selling tickets in advance. However, unlike theatres in Calgary, where many showings in the first few days are sold out, there were still tickets available for early screening times. As of Dec. 14, Okotoks Cinemas still has some tickets left for opening night.
Salazar, whose wife Chelsea Casson is general manager at Okotoks Cinemas, bought his tickets well in advance. He said he was excited when Casin was finally able to reveal the movie would be shown in town.
“I've been asking for months since I saw the first trailer earlier this year, I've been asking “Are you going to get it, are you going to get it?'” he said. “She's like, I don't know, we'll have to wait and see.”
Salazar is a “pretty big” Star Wars fan. He had planned on having a new Storm Trooper costume to wear for opening day, but he's not sure if it will pan out in time. If not, he'll be proudly wearing one of his several Star Wars T-shirts and said he should have the costume by the time the Star Wars spin off movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is released in the spring.
Salazar said he has been a fan since the first time he saw the movies. He saw the original trilogy when it was re-released in the theatres in the mid-1990s. In fact, he thinks they may have been the first movies he ever saw in a theatre.
Like many other fans, he was disappointed in the prequel trilogy and he's hopeful the new movies will recapture the magic of the original movies.
“I'm so excited for them to be just continuing the story,” she said.
Okotoks Cinemas general manager Chelsea Casson said she is not as big a fan as her husband, but she's also looking forward to opening day.
She is expecting lineups at the Okotoks Cinemas to see Star Wars.
“I think we will probably get, especially the first weekend, we'll get huge lineups,” she said.
While fans have been requested not to dress up at some theatres, Casson said costumes are welcome at the Okotoks Cinemas.
“That would be awesome, I think that would be so much fun,” she said.
