Here's How You Can See A Sneak Peek Of Star Wars: The Acolyte In Theaters
Spring is officially here, and you know what that means: rejuvenation, rebirth, everything's blooming, all that crap. But for the average "Star Wars" fan, it also signals the biggest unofficial holiday of the year. In the most fortuitous branding exercise any studio has ever managed to stumble into by pure happenstance, the annual May the Fourth celebration (taking place on, you guessed it, May 4) has become very serious business for the legions of franchise followers across the globe. Whether it involves new movie trailers, discounts on merchandise, or anything in between, you can bet that Lucasfilm comes prepared to shower their most passionate fans with all sorts of goodies. This year, apparently, is no exception.
Lucasfilm announced that moviegoers will get an exclusive opportunity to check out a special sneak peek of their newest upcoming project, the Disney+ series "The Acolyte," on the big screen. You see, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the least divisive and most uncontroversial blockbuster movie ever made: 1999's "The Phantom Menace." And to ring in the milestone, the studio will be re-releasing George Lucas' prequel movie in theaters ... complete with a fun little bonus at the end for those looking to get their fix of "The Acolyte" and its High Republic era, which takes place roughly a hundred years before the events of "The Phantom Menace." Billed somewhat vaguely as an "exclusive look" at the new series, your guess is as good as ours as to what the footage will actually contain. Our money's on an extended version of the recently-released trailer or perhaps even a clip, but there's only one way to find out.
Oh, and "Star Wars" being "Star Wars," this isn't the only highlight of May the Fourth. Read on for more details!
May the Force be with you ... no, seriously, you're going to need it
Look, "fan" is short for "fanatic" so this sort of thing shouldn't surprise us anymore. But as someone whose butt starts to go numb during hour four of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" extended edition (a yearly tradition of mine, might I add), even I have to think twice about a "Star Wars" marathon including all nine movies of the Skywalker Saga. But that's exactly what Lucasfilm is doing to ring in May 4 this year, so may the Maker be with all of you who inevitably take this on as a challenge.
In Lucasfilm's announcement, "The Phantom Menace" re-release and the special sneak peek at "The Acolyte" attached at the end will only be the start of the festivities. Fans can now buy tickets to an entire marathon of the mainline Episode films in theaters through Fandango at this link. Screenings will actually start on the evening of May 3, meaning that you'll likely be wide awake to at least get through the prequel trilogy, physically hold your eyelids open in order to enjoy the acclaimed original trilogy, and then deal with the hangover-like effects early in the morning while watching the sequel trilogy. For those allergic to doing math in their heads, the total runtime will be 20 hours and 22 minutes. I wish you all the best of luck. Now let's all circle up and say a little prayer for the unfortunate theater employees who'll have to clean up after these screenings, many no doubt still traumatized by similar marathon screenings for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
"The Acolyte" will begin streaming on Disney+ June 4, 2024.