Star Wars anticipation grows

New trailer brings many questions as well as record opening night ticket pre-sales

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.…” the new installment of Star Wars, The Force Awakens releases on December 18th and many fans such as Elder junior Adam Keller have multiple thoughts on the new movie based on the trailers that have been recently released.

“I think the way the trailers have appeared makes this new trilogy seem to start out like how Episode IV: A New Hope did with new characters discovering their ways with the force and becoming Jedi.”

Along with new characters, John Boyega as Finn, and Daisy Ridley as Rey, there are sure to be new twists to a franchise that has some of the best “jaw-dropping” moments of all time, such as “Luke I am your father”.

While new characters will be introduced, the adventures of Han Solo, Princess Leia and Chewbacca will continue. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher return as Han and Leia, while Mark Hamill is also scheduled to make a return as Luke Skywalker.

I asked Adam his thoughts on Luke not being on the movie poster or in the trailers, “I think they are trying to contain the hidden elements of Luke a mystery for now. I believe he will be a big part of the movie. He narrates one of the teaser trailers and he sounds wiser than he did as a character in the original trilogy.”

Like Adam many fans are shocked that Luke has been kept a secret.While the trailers have been secretive, bits and pieces have been revealed and there are many opinions on what is to come. Adam quickly indicated that some things seen in the trailer have even created negative views toward the movie, “I hate the light saber that Kylo Ren has with the two saber above the hands, as well as the fact that storm troopers are no longer clones but people.

The mega media frenzy created by the Disney marketing crew has been more than successful. So far advanced ticket sales have broken all records due to unprecedented demands.

Fandango issued the first glimpse of ticket sales data for the hugely anticipated film, and according to the company, online traffic surged to seven times its typical peak levels, and pushed advance sales for The Force Awakens to a record-setting first day of pre-sales.

The previous first-day sales record was held by 2012’s The Hunger Games and The Force Awakens, sold eight times as many tickets on the first day of sales. Within minutes of the tickets being released many theaters were sold out and internet sites, such as Fandango were crashing due to overload of fans.

According to an Entertainment Weekly report, movie theaters are continually adding new show times on Fandango to meet the phenomenal demand. AMC Theatres, the second-largest chain in the country with over 5,000 locations, indicated that the film had broken its single-day advance ticket sales record more than 10 times over. It didn’t release specific figures, but more than 1,000 shows nationwide sold out within 12 hours.

Movietickets.com has stated through multiple media outlets that, traffic was three times higher than at any point in its 15 year history. Advance tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is already selling four times greater than for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith over the same time span.

Star Wars is starting a new adventure, and the world is taking notice. It appears as though the 2015 Holiday Season is going to be dominated by a galaxy far, far, away.

The force has awakened.