'Star Wars' stages glittering 'Last Jedi' premiere

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The trailers have dropped, the frantic media tours have concluded and the phony war is over: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" finally begins the real battle Saturday at its glittering world premiere.

Hotter than one of Yoda's root leaf curries, the movie is expected to cash in on 12 months of relentless hype with one of the biggest domestic opening weekends ever.

A galaxy of stars and lucky fans from near and far, far away will descend on downtown Los Angeles – the first moviegoers in the world outside of the production to see the eighth installment of the blockbuster space saga.

All eyes will be on the initial flood of social media reaction, encouraged by Lucasfilm, although the studio has embargoed detailed reviews until Tuesday.

Fans will have to be patient before heading to Twitter for the inevitable rhapsody of excited buzz, as "The Last Jedi" is the longest "Star Wars" movie ever, clocking in at 153 minutes.

/mtime.com Photo

The premiere comes six days before the movie's general release in US theaters, kicking off a run widely expected to be the most successful worldwide since 2015's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Good versus evil

Experts are predicting an opening weekend domestic box office of around 220 million US dollars, which would push it beyond "Jurassic World" (2015) into second place behind "Awakens" (248 million US dollars).

The cast came together in LA with director Rian Johnson on Sunday to build buzz for "The Last Jedi," which sees the return of the characters introduced in J.J. Abrams's first entry in the rebooted trilogy.

Gwendoline Christie, who plays stormtrooper commander Captain Phasma, put the continued relevance of "Star Wars" down to its foundational mythology of good versus evil.

A screenshot of "Star War: The Last Jedi" trailer from Twitter handle @starwars

"I think it's because the world we live in is a changing and evolving place that it retains the simplicity of those elements," she said.

"But it really resonates with what it is to follow your own human, dark, narcissistic tendencies, where that will take you."

Christie was joined at the event by returning stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domnhall Gleeson and Luke Skywalker himself – Mark Hamill.

There were new faces too: Kelly Marie Tran as Resistance maintenance worker Rose Tico and Laura Dern, who plays Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo.

"The Last Jedi" – filmed on the west coast of Ireland and at Pinewood Studios near London – marks the last appearance of Carrie Fisher, who died last December, having already wrapped her scenes.

Source(s): AFP