“Rogue One” may not have a Roman numeral in its name, but Thursday night’s debut nevertheless brought out costumed Jedi knights and other Star Wars fans in droves.
Most of them went back into the night with smiles on their faces. And at least one of them, Makenna Hoffard, thought it was better than VII.
“I was expecting not to like it,” Hoffard, a recent graduate from the University of Washington, said after the 10:30 p.m. showing at Lincoln Square Cinemas in Bellevue, Wash.
She knows the ins and outs of the Star Wars canon, based on myriad spin-off books as well as the movies, and she said the latest film “upheld the story” even though it’s a stand-alone film and not officially part of the nine-episode big-screen masterwork.
“They made it modern and funny, like a Marvel movie kind of vibe,” she said.
Hoffard couldn’t say the same for last year’s Episode VII, “The Force Awakens,” which she faulted for taking too many liberties with the canon. “I cried after the seventh movie, and not in a good way,” she said.
Margaret Urfer showed up at the theater in a Jedi knight costume that she made herself, and gave “Rogue One” a thumbs-up afterward. “Slow at the beginning, but it builds up so much,” the software engineer said.
Urfer wasn’t the only one to show up in Star Wars regalia. Some moviegoers wore “Rogue One” logo sportswear. Among the costumed set, Jedi robes were the favored attire, but the line at Seattle’s Cinerama included Imperial stormtroopers and even the occasional Jawa scavenger, pod racer and X-Wing pilot.
The biggest game in town besides #Hawks. Fans fill up @SeattleCinerama to catch #RougeOne #komonews pic.twitter.com/wCWRSmSmiV
— Thomas Lin (@TLinkomo4) December 16, 2016
People bundled up and dressed up outside the @SeattleCinerama for the #RogueOne premiere pic.twitter.com/k9kMB8uBfK
— Henry Rosoff (@HenryKIRO7) December 16, 2016
The Cinerama even tricked up its tap for Fremont Brewing’s Dark Star oatmeal stout with a Star Wars theme:
Our tap handle game is on point thanks to the fine folks at @fremontbrewing! #DarkStar #RogueOne #ThatsNoMoon pic.twitter.com/GkCWNqnt4W
— Seattle Cinerama (@SeattleCinerama) December 15, 2016
#icymi starting Thursday we'll be pouring #DarkStar oatmeal stout from @fremontbrewing! #RogueOne pic.twitter.com/1XNDbMz5o5
— Seattle Cinerama (@SeattleCinerama) December 13, 2016
To celebrate its showings, the Pacific Science Center brought in a squadron of stormtroopers and other Star Wars characters from the 501st Legion, a global group of community-minded costume aficionados that has a garrison headquartered in Washington state:
For the premiere of @RogueOneMovie we had a few very special guests join us to explore the our exhibits @501stLegion #StarWarsRogueOne pic.twitter.com/jRb9GqY7VD
— PacificScienceCenter (@PacSci) December 15, 2016
Members of the @501stLegion on hand to help us celebrate the opening of @RogueOneMovie pic.twitter.com/hrKDBOaWzB
— PacificScienceCenter (@PacSci) December 15, 2016
GeekWire’s alpha Star Wars fan, Kevin Lisota, said “Rogue One” was a worthy addition to the saga – but left him wanting more.
“All of the nods to the original were fun, and there are certainly a lot of them,” he said. “However, the film left me feeling that the Star Wars franchise needs to break free of the original movies and explore new ground.”
Although Thursday night’s showings were a big draw, the Star Wars stampede is expected to continue into the weekend. Variety reported that “Rogue One” reaped $29 million in box-office revenues – which makes it this year’s biggest Thursday-night preview.
Box-office watchers say the film should bring in $120 million to $150 million domestically this weekend, with another $150 million coming in from international ticket sales.
Variety says “Rogue One” is likely to rank No. 2 on the box-office list for December domestic openings. So what’s No. 1? That would be “The Force Awakens,” which brought in $248 million during its first weekend a year ago.
