By far the most talked about event at Star Wars Celebration V will be “The Main Event,” George Lucas’ interview with Daily Show host Jon Stewart. If you have never seen these two men interact before, it is quite the spectacle. Jon Stewart, is himself an obsessed Star Wars fan and when he speaks with “the bearded one” it is almost as if he is channeling the spirit of every other obsessed Star Wars fan. In other words it’s a lot like you are talking to George, except John Stewart is too much of a professional to get overly star struck. Oh he does get a little giddy at times, but so would you.
So, obviously this event will be the most attended event of the entire show, but not everyone who wants to see it live, will. That isn’t a guess, that is a fact stated by Celebration V organizers. But, the situation is actually a little more crazy than it might appear on the surface. SWCV organizers say that slightly more than 7,000 people will be able to see the event live, with only 1200 guests in the room where the event will actually happen, and the rest seeing it simulcast live in other rooms at the Orange County Convention Center. What is not readily obvious is how many fans will be left out of the event.
Consider this, at Celebration IV in 2007, over 17,000 guests attended the 4 day event. However, a lot has happened in the Star Wars universe since 2007. The Clone Wars is a widely popular television series, The Force unleashed has become a mega popular video game series and fans are eagerly awaiting the launch of the new “Old Republic” online game. There is also talk about possibly 2 new television series and Star Wars Comic Books and Novels are as popular as ever. So there is a lot of buzz around Star Wars right now. Also, this years celebration event boast's something no other celebration has ever had… Luke Skywalker. Actor Mark Hammil who portrayed “the last Jedi” in the original Star Wars trilogy has never been to a Celebration event before and he is expected to be a major draw for die hard fans. With all of these factors added in it is a distinct possibility that SWCV will blow away previous attendance records.
Once you add in all these factors you begin to realize that quite nearly 10,000 Celebration guests will be left out in the cold… well seeing as how SWCV is in Orlando FL this year they will be left out in the sticky, humid and hot, but you know what I mean. The die hard fans will likely be lining up Friday night for the Saturday event. This actually poses a large problem for Disney fans who want to be in the main hall for the George Lucas event, because they will likely have to stay up all night Friday, enjoy the Interview and at some point catch a little sleep before proceeding to Hollywood Studio’s for the “Last Tour to Endor” event, that guests will be able to arrive for at 4pm. Keep in mind I am in no way complaining. Simply pointing out some the interesting pitfalls that await Star Wars fans at Celebration V. So, if there is any point to this post at all, it is this… Plan ahead, plan ahead, plan ahead.
-Admiral Duke
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