By David Preece
They wielded glowing light sabers, played ?Star Wars? Trivial Pursuit and lounged in Yoda sleeping bags to pass the time until 12:01 a.m., when ?Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith? was finally released May 19.
Some dressed normally and some dressed as Jedi. Some came minutes before the movie began and some camped out for days. But at 2:39 a.m., after all was said and done and the final installment of the six-movie epic was over, fans had only one thing to say:
?I liked it.?
Most fans managed to keep their eyes opened and glued on the screen for the premiere of the final installment in the six-film series, despite the late night premiere.
Multiplexes all over Utah County sold out their midnight show times.
?We started selling tickets in the first week of May and our midnight showing sold out pretty much instantly,? said Troy Taylor, general manager of Cinemark 16 at Provo Towne Centre mall.
Carmike Wynnsong 12 at the Riverwoods in Orem boasted selling all their midnight screenings in a week.
An estimated 3,500 moviegoers bought out all 12 auditoriums for the first screening at the Gateway?s Megaplex 12 in Salt Lake City.
The last film to sell out all 12 screens for a midnight showing was ?The Return of the King.? According to Dick Cornell, manager of Megaplex 12, the final installment in the ?Lord of the Rings? series attracted many of the same fans ? just as devoted and just as dressed up.
Tickets for ?Episode III? went on sale just over a month ago and Megaplex 12 sold out two weeks after ticket sales began. Demand for early screenings of ?Revenge of the Sith? was so high that Cornell added a 3 a.m. show time. He said the theatre sold nearly 600 tickets for that screening.
Cornell said he guessed that fans were not only excited to have another Star Wars, but were looking forward to having their last few questions about the story answered, particularly how Anakin Skywalker transformed into one of the most infamous screen villains of all time.
?People respond to the film because it?s the last one, because it wraps the story together. They want to know, how did he become Darth Vader?? Cornell said.
More than one fan came to see that mystery resolved. BYU alumnus Becca Lauritzen came for the transformation of Darth Vader.
?I want to see how balance changing from good to evil,? Lauritzen said. ?I want to see how it happened.?
Although many fans said they were disappointed with the first two films, most seemed to think ?Episode III? was the best of the prequels.
?I would come no matter what, but I heard that this episode redeems all the prequels,? said Rachel Kovacs, 28, from Farmington, who was dressed in her finest Jedi Knight attire. ?This is the one we?ve all looked forward to.?
Kovacs was not alone in dressing up to show her support. Also to be seen were Wookies, Storm Troopers, Darth Maul, Darth Vader, Count Dooku and many, many Jedi.
Many fans were simultaneously excited for the newest film and sad for the end of the series, which began in 1977.
When the film was over, very few were disappointed.
?It was an excellent movie,? said Steve Stone, who watched the film Thursday in Provo. ?It had everything emotion it needed ? happy, sad, drama. I watched the others last week so I was all prepared. By far, this was my favorite of all six.?