The wait for ‘Star Wars’ is finally over (sort of)

There are many, many, many reasons why “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is poised to be one of the biggest blockbusters since the dawn of filmmaking, and lots of them were sitting on floors and in camping chairs outside of movie theaters on Thursday afternoon.

One of them was Cody Cochrane, 33, of Mooresville, who arrived at AMC Concord Mills 13 hours ahead of time to see the 3D IMAX version of the new movie on Thursday – with his $150 replica of Master Yoda’s lightsaber in tow.

“See it five times this weekend we’re going to,” he said.

Or, at least, I wished he’d said it like that. But still: “We’re gonna see it five times this weekend” is enough to leave pretty much anyone who’s not a “Star Wars” nerd scraping his jaw off the floor.

Until he meets Roger Bigham, 47, of Kannapolis, who was at the head of a line for a 7 p.m. 2D screening at Concord Mills.

Bigham: “I’ll see this movie at least 20 times.” (He said that’s how many times he saw the original 1977 “Star Wars” at Kannapolis’ Gem Theatre as a 9-year-old boy.) His plan Thursday, he announced with a straight face, was to come out of the 7 p.m. screening and get right back in line to try to buy a ticket to a 10 o’clock screening.

He’d need some luck, however. According to Fandango.com, there were 194 screenings of “The Force Awakens” in the Charlotte area Thursday night eligible for advance purchase. More than 80 of those were sold out as of 7 p.m. Thursday.

Advance ticket sales figures for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” – the seventh installment in the series but the first flying under the Disney flag – would make Mickey Mouse blush: more than $100 million. Previously, the record holder was “The Dark Knight Rises,” which pre-sold a comparatively paltry $25 million worth of tickets in 2012.

And while “The Force Awakens” certainly has some work to do to beat “Jurassic World’s” $208.8 million record-setting opening-weekend haul from this past summer, it seems a safe bet that Han Solo & Co. will wrestle the crown from those digital dinosaurs.

If (or, when?) it does, it’ll be thanks to people like Cody Cochrane and Roger Bigham. Oh, and people like Allison Verdun, 20, who was first in line for a 7:15 p.m. 3D show on Thursday at AMC Northlake.

The CPCC student set up camp around 1 p.m. on a lawn chair on the sidewalk near the box office and sat there, sometimes in the rain, armed with an iPad loaded up with episodes of Disney XD’s animated series “Star Wars Rebels.”

“I’m seeing it tonight with my friend. Then I’m seeing it tomorrow as well, with my family,” said Verdun, adding that she’s hoping to catch it a third time before the weekend ends.

Again, it’s all enough to drive pretty much anyone who’s not a “Star Wars” nerd crazy. Like, you haven’t even seen the movie yet, people! What if it’s terrible!?

But the thing is, it’s not terrible. I’m not a “Star Wars” nerd, but I was thrilled enough by it at a Tuesday screening that I would have gone back and seen it Wednesday (if it had been in theaters).

Meanwhile, Observer movie critic Lawrence Toppman gave “The Force Awakens” 3.5 stars, and apparently, so did a lot of other critics: Movie-review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com had it with a 94 percent positive rating as of Thursday night, with 235 reviews counted.

And so on the strength of that positive buzz – plus the fact that the die-hards will be back again and again over the weekend, plus the fact that millions want to see it before the major twists are spoiled – the experts at prognosticating website BoxOfficeMojo.com are calling for a boffo $254.7 million opening weekend.

All of this, of course, means one thing: Movie theaters in and around Charlotte will be packed this weekend. PACKED. (Yes, ALL CAPS in this case are appropriate.)

Anne Huminsky of Matthews anticipated crowds, so she dropped by Regal Stonecrest about 10 a.m. Thursday to purchase advance tickets for an 11:45 a.m. Friday show for her mother, her daughter and her 14-year-old son.

But she hadn’t planned on the box-office employee telling her this: “He said to probably get here two hours beforehand if we want to sit together, even though we’ve already bought the tickets.”

So, our best advice to anyone heading to the theater is to err on the side of arriving (very) early if you’re seeing “The Force Awakens” anytime over the next couple of days. And by early, we mean by hours – yes, hours plural – especially if you are coming in a larger group.

Good luck. Or: May the Force be ... well, you get the idea.

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 12:30 PM with the headline "The wait for ‘Star Wars’ is finally over (sort of)."