New 'Star Wars' trailer to debut Friday in 30 theaters
Before heading online, the Force is waking up in traditional movie theaters.
The much-anticipated trailer for director J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens will make its debut at 30 cinemas in North America beginning Friday.
Abrams confirmed the news, tweeting "THANKSGIVING" from his Bad Robot Productions Twitter handle, along with a handwritten card informing fans that the footage will be 88 seconds long. (He also included a drawing of a TIE Fighter blowing something up, which may be a hint that the Empire is back and up to no good again in the seventh movie in the sci-fi franchise.)
According to Lucasfilm, the teaser will be seen in theaters around the world following this weekend's campaign. The movie opens Dec. 18, 2015.
Star Wars teasers have a history of being big-screen events: In 1998, the first footage from George Lucas prequel Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace was attached to showings of Wing Commander and Meet Joe Black.
"Star Wars is meant to be watched on the biggest screen you can find," says Eric Geller of the Star Wars fan site TheForce.net. "Combine the improved visual and auditory experience with the community aspect of attending with your friends specifically for this trailer, and you get a recipe for good memories.
"Never underestimate the power of getting pumped up about seeing new Star Wars content in a movie theater."
However, Geller does see negatives. For one, the theaters are few and far between — fans in less metropolitan areas will need to travel to see the footage, and having to spend upward of $15 to view a minute and a half of content may strike some as a money grab.
A resident of New York City, Mike Ryan of ScreenCrush.com has two theaters where the Star Wars trailer is playing, but there are none in his hometown of St. Louis. " So it does make some people feel left out," he says. "But on the other hand, it does feel like an 'event,' so that's a positive."
If Disney doesn't put the teaser online after the first weekend, it will earn even more enmity from fans, Geller says. "The only reason not to also put it online next Monday is to goose theatrical attendance. The 'limited' aspect will have disappeared — every theater will have it. At that point, the lack of an official upload will seem more like a stick in the eye of fans."
With so few theaters showing the trailer, which will be attached to several screens instead of one or two movies, Ryan doesn't expect there will be much impact on the holiday weekend's overall box office.
When the Phantom Menace trailer played before Meet Joe Black, "that movie only made $15 million that weekend," he says. "I'm sure those early morning screenings will be quite popular this Friday, but it's at so few theaters, I can't imagine how it will make any kind of substantial dent."
The U.S. and Canadian cities hosting the Force Awakens trailer include:
- Phoenix: Harkins Tempe Marketplace
- Los Angeles: AMC Century City and El Capitan
- Irvine, Calif.: Regal Spectrum Irvine 21
- San Francisco: AMC Meteron 16
- San Jose, Calif.: Cinemark Oakridge 20
- San Diego: Regal Mira Mesa 18
- Toronto: CPX Younge & Dundas
- Vancouver: CPX Riverport
- Denver: AMC Westminster 24
- Washington: AMC Tysons Corner 16
- Miami: Carmike Parisian 20
- Atlanta: Regal Atlantic Station
- Chicago: Regal City
- Boston: AMC Boston Commons 19
- Detroit: Cinemark Showcase 20
- Minneapolis: AMC Southdale
- Kansas City: AMC Studio 30
- New York City: AMC Lincoln Square 12 and Regal Union Square
- Cleveland: Cinemark 24
- Philadelphia: Regal Warrington 22
- Nashville: Carmike Thoroughbred 20
- Knoxville, Tenn.: Regal Pinnacle
- Dallas: Cinemark Plano 20
- Houston: Regal MARQ*E Stadium 23
- Austin: Alamo South Lamar
- Salt Lake City: Cinemark 24 WJ
- Seattle: Regal Thornton Place 14
- Milwaukee: Marcus Brookfield 16