Hay River, N.W.T., won't play Star Wars 7 on opening date

To borrow a phrase from Master Obi Wan Kenobi: This is not the news Star Wars fans in Hay River, N.W.T., were looking for.

The town's Riverview Cineplex won't premiere the highly-anticipated next chapter in the Skywalker family saga, The Force Awakens, on the film's Dec. 18 North American release date, and likely won't get the film until next year.

"Holy shit," said resident Kathy McBryan — who has a lightsaber hanging above her work desk — when she heard the Force-disturbing news.

"[I'm] completely saddened and upset. We've been waiting for this for so long."

Movie theatres in Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Iqaluit have all confirmed they'll play the J.J. Abrams film on its opening date.

Yellowknife's Capitol Theatre began selling advance tickets on Tuesday, and Landmark Cinemas is even advertising sneak peek Dec. 17 screenings at its Qwanlin Cinema in Whitehorse.

Short of a Jedi mind trick, however, Star Wars fans in Hay River will have to endure weeks of spoiler-filled anxiety before they can experience the movie for themselves. 

Michelle Schaub, who manages the two-screen, 197-seat theatre for the Rowe Group of Companies, says Disney — the movie studio that's releasing Star Wars — doesn't generally open on release day in small venues. 

She hopes to get the movie around Jan. 20. 

"As soon as we do know that, we will be posting it on our website and our Facebook page," said Schaub.

The Force Awakens is expected to be a box office Death Star. The film will play on thousands of screens across the continent, and has already generated $50 million in advance ticket sales in the U.S.

Amidst all that clamour, a small theatre in Hay River just doesn't have the booking power of a multiplex, says Schaub.

"You put in your request with your [booking] company, and sometimes you get approved, and sometimes you don't," she said.

"With some of the movie companies, they have certain priorities to the larger conglomerates and, yeah... there's not much you can do about it."

'It's the reality of where I live' 

Hay River resident Adam Hill is a proud Star Wars nerd. He used Star Wars baby books to announce his wife's pregnancy to his parents. And when former prime minister Stephen Harper rolled into town in 2013, Hill blared The Imperial March, Darth Vader's musical theme,​ out his highrise apartment window.

But Hill is not prepared to cut down Schaub with a toy lightsaber.

"It's the reality of where I live," he said. "I live in a town of 3,600 plus, in the middle of the Great White North. The fact that we have a theatre is fantastic."

Support your local theatre

Diehard fan McBryan is forgiving of the Riverview, too, but can't help but express some disappointment. Her office mates at Buffalo Airways were hoping to book a private screening of The Force Awakens.

"[Michelle] does a wonderful job to get all hit movies out on opening day, but Star Wars is the movie. So I'm a little surprised," she said.

"I definitely don't want to go south to see it. I want to support my local theatre."

Hill doesn't know that he'll be able to resist that urge.

[My wife and I] are discussing the possibility of going to Edmonton. That's probably my Christmas treat.- Hay River resident Adam Hill, on seeing

"[My wife and I are] discussing the possibility of going to Edmonton for a couple of days during the holidays. I hear they have a theatre there where you can book a couch and they'll serve you food. That's probably my Christmas treat."

Asked if seeing The Force Awakens is the main purpose of the trip, Hill replied, "I can't say that officially, but it's a big motivation and reason for why I want to go."

Hill plans on seeing the movie when it lands in Hay River, too.

"I'll be going to that theatre at least twice," he said.  

"That's saying if the movie's good. If it's another Phantom Menace, then...I'll see it once."

N.W.T. premier candidate among early faithful 

Chris Wood, the manager of Yellowknife's three-screen Capitol Theatre, says his booking of The Force Awakens was only confirmed in recent days.

"People have been bugging me for weeks about tickets," he said Tuesday, the night tickets went on sale.

"It's unusual. We don't usually sell tickets more than four or five days in advance."

Even Glen Abernethy made time to nab early tickets Tuesday — the night before he publicly announced his bid to become N.W.T. premier.

To feed the Star Wars frenzy, the Capitol will hold matinees on weekdays during Christmas season — the first time the theatre has done that in at least eight years. The box office will open earlier than normal, too, to make sure people get seated before the movie starts.

"Probably the craziest thing I've had so far is somebody asking if they can reserve tickets because they're flying in from Fort Smith just to see the film on opening day," said Wood.

Though some did express skepticism about the hype, you can count Yellowknife ticket buyer Sai Kottagajula among the guardedly optimistic.

"Hopefully they don't use as much CGI as they did in the prequels. I think that would be a really great thing."