I love Star Wars and will likely sneek a break in the middle of the week and see it but some of those fans are Crrrrazy. The theater opened the movie @ 12am and there was a line of traffic 2.5 miles long to the theater. I'm sure only about 1/3 of those miles actually got in to the movie.



Stellar 'Sith' is box office's new hope
By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
Looks as if Darth Vader was right: The dark side is pretty powerful. It just wasn't strong enough to bring balance to the box office galaxy — yet.
Despite breaking several box office records, Sith wasn't able to stop the box office slump — but repeat viewings could change that.
Lucasfilm

Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas' gloomy final installment of his space saga, took in a whopping $158.5 million since opening Thursday, according to estimates from Nielsen EDI.

Along the way, Sith broke several ticket-sales records. It not only became the biggest four-day opener, it grossed more in four days than any other movie has in five. It also had the best single day at the box office, taking in $50 million on Thursday. (Related chart: See the weekend's top 10 movies)

About the only record left standing was biggest three-day opening weekend, the Friday-through-Sunday span that is usually a movie's most lucrative. Because Sith opened on Thursday and business then tapered off, the film's $108.5 million weekend total fell short of 2002's Spider-Man, which opened on a Friday and took in $114.8 million.
Biggest four-day openings

Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), $158.5 M (estimate)

The Matrix: Reloaded (2003), $134.3 M

Spider-Man 2 (2004), $130.5 M

Spider-Man (2002), $125.9 M

Star Warsm Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), $110.2 M

Source: Box Office Mojo

Not that distributor 20th Century Fox was complaining. The film scored high marks with fans and critics, giving the studio hopes for a long run. About 83% of the nation's critics gave the film a positive review, according to the survey site rottentomatoes.com.

"We're getting great response in every corner," Fox distribution chief Bruce Snyder says. "Fans are coming out and getting right back in line."

Strong word of mouth, analysts say, probably will propel the film past $400 million and could make it one of the five highest-grossing films ever.

"This was the movie we'd been waiting for," fan Ronnie McDaniels, 22, said Saturday night after seeing the film for a third time at Arclight Cinemas in Los Angeles. McDaniels says he will see Sith "at least twice more. This is the last Star Wars. I want to say a long goodbye."

Sith's start wasn't enough, however, to end the industry's three-month drought. Overall ticket sales dropped 6% from the same weekend last year, the 13th straight weekend sales have lagged behind last year's pace.

"The industry had pinned its hopes on Star Wars," says Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations. "But one movie isn't enough. Star Wars hit a home run, but we need other movies up there hitting triples and doubles if we're going to catch up."

Monster-in-Law was No. 2 with $14.4 million, and Kicking and Screaming was third with $10.5 million. Final figures are due Monday.