“Star Wars” creator George Lucas has offered to send Imperial stormtroopers to escort the fan encampment at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to the ArcLight cinema complex for the first screening of “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
But there are refuseniks in the ranks.
The fan line, which numbers some 200 of the most ardent “Star Wars” devotees, is holding forth at Grauman’s in hopes Lucas’ latest and final installment will screen at the theater there, where the five previous episodes opened. But Lucas has contracted to unveil the film at the ArcLight, a mile away on Sunset Boulevard.
…But not all the Grauman’s die-hards will join the march. The 200 registered place-holders represent some 600 fans, of which about 150 are refuseniks who will either remain on Hollywood Boulevard in a candlelight vigil or plan to catch a midnight screening in Westwood or elsewhere in Hollywood.
“A lot of us are set to go with the stormtroopers, but some decided to politely say no thank you,” said “Star Wars” camper Jerry Anderson, 27, a Los Angeles college student who’s been on line since April 2. “It’s heartbreaking. The series opened here (in 1977) – why not end it here?”
