After waiting three years, Ketrinna Hammell is hopeful the next
seven days will fly by at the speed of light. Or, this week could
be one of the longest of her life as the
”
Star Wars
”
fan awaits the release of the film series’ final
installment.
After waiting three years, Ketrinna Hammell is hopeful the next seven days will fly by at the speed of light. Or, this week could be one of the longest of her life as the “Star Wars” fan awaits the release of the film series’ final installment.
The mania surrounding “Star Wars: Episode III – Return of the Sith” has local fans buying everything from the video game to lightsabers, the glowing swords made famous by the films. And walk into almost any grocery store or gas station, and you’ll likely be bombarded with towering displays of “Star Wars”-edition candies, cereals, soda and toys.
Fans have been waiting for the upcoming film, due out May 19, since the 2002 release of “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones,” which grossed $310.675 million according to Movieweb.com, a comprehensive movie Web site. Even more successful was “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” released in 1999, which raked in $431.088 million, making it the fifth top-grossing film of all time, according to the site.
Like Episodes I and II, the hype surrounding “Episode III” was touted by the recent release of the film’s accompanying interactive video game. Hammell, an employee at Gilroy’s Game Crazy video game store, said the store’s first shipment May 5 literally didn’t even make it to the shelves.
“Those were all pre-orders,” she said, adding the next couple of shipments sold out quickly.
Since the game’s release, a wide range of curious “Star Wars” fans have meandered into the store, Hammell said, including kids as young as 7 and adults upwards of 60.
“It’s for everybody,” Hammell said of the film series and video games. “It’s not really for this generation or that generation. The younger kids, they’re just getting into it, and the older generations, they’re finally getting to see the end of the story.”
Hammell said her interest in the films began when she was little, as she grew up watching the original trilogy. Shawn Cermeno and Derek Engen, both 14-year-old students at Brownell Middle School in Gilroy, have more interest in the recent films.
“I like the action,” Shawn said, clutching a skateboard outside McDonald’s Tuesday afternoon. “I like Yoda. He moves super fast.”
The friends said they hadn’t yet convinced their parents to buy any of the hundreds of movie-related toys and other merchandise, such as the lightsabers that Hammell stows away for an occasional duel.
“At home, I have Obi Wan’s lightsaber, and my brother has Skywalker’s lightsaber,” she said.
In “Episode I,” Anakin Skywalker, the starring Jedi Knight, was a 9-year-old boy. In “Episode II,” he fell in love. And in the third installment, he will be seduced by an evil mentor to become the malevolent Darth Vader, connecting the three most recent films in the series to the three produced decades ago.
“It will make the story complete. It finally crosses the line between the old and the new,” Hammell said.
Almost two dozen advance tickets have been sold at Gilroy’s Platinum Theatres, said manager Sarah Householder. The movie also will open May 19 at Hollister’s Premiere Cinemas.
“All I can say is the movie is really good. But I can’t give any of it away,” Householder said.
The title of the movie comes from the Sith, a group that is the sworn enemy of the Jedi and masters of the dark side of the force, according to the “Star Wars” Web site. The Sith thought to have been exterminated by the Jedi long ago but continued operating their evil in secrecy, and in the final installment, they will impose their calculated revenge on the Jedi.
Starring in the PG-13-rated movie are Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker.
