Ticket Day: The wait pays off
From coast to coast, people snapped up advance tickets Wednesday for Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, reports CBS News correspondent Bobbi Harley.
Sales were brisk in cities as diverse as Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, and Orlando, Fla. In New York, some had waited as long as three days. Others didn't invest quite as much time.
"I called [the theater]," said New Yorker Stacey Osbeck. "I said, 'How many people are waiting? What are my chances?' They said, 'Oh, about six people.' I said, 'I'm going down, then. I've got a great chance'."
Some fans came prepared with lawn chairs and air mattresses. But that was nothing compared to a group that was creative enough to get a little electricity pumped into the line to power a TV set and VCR, to watch (what else?) Star Wars movies.
Meanwhile, in Augusta, Ga., Johnny Shipman, a 25-year-old welder, waited a week in line, enduring the barbs of passing hecklers. But his faithfulness paid off, as he became the first to buy tickets at the theater he had staked out.
"It was just intense,' Shipman said. "Cameras all in front of me, news crews and everything. ... It was more than I expected."
In Ames, Iowa, Lee Dahlhauser bought the first tickets sold, after spending all night in line in a driving rain, covered with blankets and sheets of plastic.
"I've been waiting 16 years for this," he said.
At Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, where the original Star Wars premiered in 1977 and where fans have been camping out for weeks, the line stretched along Hollywood Boulevard, down a side street and to the next block over.
It's important we see it on opening day at Mann's Chinese Theatre," explained Susanna Modjallal, 30. "If Lucas thought it was good enough to premiere here, it's good enough for me."
In Baltimore, the crowd outside the Senator Theater was three blocks long; Pete Levin, 32nd in line, had camped out with his sister and friend since 9 a.m. Tuesday.
"I didn't want anyone to spoil it for me," Levin said of his determination to get tickets to the very first showing."I want to be surprised. I didn't want anyone to tell me the ending."
Director-producer George Lucas initially barred advance ticket sales to prevent scalping, but relented under pressure from theater owners. In a compromise, theaters restricted sales to a maximum of 12 tickets per person.
Those who thought it would be a bit more sane buying tickets by phone or over the Internet were in for a surprise.
So many people called MovieFone for tickets that circuits were jammed, even though the ticket service added lines. MovieFone's Web site was also swamped.
"The demand has been even greater than we expected," said Christine Fakundiny, director of marketing for MovieFone. "But people are getting through, and we are processing them. The advice to the war weary is keep trying."