Want to watch all the Star Wars on the big screen? One Sydney boutique cinema is offering exactly that, playing all nine films back to back in their original chronological order.
The screening is being hosted by Ritz Cinemas in Sydney’s Randwick, a cinema with a long tradition of retro screenings and movie marathons. (They recently aired the 4K remaster of Akira, and they’re airing a special screening of Jurassic Park in 35mm next week.)
But on the same weekend that E3 begins — Saturday June 12, usually the day EA Play kicks off, although EA hasn’t confirmed if they’re doing anything this year — is when you can strap yourself in for a proper marathon. For a $50 ticket, the action starts from 11:00am with A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
That runs until the early evening, when proceedings break for a half-hour dinner break (and presumably a quick COVID clean of the cinema). It’s then back in the seats for the longest leg of the gauntlet: Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens. That’s almost nine and a half hours of Star Wars, and it’ll take you through into the early hours of the morning. After another half hour food break — just before 5:00 am, mind you — it’s onto The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, carrying you through into Sunday morning proper.
Here’s the full schedule if you want to sign up for the gauntlet:
11:00am – Episode IV: A New Hope (1977, PG, 125 mins), 1:20pm – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980, PG, 127 mins), 3:45pm – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983, PG, 136 mins)
30 minute break for dinner
6:30pm – Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999, PG, 136 mins), 09:10pm – Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, PG, 144 mins), 11:50am – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005, M, 140 mins), 2:25am – Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015, M, 135 minutes)
30 minute food break
5:10am – Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017, M, 152 minutes), 8:00am – Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019, M, 144 mins)
Finish 10:25am (Sunday 13 June)
It’s worth noting that there’ll also be an 15 minute break in between each film, outside of the dinner/food breaks mentioned. So if you’re the type who never gets up to pee mid-film, the Ritz isn’t going to force you to sit through everything completely back to back.
Pretty neat. I’ll be skipping this one given there’s at least Ubisoft and the PC Gaming Show early Sunday morning, but if you’re keen for lots of Sith lords and some trilogies on trilogies, you can book yourself a ticket here.
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