How Early Should I Get to Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Opening Weekend?

If you’re planning on attending Star Wars: The Force Awakens during a 7 or 9 pm showing on opening weekend, you should probably already be at the theater.

Just kidding. Sort of. Barring a reserved seating system at your theater of your choice — the kind of thing that a certain Jedi might call “a more civilized method of seating” — there’s going to be a lot of people showing up well in advance of the time the previews start to roll to get their seats. Kids and young adults, there’s a good chance you’ve never experienced anything like what you’re going to see in terms of people lining up ahead of time for The Force Awakens.

And yes, we all know of places where people have been camping out in line. I’m not even talking about those diehards, but even at showings where people aren’t sleeping overnight for the chance to sit in the best seats, it’s likely to be a circus; as in people waiting hours beforehand and theaters admitting those folks way in advance.

This tweet is the kind of thing I’m talking about:

Our advice mirrors what this person said: call your theater and find out what their policies are. Know exactly how long you can wait in line, when they will be letting ticketholders into the theater and whether or not you can save seats and/or places in line for others in your group.

That goes for other showings over opening weekend as well, because you can reasonably expect that the Friday and Saturday night prime time showings will also have huge crowds. Matinees should be better, but likely much more crowded than you are used to for those times. Plan ahead and arrive early.

Next: How to Avoid Star Wars: The Force Awakens Spoilers

Good luck, and enjoy the movie, regardless of how early you need to arrive and where you end up sitting!