Star Wars superfans celebrate 'May the Fourth' with overnight movie marathon in San Francisco
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema New Mission, a theater in San Francisco's Mission District. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO - Several hundred Star Wars superfans took their adoration for the film franchise to a whole other level over the weekend, catching all nine episodes in an overnight marathon.
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in San Francisco’s Mission District hosted The Skywalker Saga Marathon, which began on Friday and ran through Saturday evening.
"There is a nostalgia that I think that everybody can respond to, where at some point in your life, you’ve connected with a part of Star Wars, and it's deeper than any fan base that I think I’ve been a part of," said super fan, Hunter Otwell of Tracy, who arrived at the theater armed with his lightsaber.
For fans like Otwell, who’ve seen them all, one of the benefits of binge-watching included perhaps picking up on something new about the films.
American actor Harrison Ford, as Hans Solo, on the set of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope written, directed and produced by Georges Lucas. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
"We talked about Episode One in the prequels, when Qui-Gon Ginn dies," said Bridget Garraway, a marathon organizer. "You can hear that the music played at his funeral is also the same music played when Anakin becomes Darth Vader, so it’s almost like symbolizing the death of a Jedi and the rise of Darth Vader."
Moviegoers were treated to a Star Wars-themed food and drink menu, and bottomless coffee and Coca-cola to stay awake.
"I’m feeling like I’ve lost sense of what time it is. I’ve been in space for 20 hours," said super fan and super dad Emmanuel Saccoccini, who brought his daughter Bianca to the marathon. "I was not expecting for her to be such a fan, and now she’s more of a fan than me, which I thought was not possible."