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Star Wars

Fans needn't go far, far away

Many fans first thought they'd have to leave the county to see a midnight screening of Star Wars.

By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published May 20, 2005

SPRING HILL - Rarely does a line of movie fans stretch around the plaza surrounding the Zota Beacon 10 theater more than two hours before a movie is scheduled to start.

It's also rare to see teenagers dressed in brown or black robes wielding plastic Wal-Mart lightsabers and to hear car stereos blast the dark theme song for Darth Vader.

The sight of hundreds of Star Wars fanatics flocking to the Zota Beacon 10 theater marks a coming of age for Hernando County's largest and only first-run movie theater.

Although just five years old, the Zota Beacon 10 theater at Cortez and Mariner boulevards has weathered three owners, as well as skyrocketing popularity, thanks to the county's exploding growth.

When the Spring Hill Cinema 8 theater on U.S. 19 transformed into a second-run theater last summer, the Beacon theater became the county's only option for new movies. Retirees keep the daytime shows busy. And it's a rare Friday night when teenagers don't spill out of the theater.

While the Beacon theater's corridors aren't as cavernous as the giant multiplexes in Tampa, the theater's new owners, Zota Theaters of Atlanta, have expansion plans in the works with preliminary talks calling for four more screens. Currently, the movie house offers 10.

"With the growth in the county, we feel the need to grow," said Rich Otte, the Beacon theater's general manager. "However, attendance is always dictated by the types of movies and quality of movies available. Just because you have a larger population doesn't mean your attendance is any better if you don't have good movies."

The 12:01 a.m. showing of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith early Thursday morning marked the third time the Beacon theater had ever featured a midnight movie. The theater's first midnight showing was Attack of the Clones in 2002 and then Spider-Man 2 in 2004.

The Beacon theater sold out its first official screenings of Revenge of the Sith first thing Wednesday morning, more than 12 hours before the movie would start. However, in some cities nationwide, the midnight showing had been sold out for days.

Hernando County movie-goers started arriving at the theater between 7 and 8 p.m. and by 10 the line stretched halfway around the movie house, attracting the attention of local sheriff's deputies on regular patrol, who stopped by the theater to keep an eye on things.

The theater opened the doors for Star Wars fans a little after 10 p.m., and they promptly started filling the theaters.

Many local Star Wars fans who bought tickets days ago said they wouldn't have guessed that the Spring Hill theater would show such a popular movie so early in the morning, as was the case nationwide. Several said they had originally planned to drive south to see the first official showing, meaning they probably wouldn't have gotten home until after 3 a.m. The movie runs about two hours and twenty minutes.

"I had been planning on seeing this down at the midnight showing in Tarpon Springs, until I happened to drive by here two days ago," said Eric Schaake, 32, of Spring Hill who has the Star Wars bounty hunter character Boba Fett tattooed on his right calf.

Schaake calls himself a "closet" Star Wars junkie, because he has a secret room in his house filled with Star Wars collectibles that few friends even know about.

"I promised my wife I'd take it all down once we have another child," said Schaake, whose 2-year-old and wife were at home asleep late Wednesday night.

The Spring Hill midnight feature attracted a number of exuberant fans, including a teenager dressed in jedi brown robes who entered each of the two packed theaters before the movie and attempted to recite all the words to Star Wars Gangsta Rap, which turns out to be a popular animated Internet short.

Many who packed the shows Thursday were students who promised parents they'd make it to school on time, although they were sure to only get three or four hours of sleep.

"They're going to be tired for school, and I'm going to be tired for work," said Christie Loughli, who brought sons Max, 13 and Sean, 16, along with several other extended family members. "It's nice to have something like this in the county."

A handful of former Hernando County residents living in Orlando drove into town to see the movie in Spring Hill, saying theaters in Orlando had long sold out their midnight showings.

"We were counting on Hernando County not having as massive a number of Star Wars geeks as Orlando," said David Murray, 20, who goes to University of Central Florida in Orlando and had graduated from Springstead High School.

Jennifer Liberto can be reached at 352848-1434 or liberto@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 19, 2005, 19:52:36]