Greenwood students have been looking forward to this Friday for a long time. End of exams? Beginning of Christmas break? Sure, but the real reason for all the excitement: Star Wars: The Force Awakens officially opens in theaters today.

Leighton Upton is a little skeptical that Disney will mess up the beloved franchise, but plans on seeing it anyway. “I don’t know about Disney making the Star Wars movie, but the commercial made the movie look great.”

Zach Mahaney had similar concerns: “I’m hoping that Disney doesn’t mess up and makes the movie more like the original movies.”

In the seventh episode in the series, this one directed by J.J. Abrams, the Galactic empire is destroyed and the New Order has come into power to try and defeat the Rebels. The rebels have taken up arms to try and fight for their survival.

Many of our beloved characters return, such as Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Princess Leia, but there are new characters as well, including Finn, Rey, Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma, and BB-8.

Senior Dominique Rodriguez likes the idea of mixing the old and the new. “It looked interesting and I loved how it incorporated old actors to play their original roles and that it’s based on a different time, rather than ongoing events.”

There is speculation that Luke Skywalker will be in the new movie and come back from being in isolation to be keep his dark side from overcoming him to help fight the rising threat.

Ethan Parker is trying to manage his expectations in the midst of Star Wars mania. “Honestly, it won’t turn out as good as everyone makes it to be and I say that because they have completely scrapped the original three movies and are making it completely new. But in my opinion, it’s still worth watching.”

While most Greenwood students will have to wait until the weekend to see it, juniors Haley Grayson and Trevor Fields celebrated their one-year anniversary as a couple seeing the new film on Thursday. Knowing what a huge Star Wars fan Trevor was, Haley surprised him with tickets.

Haley’s spoiler-free review: “It was mind-blowing.”