WASHINGTON — Dozens of people lined up Thursday afternoon to see the matinee first showing of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” at the Uptown Theater in Northwest D.C. But some fans showed up Wednesday and set up camp on the sidewalk.
“For lots of reasons: to be the first one in to get a good seat and to keep our tradition alive because we’ve been camping out since 1999 for every ‘Star Wars’ movie,” said David Casterline of Fairfax, Virginia.
Seems like a lot of time to spend for a movie, but Casterline assures that he has a life and enthusiastically detailed having a fiancee who was with him, a job and his own place. “I’m a normal person. I just like to come out and celebrate my love for ‘Star Wars,'” he said.
Countdown to #TheLastJedi @starwars - pictured at #UptownTheaterDC @WTOP pic.twitter.com/GDMz6gK9Oc
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) December 14, 2017
Casterline said he and his brother are dedicated to the Uptown Theater because it aired the first “Star Wars” movie in 1977.
And Susan Zentay of D.C. was around for that one. “I saw the first ‘Star Wars’ here in 1977 when I was 6,” she said.
Zentay was waiting outside the theater for her brother, husband and kids for the first showing of “The Last Jedi” during Thursday’s 3 p.m. double feature, which included the seventh “Star Wars” movie.
She attributes the franchise’s longevity to its good mythology. “It’s a great story, great characters, battles of good versus evil. It’s mythology. What’s not compelling about that?”
