'Star Wars' fans awaken for new movie's release

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Jonny Green, left, 33, and Anton Burman, 26, both of San Diego dress as a Stormtrooper and Yoda while waiting for the 7 p.m. showing of “Star Wars: the Force Awakens” at Edwards Big Newport 6 in Newport Beach on Dec. 17. Green said he first watched “Star Wars” when he was 5 and he’s been a fan ever since. “The experience watching the hero’s journey happening in this space galactic opera left this huge impression on me,” he said. (Brittany Woolsey / Daily Pilot)

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Jessica Woods, 34, of San Diego said she dressed as a “comfortable Jedi” for the 7 p.m. showing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at Edwards Big Newport 6 in Newport Beach on Dec. 17. She said she loves “Star Wars” because of the ideas it leaves for the imagination. “I like to imagine we’re more than just people on one planet. I like the whole concept of a galaxy full of things. Plus, lightsabers are fun,” she said. (Brittany Woolsey / Daily Pilot)

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Justin Bechtold, 23, of Tustin, dressed as a Sith Acolyte from the “Star Wars” films poses while waiting for the 7 p.m. showing of “The Force Awakens” at Edwards Big Newport 6 on Dec. 17. He said he loves “Star Wars” because of the community it has created. “It brings everyone together over storytelling, certain moral values or just having a great time. It’s great entertainment,” he said. (Brittany Woolsey / Daily Pilot)

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Heather Black, 29, of Anaheim, waits for the 7 p.m. showing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at Edwards Big Newport 6 on Dec. 17 dressed in a Chewbacca sweatshirt and hat. She said she loves the franchise so much that she and her husband themed their wedding after “Star Wars” earlier this year. (Brittany Woolsey / Daily Pilot)

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R.J. Perez, 54, of San Diego dresses as Obi Wan Kenobi from the “Star Wars” franchise in front of Edwards Big Newport 6 in Newport Beach while waiting for the 7 p.m. showing of “The Force Awakens” on Dec. 17. When asked what he loves about “Star Wars,” he asked, “What’s not to love about ‘Star Wars’?” (Brittany Woolsey / Daily Pilot)

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Two Sterling BMW representatives dressed as Darth Vader and a Jedi from the “Star Wars” franchise pose in front of a 2015 BMW I8 in front of Edwards Big Newport 6 in Newport Beach on Dec. 17. (Brittany Woolsey / Daily Pilot)

By Hannah Fry, Brittany Woolsey

Dec. 18, 2015 3:45 PM PT

By the time another work week starts Monday, Heather Black will have seen “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” five times.

The 29-year-old Anaheim resident is such a fan of the “Star Wars” movie franchise that she and her husband themed their wedding after it. Black, bundled up in her fuzzy Chewbacca sweatshirt and hat, joined dozens of fellow enthusiasts Thursday at Edwards Big Newport 6 for a 7 p.m. preview screening of “The Force Awakens,” the latest film in the “Star Wars” series and the first since 2005.

On Thursday night, the anticipation at the Newport Beach cinema was palpable as fans, many of whom had donned their best Darth Vader, Jedi, Sith, stormtrooper and Yoda costumes, waited in line outside for their chance to watch the seventh installment in the sci-fi franchise.

“The Force Awakens” centers on a scenario in which both the Resistance and the menacing First Order are searching for hero Luke Skywalker, who has mysteriously vanished.

“It brings everyone together over storytelling, certain moral values or just having a great time,” Justin Bechtold, 23, of Tustin said of the films. “It’s great entertainment.”

By the end of the first screenings across the nation, director J.J. Abrams’ picture, which stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Issac, Harrison Ford, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, had nabbed $57 million at the box office, breaking the record for preview screenings set by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” which earned $43.5 million in Thursday showings in 2011.

The first “Star Wars” movie, written and directed by George Lucas, hit theaters in 1977 and launched a cultural phenomenon that has lasted nearly 40 years.

Jonny Green, 33, said he watched the first film when he was 5 years old. He became an instant fan.

“The experience watching the hero’s journey happening in this space galactic opera left this huge impression on me,” he said.

‘Star Wars’ fans awaken for new movie’s release