In the end, ratings were up 13%, but what this strategy actually did was remind every Joe Blow that hey, that Star Wars movie is coming out, I’ve got to take the kids. Anticipating heavy web traffic, I set up tweet alerts on Star Wars (my cell is officially the most nerdy, I get tweet alerts from Star Wars and Stephen Amell), made sure my Fandango app notifications were on, signed up for email alerts for The Force Awakens and checked Fandango throughout the day. Cut to 8:25pm when I get frantic texts from members of my 4 person group planning to see Star Wars in an IMAX theater preferably the earlier showing due to ungodly wake up times for friends that the tickets were on sale.
The App went to a timeout screen of terror. Both AMC and Fandango sites were down. Three of us tried for tickets on 8 different devices. NADA. And while someone out there reading this may think, why not just go for the IMAX tickets the next day? As I told a friend recently…for any long anticipated movie, I must go the Thursday evening before opening day. It brings me physical (metaphorical) pain to know that others, many others out there have seen it and I’m just some dolt sitting at work trying to avoid any mention of said film anywhere. It eats me from the inside thinking about it. Yes, this is why we all read this site no? That’s totally normal!
After a 45 minute conference call, New York theater location negotiation (we all work in Manhattan, but I live in Jersey and friends live in Astoria), we bought regular tickets because Fandango and AMC (shouldn’t AMC Stubs holders get at least a 10 minute head start?) betrayed me and no IMAX tickets were available. And while all of this was going on, I totally missed the trailer on TV. Cue the Star Wars tweet with a link to the trailer — guess those tweet alerts were useful after all. The trailer deserved to be viewed on the big screen and that is why Chromecast comes in handy.
While I did not have the wits to film a trailer reaction (picture me on a couch sandwiched by cats surrounded by devices), I can accurately recreate my reaction with Gifs (much more entertaining anyway.)
Anticipation (Buffering)
Recognition (It reminds me of A New Hope and Luke)
Wide-Eyed Optimism (It feels like home to me)
The Questioning (Isn’t she, but isn’t he?)
Goofy Grin (at those last words spoken)
But What Does it all Mean?
As I mentioned last week, I’ve been knee deep in fan theories, philosophical questions and previous trailer breakdowns. However, I feel so behind compared to the other sources out there, that I figure it is best to hear from them directly.
I’ve been crushing hard on Jessica Chobot over at Nerdist News. You can see why.
And because more than one source is always necessary, I turned to Screen Junkies for multiple opinions.
And good old reliable EW has the frame by frame breakdown. Check it.
Now that you are chock full of nerdy Star Wars goodness, what are you theories about Episode 7? Who do you think is the skywalker kid? Where is Luke? Did you get your tickets?
