Star Wars a local hit
2005-05-24 09:21
Johannesburg - The Force is definitely with Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
The last instalment of the Star Wars saga has achieved the biggest opening weekend to date for 2005 - grossing R3 308 564 for the four-day weekend in South Africa.
The film surpassed its predecessors' opening weekend box office figures. Episode I, which was released in 1999, grossed R2.9m and Episode II achieved R3m in 2002.
In the United States - Revenge of the Sith also outpaced the performance of all the Star Wars prequels.
The local figures are a reflection of the staggering $158m opening weekend box office achieved in the US which included the biggest single day ($50m achieved on Thursday) and the opening midnight show gross of $16.5m.
In the final instalment of the Star Wars saga, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker makes a fateful decision. Faced with a choice between losing the one he loves or giving up his soul to gain the power to save her, Anakin falls prey to the seductive temptations of the dark side of the Force.
Just what Anakin's decision is, why he makes it and how it leads him to don a frightening suit of black armour have been the stuff of Star Wars legend. After nearly 30 years of waiting and speculating, moviegoers will finally learn the truth.
"The pieces will fall together, the connections will be made," promised writer-director George Lucas, who completed the saga he began in 1977 with Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. "Finally, the last chapter will be told."
"Star Wars smashed open the possibilities of what film could actually do," said Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. "It was the perfect film to inspire a sense of wonder."
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith has an all-star cast which includes Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala, Hayden Christensen as the ill-fated Anakin Skywalker and Samuel L Jackson as Mace Windu.