Wookiee in waiting: Local ‘Star Wars’ fan first in line for 7 p.m. premiere

Posted 12/17/15

Dressed up as Chewbacca, Jake Morrison of Powell set up camp outside Vali Twin Cinema at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday for the 7 p.m. premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

“It’s what I do, man — been waiting for ‘Star Wars’ tickets, …

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Wookiee in waiting: Local ‘Star Wars’ fan first in line for 7 p.m. premiere

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Han Solo said to “let the Wookiee win,” but when it comes to being first in line for the new “Star Wars” movie premiere, this Wookiee left everyone eating his space dust.

Dressed up as Chewbacca, Jake Morrison of Powell set up camp outside Vali Twin Cinema at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday for the 7 p.m. premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

“It’s what I do, man — been waiting for ‘Star Wars’ tickets, or to get in, since I was a kid,” Jake said. “It is normal for me to take the day off for this.”

Morrison already had tickets to the show; he was just waiting to get in and claim the first seat. The middle of the theater, toward the center, is the best seat in the house, he said.

Temperatures were hovering in the single digits Thursday morning, but the furry Chewbacca costume was keeping him warm, Morrison said.

Morrison, 36, wasn’t even born yet when the first “Star Wars” movie was in theaters in 1977.

“But I caught up and grew up with the VHS tapes,” Morrison said. By the time he was a teenager, episodes 1-3 were released, and he would drive from Worland to Cody for the premieres with his friends, he said.

Unlike the previous six “Star Wars” movies, “The Force Awakens” was made through Disney, and Morrison said he wasn’t too happy about it at first — that is, until J.J. Abrams got involved and brought in Lawrence Kasden (writer for “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return of the Jedi,” and the Indiana Jones film “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) and Michael Arndt (writer for “Toy Story 3” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”).  

“That made me happier. He (Kasden) does amazing things with amazing movies,” Jake said.

So far, “The Empire Strikes Back” remains Morrison’s favorite, he said.

“It had the best of everything — the Hoth battle, Yoda training, Darth is Luke’s father — the universe got bigger than just space ships blowing up,” Morrison said. “To me, it is the greatest sci-fi movie. I can relate to it in real life.”

Morrison said he dealt with anger as a teenager, but knew he needed to calm down.

“It was like Obi-Wan telling me not to give into the anger,” Morrison said.

But for now, there is no calming down this Star Wars fan as he eagerly waits for the show to begin at 7 p.m.; another showing on the theater's second screen will start at 7:15 p.m.

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