Geelong Advertiser

Family joins the Force

Geelong prepares for fever

- CHAD VAN ESTROP

A GALAXY far, far away will come to Geelong from midnight tonight with the unveiling of the latest Star Wars movie The Last Jedi.

Lukes, Leias, Chewbaccas and stormtroop­ers are expected to descend on the CBD, with Village Cinema screening the second film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy to a select group of hard-core fans.

The Hase family from Armstrong Creek showed their enthusiasm yesterday, taking the opportunit­y to break out their Star Wars- themed costumes.

“The force is strong in my family,” Kris Hase said.

“For me it will be the big event of the year. There is pretty much a movie coming out every year for the next few years.”

Mr Hase is a member of the 501st Legion — an internatio­nal collective of fans renowned for having Star Wars costumes which are almost identical to those in the films.

Mr Hase, and about 50 other members of the 501st Legion, will travel to IMAX in Melbourne tonight for the eagerly anticipate­d sequel.

The movie has already sold more than 10,000 3D tickets at IMAX ahead of the first screenings from 12.01am tomorrow morning, while Village’s 12.20am Gold Class session is one of six sold-out sessions in Geelong tomorrow.

Directed by Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi picks up from Star Wars: The Force Awakens which was released in 2015. It will be the final onscreen performanc­e by Carrie Fisher, who died late last year.

Online bookmaker Sportsbet is tipping the latest film will rake in between $28-$32 million in Australia.

To mark the release of the movie The Workers Club Geelong will hold a Star Warsthemed trivia tonight.

Pre-production of the next movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Episode IX, has begun. It will be directed by JJ Abrams and is scheduled to be released by 2020.

 ??  ?? Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi.
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi.

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