Star Wars fans are out in force (5 photos)

Nine shows split between two screens made for a busy night at Silver City Sudbury as Star Wars fans flooded the theatre on Dec. 17 to catch the opening night screenings of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

The theatre's general manager Mark Levesque says that he's never seen advance ticket sales sell out as quickly as they did for the seventh installment of the interstellar saga, and the opening night attendance ranks among the highest he's seen.

“I think the only one that might have been as big as this was Avatar,” said Levesque, who admitted he too is a fan of the movies, though he wasn't going to be in the audience for opening night.

“I'll definitely watch it, but it's pretty busy here tonight so I'll have to wait until I've got a day off I think.”

Fans of all ages came out in droves, some in Star Wars t-shirts, others in full costume, including “Master” Travis Zlotnik, who donned his Luke Skywalker get-up for the special occasion.

“I've been a fan forever, my first Christmas gifts that I can remember were from my dad and he got me a Boba Fett action figure and the original trilogy on VHS,” said Zlotnik.

The 25-year-old Zlotnik is pre-dated by the original trilogy which debuted in 1977, but like others in attendance, was introduced to the franchise by his father and says that the movies transcend age.

“I think there's something for everyone in these movies, there's such an array of characters and everyone can relate to someone whether it's Han Solo and Chewie as the best friends, or now you're seeing female characters taking a more prominent role so girls are getting more into the movies,” said Zlotnik.

Sunday afternoon Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Obi-Wan Ken-Robey, better know by his birth name, Bren Zurby echoed much of what Zlotnik said, while explaining the movie's ability to provide an escape.

“Day to day life can be mundane, but these movies are so expansive and really allow you to broaden your imagination, it's such a wide world with so many characters and species that it almost make an explorer out of you just getting into it,” said Zurby.