Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Fans to pack out Midland cinemas for new sci-fi release

Sci-fi enthusiasts will be packing out cinemas across the West Midlands through the weekend.

Takings over the next three days are expected to make the new film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the highest grossing film of the year so far.

See a trailer for the film here:

The hard core fans watched the film at the earliest opportunity as midnight performances were put on at multiplexes ahead of its full release yesterday.

Many donned fancy dress and cheered as the opening credits rolled.

Microbiologist Keiran Horton, aged 21 from Pendeford, came to Cineworld at Bentley Bridge dressed as villain Kylo Ren. He said: "The film was absolutely incredible.

"It is nothing the like the other ones, it is a completely different story."

James Beckett, 40 from Fordhouses, came complete with lightsaber, mask and uniform.

He said: "The film was really good, especially the story and all the fights. A lot of my costume was pre-made but it wasn't cheap."

Walsall-based recruitment consultant Ziggy Ally, 41, who has been a fan since the early days of the saga, came dressed as Poe Dameron - a commander of Resistance's Starfighter Corps.

He said: "The film is really good, not what you expected, very dark. Aside from that, good acting and a decent storyline.

"We did a double billing - we went to a 9pm viewing of The Force Awakens that finished at 11.30pm, and then we went in at midnight for the screening of The Last Jedi. We didn't get home until nearly four, but it was definitely worth it.

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Rob Turner, duty manager at Light House cinema in Wolverhampton, said: "We are expecting record sales. We will definitely be busy with the film.

"Already we have got quite a lot of ticket orders for this opening weekend. We show Star Wars this time every year."

The film is set to be ranked in the top five highest-grossing worldwide openings of all time, according to US media reports.

Odeon, which has cinemas in Dudley and West Bromwich, hosted more than 500 Star Wars premieres at 117 of its cinemas.

It stocked more than 100,000 boxes of popcorn and 16,000 hotdogs in preparation for one of its busiest nights of the year.

Meanwhile Vue Cinemas, which has a cinema in Birmingham, is expecting hordes of fans to enter through its doors.

Jai Bhatia, area manager for Vue, said: “Star Wars continues to be a sell-out success as we prepare to welcome hordes of fans through our doors over the coming weeks. Our research revealed that Star Wars is the favourite film of over a third of the public."