For many devoted fans, Star Wars is more than just a movie.

So when the latest installment of the epic space opera, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, hit the big screen in the capital on Wednesday, fans excitedly prepared various events, such as joint screenings, and scrambled to book seats in movie theaters.

Geekvent, a pop-culture community that specializes in hosting events related to pop culture, will hold a Star Wars: The Last Jedi screening at Metropole XXI Premiere in Central Jakarta this Saturday.

Zessa Fadhilah Ghaisani, the spokeswoman for Geekvent, said the screening was aimed at gathering Star Wars fans so they could meet and discuss the movie with people who shared the same interest.

“At first we opened the slot for only 40 people; however, there were a lot of people who wanted to participate, so we doubled the slots,” Zessa told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, adding that the extra slots had sold out quickly.

Allit Baskoro, the commanderin-chief for Jakarta Saber, a Star Wars-inspired performing arts community, said they received numerous invitations from movie theaters in Jakarta to perform lightsaber choreography.

Read also: ‘The Last Jedi’ is the most emotional 'Star Wars' installment yet

Jakarta Saber used lightsabers, the signature weapon of both the protagonist, represented by the Jedi, and the antagonist, represented by the Sith, as the main attraction in the choreography.

For loyal Star Wars fans, it’s not enough to see the movie just once. Hizkia Respatiadi, a 34-year-old researcher who works in Kebayoran Baru, planned to watch the movie again with his wife on Saturday, even though he had already seen it in the Grand Indonesia shopping mall yesterday on its first day of release.

For Hizkia, Star Wars carries more meaning than just an entertaining science-fiction movie. “I believe everything that happens in our lives is arranged by divine intervention,” he said.

Another fan, 13-year-old Kyara Ananta from Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, went to see the movie for the third time on Thursday night. Kyara, who is a member of Jakarta Saber, stated that there were many interesting things in the movie that made multiple viewings worthwhile.

“For some reason, I felt really proud when I came to the theater and saw that there were many Star Wars fans who shared the same excitement about the movie, especially because I’m in the same fandom as them,” Kyara said.

Aside from loyal Star Wars fans, the movie also attracted casual moviegoers. Mikaela Maria Dolorosa, a 22-year-old secretary who lives in Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta, said she went to watch the movie because she was invited by a coworker.

She said she didn’t expect to see people wearing Star Wars gear to the movie. “I saw people wearing Darth Vader masks inside the theater,” she said, adding that the film was very good and that she wouldn’t refuse if someone invited her to watch it again.

Many businesses jumped on the Star Wars bandwagon by selling various merchandise and offering Star Wars-themed promotions.

Read also: Go-Jek joins ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ hype

As of Thursday around 8 p.m., Go-Tix, a platform for online ticket sales from Go-Jek Indonesia, recorded that the number of Star Wars: The Last Jedi ticket sales reached 10,340 and did not show signs of slowing down.

Go-Jek even changed its interface a few weeks ago to have a Star Wars theme. From Dec. 6 to the end of the month, users who are selected as the #TheResistance will see an X-wing starfighter icon as a replacement for the regular vehicle icon, while users who are selected as the #TheFirstOrder will see a Silencer or Fighter icon.

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