2ND UPDATE: After Regal jumped the gun announcing Friday’s Star Wars sneak peek, Disney and Lucasfilm have gone ahead and announced all 30 North American theaters playing the 88-second Episode VII preview. (Scroll down for the full list.) Among the participating chains cashing in on the ticket-driving force of The Force are Regal, AMC, Carmike, Cinemark, Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse, and – of course – Disney’s own El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. The rest of the world will have to wait until December for a theatrical peek.
UPDATE: This weekend’s Star Wars Thanksgiving teaser will run a brisk 88 seconds long, per a Tweet from director JJ Abrams. AMC Theaters also Tweeted that they’re running the trailer in select locations. Plan your Black Friday accordingly…
PREVIOUSLY: At least one exhibitor is hoping anticipation for Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens draws fans out to theaters this holiday weekend, as Regal Cinemas briefly revealed today on their website that the teaser will sneak peek Friday, November 28 through Sunday, November 30 on select Regal screens in North America.
Regal soon pulled the nine-theater listing, replacing it with this meme… for now:
The cinema chain didn’t take down the post entirely, adding an enthusiastic “Check back soon for a list of participating Regal Cinemas locations!!!” Disney has declined to comment on rumored trailer premiere plans, including scuttlebutt that the first look tease will hit as many as 100 theaters.
It wouldn’t be the first time Star Wars fans made a cineplex event out of a trailer premiere. Back in 1998, 20th Century Fox trailered The Phantom Menace before and after screenings on 75 screens across the country on four days’ notice, when fans streamed in for the tease before walking out on main attractions like Meet Joe Black and The Waterboy.
Disney will release the JJ Abrams-helmed Star Wars: Episode VII on December 18, 2015.
Here’s the full list of participating theaters:
AZ PHOENIX HARKINS TEMPE MARKETPLACE
CA LOS ANGELES AMC CENTURY CITY
CA LOS ANGELES Indep EL CAPITAN
CA IRVINE REGAL SPECTRUM IRVINE 21
CA SAN FRANCISCO AMC METERON 16
CA SAN JOSE CINEMARK OAKRIDGE 20
CA SAN DIEGO REGAL MIRA MESA 18
CAN TORONTO CPX YOUNGE & DUNDAS
CAN VANCOUVER CPX RIVERPORT
CO DENVER AMC WESTMINSTER 24
DC WASH D.C AMC TYSONS CORNER 16
FL MIAMI CARMIKE PARISIAN 20
GA ATLANTA REGAL ATLANTIC STATION
IL CHICAGO REGAL CITY NORTH
MA BOSTON AMC BOSTON COMMONS 19
MI DETROIT CINEMARK SHOWCASE 20
MN MINNEAPOLIS AMC SOUTHDALE
MO KANSAS CITY AMC STUDIO 30
NY NEW YORK AMC LINCOLN SQUARE 12
NY NEW YORK REGAL UNION SQAURE
OH CLEVELAND CINEMARK CINEMARK 24
PA PHILADELPHIA REGAL WARRINGTON 22
TN NASHVILLE CARMIKE THOROUGHBRED 20
TN KNOXVILLE REGAL PINNACLE
TX DALLAS CINEMARK PLANO 20
TX HOUSTON REGAL MARQ*E STADIUM 23
TX AUSTIN ALAMO ALAMO S LAMAR
UT SALT LAKE CITY CINEMARK 24 WJ
WA SEATTLE REGAL THORNTON PLACE 14
WI MILWAUKEE MARCUS BROOKFIELD 16
Jen Yamato
