Are you a first-tier “Star Wars” fan?
Well, the folks at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission in San Francisco are giving you a chance to prove it — in a major way — as they offer up “Star Wars: The Skywalker Marathon.”
It’s a mammoth movie marathon — featuring all nine films in what’s known as the “Skywalker Saga” — and it runs some 21 hours.
No, that’s not a typo or misprint.
The marathon kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday May 3 and is set to end at 5 p.m. May 4. Of course, the event is being held in honor what’s become an international celebration of all things “Star Wars” on May the Fourth, aka, “May the Fourth be With You” day. (This year’s May the Fourth just happens to coincide with Free Comic Book Day, resulting in 2024’s biggest celebration of so-called “geek” culture.)
“Alamo New Mission is one of only ten theaters in America getting to screen the complete Skywalker Saga, and we’re pretty proud to be the location running it in LucasFilm’s backyard,” says John Smith, senior film programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse group of theaters.
Alamo will have a full house for this event, but there were still a few ducats remaining as of Thursday morning. Tickets are $90, which isn’t so bad when you cost average that over the nine movies. Visit https://drafthouse.com/sf for more details.
Bridget Garraway, Alamo’s senior national events manager, says the reaction to this event from the public has been great and that most of the tickets were snatched up pretty quickly.
“With groups like the 501st (a worldwide ‘Star Wars’ fan-run costuming group) existing and how many spinoff shows, theme parks, and so much more are coming from these films, it’s safe to say this is an extremely passionate group of fans,” Garraway says.
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The nine films are not being screened in order of release date, but, rather, in a fashion that corresponds to the intended chronology of the storyline. That means that the “prequels” come first, beginning with “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” from 1999. Then the marathon marches through the three original ’70s and ’80s classics — including the one that started it all, 1977’s “Star Wars” — and then finally into the sequel trilogy, which ends with 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
Mercifully, the two “Star Wars” spinoffs — “Rogue One” and “Solo” — are not being included in this marathon, which focuses on the Luke Skywalker story arch.
“‘Star Wars’ has spanned multiple generations, and the three iterations of trilogies have done a great job of embracing those different generations,” Garraway says of the franchise’s appeal. “There’s a story and a film for everyone in this franchise.”
Of course, staying awake through all nine films will be a challenge for even the most ardent “Star Wars” fan. So, what will the Alamo staff do with the people who fall asleep?
“We’re not going to be closely monitoring all 300-plus attendees, but if anyone is snoring and getting in the way of another guest’s experience, they might get zapped by a floating training remote,” Smith jokes.
Any guesses on which of these films — which vary widely in quality — has the best chance of sending the crowd into nap time?
“Hopefully, none of them,” Garraway says. “Each film has such a great story and we’ll be doing some stretching and activities between movies. The force is with our audience! And so is the caffeine!”
