Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Jacob Grignon, 12, of Keshena, stands in line with his father, Jeff, in anticipation of the local premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Thursday at Shawano Cinema. The younger Grignon was one of the few local fans dressed in costume, donning the garb of a Jedi knight.
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Mason Martin, 6, of Shawano, attends Thursday’s premiere of “The Force Awakens” with a toy version of R2-D2, one of the faithful droids that have been a mainstay of the Star Wars franchise.
There were not many local fans dressing the part at the special Shawano premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Thursday night, but the packed theaters showed there were plenty of local fans of Jedi and Sith.
The seventh film in the Star Wars franchise hits theaters Friday, but many places like Shawano Cinema held special premieres Thursday for those who felt the pull of the Force was too great to wait.
Fans started lining up three hours early in anticipation of the 7 p.m. trip to a galaxy far, far away, according to theater manager Ashley Jensen.
More than 100 tickets were sold in advance of the show, along with almost 100 for one of Friday’s showings, she said.
“We have three shows (Friday), and for one of them, we’ve sold 98,” said Jensen, who didn’t have a final count on how many tickets were pre-sold for “The Force Awakens.”
“It’s got a very good buildup for it,” Jensen said. “Our phone actually hasn’t stopped ringing this whole week. I had a phone call about 20 minutes ago asking if we had tickets available.”
Jensen noted that tickets went on sale in November around the same time as the last film in the Hunger Games series, and fans of the Mockingjay were far outnumbered by fans of the Force.
“We haven’t seen pre-sales like this in a long time,” Jensen said. “Star Wars was the more popular one.”
The premiere was held in two of the four theaters at Shawano Cinema due to the high ticket sales. The two theaters hold 290 people combined, according to Jensen.
Among the fans waiting in line was 12-year-old Jacob Grignon, of Keshena. Grignon attended the show wearing a Jedi robe; he was one of the few local fans decked out in movie garb.
Grignon, who attended the premiere with his father, Jeff, became a fan of Star Wars four years ago. He said he saw his first movie, the original 1977 film, after playing several video games based on the space saga.
“The movies sounded pretty cool, so I checked them out,” Grignon said, noting that Han Solo is his favorite character in the movies.
Harrison Ford, who plays the cavalier captain of the Millennium Falcon, is reprising his role in “The Force Awakens,” and Grignon was eager to see how the character would be portrayed in the newest film. However, he was also curious to see if the rumors were true that Luke Skywalker, one of the main heroes in the original trilogy, had fallen prey to the Dark Side of the Force.
“It seems likely,” Grignon said.
Oren Hill, of Shawano, was not baptized into the Star Wars franchise via the original trilogy. Born in 1995, he got his first taste of the Force when “The Phantom Menace” hit theaters in 1999.
“I saw the prequels when they came out, fell in love with them,” Hill said. “Me and seven of my friends have been big fans of it since we were children.”
“Revenge of the Sith” is Hill’s favorite out of the first six films, although he was hopeful that “The Force Awakens” will become his new favorite.