Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already blew through the record books after only one day of release. According to the director of the Association of Exhibitor Relations, the USA’s largest theater trade group, the latest installment of the classic Lucasfilm franchise has beaten all previous records for gum under the theater seat.
Tom Rochek of AMC Theaters said, “I’ve never seen anything like it, there was Hubba Bubba, Double Mint, Dentine, Bubblicious, heck I even saw some Big League Chew.”
Susan Archer Vice President of Regal Theaters is a veteran of the movie theater industry. She started out as an usher in 1973 when she was 16 and she talked about the large volume of gum during this premiere and it’s effect on the younger kids in the business. “I had a young man come up to me today, just flabbergasted he said he found a wadded up tiny comic next to the gum. I explained to him it was called Bazooka Joe, and I swear he looked at me like I made it up. The kids nowadays have it too easy. They should just be glad they don’t have to deal with a Retsyn outbreak like we did when ET hit theaters.”
Howard D. Duque of Cinemark still thinks the sky is the limit for this Star Wars picture, “I don’t think anyone would be surprised if by the time everything is said and done this weekend we don’t end up finding some Fruit Stripe and Black Jack Gum as well”. Will it happen? I guess we’ll find out this weekend.