Despite the wee hours of the morning and the lack of sleep, die-hard "Star Wars" fans at select movie theaters skipped work, school and most of life's responsibilities to binge-watch all six previous films before Thursday night's debut of the "Force Awakens."
Three of those marathon movie theaters were centered in the Bay Area - Redwood Downtown 20 in Redwood City, Century 20 Oakridge in San Jose and AMC Metreon 16 in San Francisco, where by 6 a.m. on Thursday, Episodes I and II had been played.
Movie goers came out for a breath of fresh air, and some popcorn, during a brief intermission to describe the mood. The marathon kicked off at 1 a.m. on Thursday and will last until about 6 p.m., giving fans just a small respite before the 7 p.m. showing of the seventh cult film - the last one made since 2005.
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"It's pretty electric, there's a good vibe in there," said Paul Benson of Santa Rosa. "Everyone is a die-hard fan."
As for Benson's stamina after about four hours of movie-watching: "So far so good," he said. "I've only slept through half a movie. It's going to be a long couple days."
"There's a lot of cheering," Bianca Torres of San Francisco added. "I only slept four hours yesterday. So I had to make some tough choices."
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She said she will go home and miss two of the "Star Wars" movies, so that she can rest and come back just before the much-anticipated "Force Awakens" airs.
For movie theaters not granted the Star Wars-marathon status, lines were already forming before the sun came up. At the IMAX Theater at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, a handful of brave souls stood out in the cold, waiting for the curtains to rise.
"It's part of the experience," Maxson Taylor said. "It's big cultural event."
