Lightsaber wars: Force Awakens fans hope to smash record for mass battle (VIDEOS)
Star Wars fans can’t get enough of the force and have taken their obsession out of the cinema and into the open with several US cities attempting to break the record for the world’s largest lightsaber battle.
Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle all attempted to break the record, gathering thousands of lightsaber-carrying fans together in a public place for a very epic battle on December 18.
The world record attempt was organised online with thousands of fans turning up to the locations to participate in friendly one-on-one battles as well as group battles. The 360 video below shows the battle in Pershing Square, Los Angeles.
The existing record stands at 7,000 participants, with last night's attempts hoping to push the record above 10,000 when the results are verified.
The lightsaber is the weapon of choice of a Jedi and also their enemies including Sith Lords like Darth Vader. Fans showed up to the events dressed as characters from the franchise.
The latest Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, looks set to break records in the US with an opening weekend taking of over $250 million, according to deadline.com. Last year’s biggest film and third -biggest grossing film of all time, Jurassic World, took five days to break the $250 million mark.
Disney are ensuring the new Star Wars film gets as wide an opening as possible, with 4,134 theatres showing the film in the US, the largest opening for a film in December.
In a move that aggravated director Quentin Tarantino, Disney insisted that the Star Wars movie play over the holiday season at one of the few cinemas capable of showing Tarantino’s new film, “The Hateful Eight,” in super-widescreen 70mm, the Cinerama Dome, Hollywood. Disney’s move will block Tarantino from ensuring special screenings of “The Hateful Eight” in 70mm to celebrate the classic format, which is on the point of disappearing. Tarantino said he made the film specifically to be shown in the Cinerama Dome, and accused Disney of “extortion.”
READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino goes ballistic: F**k Disney (video)
