Don't be surprised if you bump into Luke Skywalker or a Storm Trooper while grabbing some lunch on Thursday - the city's most hardcore Star Wars fans will be dressed up and out in force for the first screenings of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
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Although those fans will be a little late to the party - by 3am hundreds of Canberrans will have already seen the new $200m Disney blockbuster at midnight screenings across ACT suburban cinemas.
Among those at midnight screenings will be Canberra couple Tegan Smith and Matt Mulcahy, whose mantra is "the couple that plays together stays together". Both are Star Wars obsessives and are official members of the Canberra chapter of the 501st Legion - a global Star Wars fan club whose members love dressing up as "the bad guys".
About 30 Canberrans have joined the 501st Legion, but they don't accept just anyone. The entry process is rigorous, and only 100 per cent "movie accurate" outfits make the cut. Local members of the Legion appear at fundraising events, lunches and even Canberra weddings.
"Weddings are great - they're really good fun," Matt said.
"When we do weddings the couple is so well-known for being into Star Wars. A recent couple - Matthew and Sarah - had a couple of the 501 Legion guys along to their wedding at the Arboretum and they played the Imperial March walking down the aisle."
Public servant and Goulburn man Jason Feldner is the Legion's official Darth Vader for Canberra. He spent five months and about $4,500 building his Vader costume and sourced "parts from across the world".
"There are a number of adults who are actually scared of the costume," Jason said.
"It's generally people who have never seen the movies - and out of context a guy in a big black suit can be quite terrifying."
Passionate Star Wars fan Matt Owen, founder of Canberra pop culture convention GAMMA.CON, is delighted his young daughter Ankasha will grow up idolising Star Wars heroines. The 2015 film Episode VII: The Force Awakens starred teenage actress Daisy Ridley as Rey, while the new movie features 33-year-old Felicity Jones as main character Jyn.
He said his love for Star Wars was fostered in the early 1980s when The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were the blockbusters of their day. His passion for collecting memorabilia began in 1988 when he was given a Y-Wing model aircraft for his fifth birthday.
According to Matt, Disney's version of the Star Wars movies (Disney famously purchased the Star Wars franchise from original director George Lucas in 2012 for an estimated $4billion) has caused somewhat of a divide with fellow Canberra fans. Rogue One does not follow the traditional 'Episode' approach and is the first movie not to feature a score by composer John Williams.
"Being that I grew up with the originals I think the feel of the new movies is very much the same feel of the movies I grew up with," he said.
"But I do have a couple of friends who grew up with the prequel movies from the late 1990s and they tell me that it just doesn't feel like the Star Wars they know.
"There's a very interesting divide in Star Wars and I think Disney did make a concerted effort to go back to the original feel."
Disney will release a new Star Wars film every year until 2020, with Episodes VIII and VIX to come, as well as a Han Solo movie. The estimated box office for Rogue One globally this weekend is $250m.
