'Star Wars' fanatics in Macon awaken for the premiere

Eric Robbins stood with 24 friends at the front of the line in Macon's AmStar Cinemas on Thursday afternoon, eagerly awaiting an experience he'd been anticipating for years.

"Anybody that I've had a personal connection with that loves 'Star Wars,' we've made it a point to come and see this movie together," said Robbins, who donned a yellow shirt that featured a Death Star and a Millennium Falcon spaceship. "It's kind of one of those long-standing promises like, 'Someday when this movie comes out, we're going to see it together.' ... It's been in the works for years, as far as the theoretical planning of it."

Months ago, when tickets went on sale to see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Robbins, 24, bought 25 tickets to keep the promise he'd made to his friends. Despite having tickets in hand, Robbins and friends showed up at the north Macon theater at noon for the 7 p.m. premiere on the Imax screen.

"We bought two guitars and a ukulele," Robbins said after a game of "Star Wars"-themed Trivial Pursuit with three others seated in lawn chairs inside the theater. "We have been recording covers ... doing some music, playing some songs."

Because of the rain Thursday, theater officials allowed those waiting in line to move inside about an hour before giving the go-ahead to about 100 people to pick a seat about 5:15 p.m.

Both Imax showings on Thursday have long been sold out, said Trey Ivester, senior manager of the theater.

"This is like 'Harry Potter' and 'Twilight' combined," Ivester said of the premiere's turnout. "All the big movies that create these huge lines, this is that times 10. ('Star Wars') is legendary."

The theater pre-sold about 30,000 tickets for the new movie, Ivester said.

"It's going in the record books for sure," Ivester said. "This movie is going to take all the (other record-breaking movies) down."

In the middle of the line, 14-year-old Cayton Sink held a bag of popcorn and a cup of soda as she waited with her dad, John Sink, who donned a Santa hat with Yoda ears protruding from the sides.

A Mary Persons High School freshman, Sink said she was raised watching "Star Wars" and enjoys "all the action and space, because I like space and science."

"Our basements is just lights and 'Star Wars' ornaments," Sink said. "(My dad) collects them. I think the earliest one we had was (from) like 1989. He has 'Star Wars' ornaments from every year since then."

While Robbins and Sink have been "Star Wars" fans since early childhood, 20-year-old A.J. Freeman, a freshman studying business at Middle Georgia State University, said he didn't get into the movies until he was about 13.

"I kind of was a late bloomer," Freeman said, recalling the first movie he'd ever watched on VHS at his former home in Missouri. "I do remember it was nothing like I'd ever seen. It was pretty cool."

Freeman, who came with Robbins' group, said he likes "Star Wars" because "it's so far-fetched beyond our reality. It's in the galaxy far, far away."

Robbins, a production minister associate at Ingleside Baptist Church, said, "'Star Wars' brings people together."

"It's one of those rare things that, when you find out that someone loves 'Star Wars' in a similar way that you do, you have that instant connection with that person," Robbins said. "I think that's such a novel thing. ... Today, it seems like it's a lot harder to find deeper connections with people right off the bat."

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 7:41 PM with the headline "'Star Wars' fanatics in Macon awaken for the premiere ."