I Spent 15 Hours In Line To See The First Trailer For Star Wars: The Last Jedi This Morning, And It Was So Worth It
So as many of you know by now, I camped out on line for 15 hours last night at Star Wars Celebration to be at The Last Jedi panel this morning. I got there at 8pm for the 11am start time, and was stunned by the thousands already waiting. It seemed like I had no shot. Once I made it indoors, I thought I had even less of a shot. Just utter chaos, the line fell apart into a swarm of people, and I thought I was gonna get dragged out by security. Why, you ask? Because homeboy behind me in a shitty Kylo Ren mask said they should recast General Leia as Meryl Streep in Episode 9 and it took everything out of me not to punch him in his stupid fucking throat.
Once I made it past the metal detectors though…I found hope. A couple stoolies called me up a couple spots and let me hang with them for the night, and they were veterans of Celebration. Fully prepared with pizza, snacks, rafts, blankets, the whole nine. The most annoying kid of all time was behind us, asking a million questions a minute, but nothing and I mean NOTHING could bring my mood down. One thing did bring it up, however, and that was a quick visit from Rian Johnson, the writer/director of The Last Jedi. By “quick visit”, I mean he hung out and singed stuff for four hours.
Right when we all decided to get some rest, we heard a noise. A very familiar noise. It was the sound of two plastic toys hitting each other awkwardly…and this is when business picked up, folks. Nerds were organizing lightsaber battles, and they were ELECTRIC (pun intended). I documented them all on my Twitter, and compiled the clips in the video above. I’d say they’re awfully close to being called “MUST WATCH”.
At 3am, I did lay down, on the freezing cold concrete, and fell asleep for a little under two hours. When I woke up shivering at 5am, I started to get nervous for two reasons.
1. I was afraid we wouldn’t get in, even after being told we were definitely going to get in.
2. If we got in, we were going to see the trailer for The Last Jedi. That makes me nervous.
We moved from line to line, because the system was insanely disorganized, and by 9am, we were told that it wasn’t a guarantee we’d get in anymore (like I predicted) and if we would get in, it’d be at 10am. So, once again, we waited in line to get in line, and what do you know, we stumbled upon a few powder blue wristbands. We. Were. In. We got great seats, Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok) led a hilarious pre show with fan engagement, and we watched The Last Jedi panel, with Kathleen Kennedy, Rian Johnson, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. They unveiled a bunch of set photos, a poster that is EN FUEGO, and of course, the first official trailer for The Last Jedi.
And you know what? It was so worth the wait. Watching that trailer with thousands of other die hard fans made me cry like a bitch. I was bawling hysterically. Just couldn’t contain myself. It was a dream come true, and a look at the next step in our favorite saga.
On Cloud 9 City. Right now I can’t even think straight, but on Monday, I’ll have you a shot for shot breakdown of the trailer. For now, read Clem’s awesome rapid reaction blog.
