STAR WARS: The Last Jedi opens in theaters today. It's expected to be one of the highest grossing movies of all time. (
The Force Awakens is #3) . And not because some marketing department or PR Flack expertly
positioned it to be 2017's Holiday Blockbuster. No. This is bigger than even a
Mad Man's imagination.
Here's the not-so-secret reason fans are expected to turn out in droves: for the love of Princess Leia.
Carrie Fisher brought Leia to life in the first
STAR WARS film back in 1977, which I saw on opening day. (Man, am I getting
old or
what?). Fans adored the plucky princess as much as (or even more than) her brother Luke.
In Hollywood parlance,
STAR WARS: The Last Jedi was in "post-production" when Ms. Fisher died suddenly last year. In Real People Speak, that means they were finished filming and were doing whatever it is they do to get the Thing ready for release this holiday season. It also means we'll get to see her
entire final performance as Leia.
Fisher loved her role as galactic Princess. She lived it. Breathed it. Her last book,
The Princess Diarist was based on the diaries she kept at 19 years old while shooting the biggest and (IMNSHO)
best sci-fi movie the world
had has ever seen. Sure, there was some Hollywood dirt in the book (a sordid affair with married-with-children Harrison Ford), but mostly the book is about one Thing: Being Princess Leia.
In an interview with USA Today, Fisher told reporters, "I carry her around and I know her better than anybody else. She’s mine," the actress said, "She’s mine!"
No argument there. We've waited a whole year for our last chance to see our favorite sci-fi princess do her Thing on the big screen. Today is the day! I got the tickets. I got the t-shirts (it's not too late to get yours in time for Christmas!). I'm taking my entire family. We'll even pop some STAR WARS popcorn to
take to the theater eat at home.
In a final tribute to Carrie Fisher, I think
STAR WARS enthusiasts will turn out in numbers big enough
break the Box Office. For the love of Leia.
Your fans will always be with you, Princess. May the force be with you, too.
Bobby
