Once in awhile the subject of me getting to see movies early comes up. This usually happens around the time of a highly anticipated summer blockbuster. People say how much they are looking forward to a certain movie and I respond with a "oh, I get to see that two weeks early" or "I've already seen it." There is usually a little jealousy at this point, but rarely to the extent I've seen with "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" (yes, I'm including 'Episode' in the title because we all know that's what this movie is). These days people have been seething with anger finding out that I am getting to see this movie earlier then them. The comments range from "you lucky SOB" to "why can't I have your job?" Here's the thing though guys: Me seeing the new Star Wars movie early really isn't that big of a deal, and honestly, if you were in my position it wouldn't be to you either.
Yes, I do get to see Star Wars early, but I also get to see virtually everything early. Every movie that a studio hopes to be a hit is screened for the critics (movies that aren't screened are usually so bad we find we don't care). Every. Single. One. So yes, I get to see Star Wars early, but I also saw "Specter" last week. I saw "Minions" three days before it went wide. I saw all "The Hobbit" movies two weeks before they were made available to the general public (then I went to them again with my family for Christmas). Seeing a movie early loses it's luster very quickly, It's far more impressive if you're one of the few people to see "Let it Be" or "Song of the South," movies that studios try desperately to keep out of the public eye. Seeing a movie early is a bragging right you can have for two weeks at the most.
Trust me, I would give up my rights to see the next six Star Wars movies early if I could view "The Day the Clown Cried," which would be a bragging right I could take to the bank. The second thing to keep in mind is when you are in this line of business, seeing things early becomes the new norm. So you aren't seeing movies early after awhile so much as you are on a different set schedule. The third thing is that when you do this for a living long enough and you stop getting excited about new releases because there's always something to see (but I've written about that in another article). The final reason this is not a big deal is something that is rarely discussed (and hasn't been suggested by a lot of people recently), but it needs to be said:
"Stars Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" might not even be a good movie.
Sorry, but it's true. Excitement for the film is high and a lot of people want to see it, but that doesn't mean we're going to get a good movie. The trailers (which I have not seen) may be exciting to watch, but as I've said before, trailers are not an indicator of a films ultimate quality. We had this sort of excitement over "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," which was so hyped we were absolutely convinced it couldn't be bad. Yeah...glad that went according to plan, right? If I may be frank with you all, I think people who are pre-ordering their tickets for this thing and getting their hopes up are fools. This franchise has burnt you so many times, that I would hope you would demand the film prove itself in being good BEFORE you make it a hit! But that's a rant for another day.
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