Those of us living in the U.S. have to wait until December 18 to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theaters, but if you're planning a trip across the pond around that time, you’re in luck. Disney announced via the official social media accounts for Star Wars that the highly anticipated new installment of the franchise will drop a day earlier in the U.K.
The Star Wars: The Force Awakens Facebook page accompanied the earlier release announcement with a video of Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren igniting his cross-guard lightsaber in the wintry woods from the trailer. The brief clip finishes with the caption "100 Days To Go." Watch it below.
100 Days To The Force AwakensThe Force Awakens will be released in the UK on December 17th. The 100 day countdown starts today!Posted by Star Wars on Monday, September 7, 2015
However, this is not the earliest one can see The Force Awakens. As noted by Entertainment Weekly, the seventh film in the Star Wars saga will hit the United Arab Emirates on December 15, which is only fitting as parts of the film were snapped there. Then, on December 16, the film will debut in France, Italy, Denmark, parts of Switzerland, and more European destinations. The U.K. will then join locales like Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, and Hong Kong with premieres on December 17.
Back in 2013, for the release of Iron Man 3, Moviefone broke down why more and more big blockbusters are getting earlier releases abroad. According to their analysis, films of this magnitude are earning more money overseas than they are domestically. In addition, Exhibitor Relations Co. Senior Box Office Analyst Jeff Bock told Moviefone that sometimes it depends on timing. When is the studio able to fly the cast around the world to promote the film? When is the best time to release a film, and where can the studio best maximize profits? Because of this, many Marvel films — such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Thor: The Dark World — as well as Star Trek Into Darkness and now The Force Awakens open earlier in international locales.
We know, it seems painful to think that there are people around the world who will be able to see this film that we’ve been waiting more then a decade to see before us. If there’s any solace, it lies in the promotional materials that will undoubtedly hold us over just one more day. If you want to find out the events following Return of the Jedi that lead us up to The Force Awakens, you can pick up Star Wars: Aftermath, a new book within the Star Wars canon that tells just that. Then there’s the DLC coming to Star Wars Battlefront called Battle of Jakku, which depicts the battle that led the desert planet to be littered with the bones of starships. It's a great time to be a Star Wars fan, wouldn't you agree?
