Star Wars fan 'punched in face' by furious cinemagoer after checking phone: 'I waited a goddamn year for this'
Footage shows the man shouting 'I am a real Star Wars fan!' at security
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Your support makes all the difference.A Star Wars fan has claimed he was punched in the face after using his phone during a screening of new film, The Rise of Skywalker.
The man, named Joe Bond, was watching the final chapter of the new trilogy in Scotiabank cinema in Vancouver, Canada, when an argument broke out.
Bond only got so far as the film’s opening crawl when he thought he was getting a “call from the babysitter”, so took his phone out of his pocket to check.
It was this action that saw a fellow cinemagoer “kind of [lose] it” and, after Bond told the man to calm down, he was allegedly punched in the face.
“He began yelling and screaming,” Bond told CTV. “I told him to calm down, and he didn’t calm down, and then he hit me in the face.”
He continued: “There was a lot of people filming the situation because it was pretty hilarious.”
The man, who was booed by his fellow viewers, was eventually escorted out of the screening – but not before he turned on the crowd.
The footage shows the anonymous man shouting: “I am a real Star Wars fan”, before saying: “Turn your phone off! Use your f***ing heads! You f***ing losers with your phones.”
He continued: “I waited a goddamn year for this for some a**hole to turn on his phone?”
A spokesperson for the Scotiabank cinema chain laughed the incident off, stating: “Luckily, the Force was strong with the Cineplex team, who ended up rewinding the film for the remaining guests.”
Since the film’s release earlier this week, it has divided critics and audiences, with some highlighting its sense of adventure and others criticising it for its moments of fan-service.
Instead of ignoring the mixed reception, Abrams – appearing on a Vanity Fair panel to promote the new film – acknowledged it by telling the audience they are “right” to have that viewpoint.
Meanwhile, last week’s other big film release – Tom Hooper’s musical, Cats – is so “shockingly bad” it is prompting mass cinema walkouts.
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