'PHANTOM MENACE' OPENS; BIG CROWDS SHOW FOR STAR WARS PREQUEL

About 825 Star Wars fans lined up to be the first to see the newest installment, "The Phantom Menace" in Cape Girardeau.

Cape West 14 Cine Manager Kevin Dillon said all four theatres were sold out.

"It was exciting," said Dillon.

A few individuals began lining up at 10:30 p.m. Monday. They brought a tent and camped out. The majority of patrons began lining up about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The line snowballed as the midnight hour approached.

The shows started at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

The response has been much more than any recent movie, said Dillon.

"We had a lot of attendance for 'Titanic' when it first came out, but nothing like this," he said.

Dillon said that despite rumors, tickets remain for all shows. He said the majority of the advance sales were for the first two days.

He saw many familiar faces as a number of fans saw the movie over and over on the first day. Many of the people said they liked it the second time because they were able to pick up a lot more.

The movie is rated PG, which means any age is allowed in at any show. Restrictions for children are imposed on PG-13 and R rated films.

There should be plenty of opportunity to see the show. West Park 14 Cine is running 18 shows a day.

The response?

"Overall, people were pleased with the movie," said Dillon. "Most just said, `Fantastic.'"

It was a reaction shared across the country. Enthusiastic fans crowded theaters, cineplexes and malls from Charleston, W.Va., to Des Moines, Iowa, to Los Angeles. Some companies were bracing for a "Phantom" sickout; one employment agency has estimated that 2.2 million people skipped work Wednesday to see the movie.

Warren Deans, 26, a paralegal from Brooklyn, still planned to attend work after a 6:30 a.m. screening.

"I've been waiting 16 years to see this," he said. "It brings back the child in all of us."

The New York crowd, which filled all 1,162 seats at $9.50 a pop, partied on the street for hours before the first show at the Manhattan theater. It was an eclectic bunch -- Obi Wan Kenobis of all shapes and sizes, a wide assortment of Princess Leia hairdos, scalpers asking $100 for tickets.

The show will go on ... and on ... and on. "The Phantom Menace" was playing around the clock at five New York City theaters. Midnight showings were offered in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and a midnight show in Indianapolis was sold out.

Upbeat reviews from fans were in a different stratosphere from critics' pans.

Viewer Keith Arbeeny, who wore a storm trooper's helmet: "It took you almost to another world. It was mind-boggling, like nothing I've ever seen.

Reviewer Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News: "It's all sound and fury and special effects, signifying nothing."

Viewer Robert Farrell, who paid $100 to a scalper: "It was worth every penny. The special effects are out of this world."

Reviewer Todd McCarthy in Variety: "It is neither captivating nor transporting, for it lacks any emotional pull."

Viewer Aaron Savage, dressed as character Darth Maul: "The movie was great -- really, really great. It was a real fan's movie."

You get the point: the movie is critic-proof.

No one is asking if "The Phantom Menace" will make money; the question is whether it will get enough repeat business to approach the $600 million "Titanic" collected in North America.

With a five-day opening window, "Menace" was expected to beat the opening record of $90.2 million set by "Lost World: Jurassic Park" in a four-day Memorial Day weekend in 1997.

"The Phantom Menace" also will be competing against its ancestors. The original "Star Wars" is the No. 2 movie of all time. Counting its various re-issues, it has sold $461 million in tickets domestically. "Return of the Jedi" has grossed $309 million, No. 7 on the all-time list, and "The Empire Strikes Back" has made $290 million, for ninth place.

Produced, directed and written by George Lucas, "The Phantom Menace" begins the back story of "Star Wars." It is set a generation earlier, when Darth Vader was still a cute blond kid named Anakin Skywalker, who would grow up to become Luke's absentee father.

The first of the hard-core "Star Wars" fans started lining up weeks ago, and when advanced tickets became available last week, there was a buying frenzy, with the midnight shows selling out almost immediately.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.