Secret Cinema to bring Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back to London
The not-very-secret plan for this summer's immersive blockbuster revealed as The Empire Strikes Back
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Fresh from the Back to the Future fiasco of last summer, Secret Cinema is hoping to ingratiate itself with another set of fantasy and science fiction fanatics.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back will be screened at a secret location in London for a month from 4 June as this year's summer blockbuster.
Eschewing the secrecy that normally surrounds the immersive cinema events, the company has revealed its plans nearly three months in advance – only keeping the event’s location under wraps.
Organisers are planning “the most ambitious and dreamlike Secret Cinema experience the UK has ever seen” which will include “a richly detailed galactic space opera”.
The Empire Strikes Back, episode V of George Lucas’ iconic franchise, was released in 1980 and, despite initially mixed reviews, has since become the most critically-acclaimed in the Star Wars saga.
Since 2007 Secret Cinema has been hiring actors and vast numbers of extras to bring classic films to life in locations set-dressed to resemble the movie.
A screening of Lawrence of Arabia saw Alexandra Palace turned into a desert and The Shining broadcast at Brompton Cemetery.
In December the company held a secret screening in protest at the Sony Hack which saw the cancelled general release of Seth Rogen and James Franco’s The Interview.
It also paid tribute to Robin Williams with a showing of Dead Poets Society following his suicide in August.
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But last summer the hugely popular company hit a snag when its Back to the Future screening was cancelled just hours before it was due to go ahead leaving 3,500 ticketholders disappointed.
The event, which cost £53.50 a ticket, was postponed for a further week while technical problems with the location were ironed out.
"We know we let our audience down and will do everything we can to make it up to them," a statement released at the time read.
Over 80,000 subsequently attended the Back to the Future event which saw London’s Olympic Park transformed into Hill Valley.
The production included 20 designated set areas, a replica of the iconic Town Hall, a life-size high school and Lou’s famous diner.
Tickets for Secret Cinema’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back will cost £75 for adults, £50 for children, and will go on sale from Wednesday 18 March at 1pm.
Following Lucasfilm’s purchase by Disney a number of new Star Wars films are currently in the works with Episode VII, The Force Awakens, due for release on 18 December.
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