With Secret Cinema presents Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back drawing to a close yesterday, the event organiser has announced that over 100,000 people attended the landmark show, which spent an impressive eleven weeks in the UK box office top ten this summer.
A ten-acre site, formerly an abandoned factory in Southwark, was transformed into sets of the Death Star, Chalmun’s Cantina and Mos Eisley. Over 400 production staff and 70 actors worked together to bring Star Wars to life following a ten-week build. One hundred costumes were produced for the show in an in-house costume workshop. In total, 500 costumes were created during the course of the show with approximately 400 metres of fabric used. The Chewbacca costume was created with eight voice buttons on his hands in technology created specifically for the show. Also on display was a full-size recreation of the Rebel Alliance’s X-Wing fighter…
Founder and Creative Director of Secret Cinema, Fabien Riggall, said ‘We took over 100,000 adventurers to a galaxy far far away, building an epic world for one of the most loved films of all time whilst continuing to re-imagine the cultural experience. We are excited to build the next stage of Secret Cinema with our community.’
Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm Ltd said “Secret Cinema is a wonderful experience that integrates our much loved franchise into modern day immersive theatre. What the Secret Cinema team have done here is truly breathtaking – something that HAS to be experienced fully in order to appreciate how much fun it is.”
Image courtesy of Secret Cinema.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=qvTY7eXXIMg
Originally published September 28, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
