With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hitting theaters this weekend, this will be the last chapter of everything Star Wars has come to be in cinema.
Star Wars first debuted in 1977, it has grown to have one of the most successful franchises of all time. And with that will come die-hard fans, of all different ages.
Locally here, Star Wars fans are everywhere, but some have a passion that can’t be matched.
28-year-old Derek Andrews is a Huntingburg resident who has been a Star Wars fan since he was a young boy. Andrews says that he would go to a friend’s house to watch Star Wars on VHS tape non-stop.
As he grew older, so did Andrews’s love with the Star Wars universe. Now Andrews is a member of the 501st Legion, an international fan-based organization of Star Wars fans that take their fandom to bring joy to those who need it most.
All of Andrews’s costumes and accessories are hand made, either one he has bought or ones he has made himself with a special program and his personal 3D Printer. He has even made a mouse droid seen in the films out of an old R/C Car.
Through Star Wars and the 501st, Andrews says that putting on his helmets and armor has really made him open up as a person.
Andrews, along with hundreds of Star Wars fans will be piling into Showplace Cinemas Jasper 8 tonight for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker to witness the end of an era.
