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Prequel demographic breakdown

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I dont know how things went down elsewhere, but in the theatre I saw the prequels in, same theatre each time, (even the same screen), the crowd opening night, (12:00am), was composed thusly:

(this is just a guestimate from surveying the crowd for 30-40 minutes before the show)

EP:1 75% 35 or over. Many, many folks in the 50+ range. 25% 35 or under. Almost no children. Very quiet audience. Smatterings of applause at the end. A handfull of costumes.

EP:2 90% 35 or under. 10% 35+. Much younger, more fun crowd. Very loud and excited. Nearly brought the house down when Yoda fired up his lightsaber! More costumes this time. More applause at the end this time around.

EP:3 50/50 old and young. Packed to the rafters craziness! I had the impression that, good or bad, all the 'old-timers' had showed up for one last romp. There were also lots and lots of children at this one, most wearing costumes. Costumes everywhere! Thunderous applause at the end.

Note the severe and sudden drop off of older audience members after EP1. I'd be interested to hear if this was the case where you saw the films.
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EP I - 100% 35 and younger. Why? Because I saw it at a military base movie theater in Japan. That is just the age of the service men.

EP II - I don't remember. I saw it in a German theater. There were a lot of my high school mates there. Pretty much a young crowd.

EP III - Pretty young. Like teenager young. I felt a little old in that theater.
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Same here. Episode 3 was a really young crowd when I went on opening day.


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I only saw episode three in theaters. I had the chance to see 1 and 2 but I knew from other friends that they weren't that good so I never bothered.
But it was a 50/50 crowd of people.
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Well, as someone 30+ years of age, I did not go see AOTC in the theatres. I was so disillusioned with TPM that I had given up on the prequels. I only went to ROTS because my brother dragged me.
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I remember there were a lot of young kids and parents when I went to see Revenge of the Sith. And a mother glared at me when my girlfriend and I started laughing at Obi-Wan lamenting the deaths of the "younglings." I'm sorry, but that word just makes me laugh. I never could take that scene seriously, which is why I hated it. Younglings. Such a dumb word.

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Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
I remember there were a lot of young kids and parents when I went to see Revenge of the Sith. And a mother glared at me when my girlfriend and I started laughing at Obi-Wan lamenting the deaths of the "younglings." I'm sorry, but that word just makes me laugh. I never could take that scene seriously, which is why I hated it. Younglings. Such a dumb word.


There was definitely someone who needed to lighten up. Better yet, what's she bringing her children to a movie that advocates the irrational killing of young children via its starring role?

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My demographic breakdown:

PT fans (i.e. people who think the PT is better than the OT and want the OT remade in CGI): 13 years and under
OT fans: everyone else
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Originally posted by: Obiwampa


Very loud and excited. Nearly brought the house down when Yoda fired up his lightsaber! More costumes this time. More applause at the end this time around.


That's one of my pet hates...F***cking cheering and whatnot during a film. I didn't pay my money to listen to you twats scream and whistle everytime someones takes a shit...so to speak.

Rant over...carry on!

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I think (as it is in my case) that as a young person, I was excited to see Episode I but not old enough to show up at the theater ealry in it's release or really anytime I flet like it. I was only in sixth grade at the time. With the release of Episode I, SW did gain many new and many younger fans than me. So it wasn't until three years later, than even 3 more years later that the trilogy was starting to pick up mor fans. This younger generation, basically the one right ater mine that was basically 5 years old when they first saw these, are the ones that grew up and as teeneagers, finally got to show up at the movie theater more often. That and the decline of interest in the PT among adults makes for an obvious demographic change.

These same tings happened with the OT when it came out, except with the less significant dropout of adults because they films sucked in reality. GL achieved one goal in that the generation that grew up with the PT and the SE for the most part love them for what they are and did for them, just as we do the OT. I mean, in 10 years they may not look back and remember the PT as fondly as the OT is to those that saw it first before all the newer stuff, but they will still love the movies if they do now as 8 to 10 year olds in some way. GL unwittingly has that effect on younger people, just not an older crowd this time around.

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I think this demographic breakdown is interesting, I will go a step further, will these movies be loved 20 years from now?

The thing about the OT is it is timeless, and that is key to fans sticking with a movie long after they have grown up. For me, growing up in the 80's, I loved SW, but I also loved movies like The Karate Kid. 20 years later, I see ROTJ as a good sequel, but not great, and I watch it more as closure to my beloved trilogy. SW & ESB are still classics to me, because they are great movies, and great movies have the quality to withstand the test of time that good movies you may have loved growing up don't.

The Karate Kid is a perfect example of movie that has not passed the test of time, and I only watch it for nostalgia. As a 12 year old kid in 1984, I loved the movie, and watched it a zillion times on HBO. About a year ago I saw it on TBS, and watched it for the first time in about 10 years, and wow, it was cringeworthy to watch. I still enjoyed it, cause I thought of memories of 6th grade, but I won't be buying it on DVD and watching it as much as the OT.

Now for the PT fans who supposedly love them now, what will they think in 20 years? I don't doubt they love the movies now, but they will grow out of them, especially TPM & AOTC cause they are not great movies. ROTS seems to be the prevailing favorite around gushers, and I know my 8 year old nephew only likes that prequel movie, so that may pass the test of time, only cause every plot point is thrown in by Lucas. But do you really think 20 years from now, a majority of the PT gushers are going to pop in TPM out of true love of the movie? Do you think they are going to look at their movies and say, "AOTC, that is what I have been dying to watch lately, that movie is a classic!"

I still do that with SW & ESB. Those movies are so good, the quality has lasted, that I still yearn to watch them cause they are great, not because I was a big SW fan growing up. ROTJ is one movie of the trilogy that I look at as part of the story after watching two classics. There is no way fans are going to watch two average or bad prequels to get to the perceived great one of the trilogy in the PT.

The PT in 20 years will be like Star Trek fans, a niche audience. Those fans will be diehards, I don't doubt that, but it won't be any of the size that the OT still has these days, cause many fans are going to grow up and realize Jar Jar is ridiculous, and the love story in AOTC is atrocious, and what is left to them, one good movie, and that, a trilogy does not make. Trust me on this guys.
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I saw TPM here in Finland and the audience was fairly young. Few middleaged people but most were in their twenties. There was a lot of cheering going on when the opening crawl came. Lot's of hardcore fans. It was a late opening. It was 2 mins past midnight. First time they could show the film here. People were really really excited. It's very unusual here. People don't cheer here unless it's something very special. After the movie was over....No more cheering. Few people seemed pleased but most were quiet. No costumes though. I've never seen anybody dress in a costume for a movie.

As for AOTC and ROTS. no idea. I didn't go see em in a thearte. Figured Lucas had enough of my money as it were and didn't feel like giving him more. Besides the hype really died down after TPM.
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On average the people younger than me that I know think the PT is pretty lame.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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A lot of young kids in the audience whenever I went to a PT showing. TPM was a bit different, there were a lot more adults, people who loved the OT and were unaware the horror that was soon to be unleashed. After that, kids were really the only ones intrigued by the PT, and it showed in the theater.
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My nephew is about 7 and even he thinks Attack of the Clones is lame. But he really likes the other 2 and Star Wars in general. Jedi is his favorite right now.