Excitement mounts for final ‘Star Wars’

In authoritarian China, which has a policy of promoting homegrown films, few newspapers have talked about the upcoming release. The official Xinhua news agency's Internet site, picking up a Chinese newspaper report, said last month that 300 copies were going to China — 200 of them in English. The report said it was the first time that the number of Chinese copies had been eclipsed by English ones.

Even France — which has resisted the invasion of English terms and Hollywood's expanding influence — has fallen under the spell. All three major dailies featured front-page photos of Star Wars characters Monday.

"Whatever the language, you could plop down a child in front of a Star Wars film and he'd be thrilled just by the music, sound and images alone," said Giroud, editor of LucasFilm magazine, a French bimonthly which claims sales of 50,000 copies each edition. "Star Wars is for everybody."

One French television network has been broadcasting the five previous episodes each week.

A Force to be reckoned with
Whether for the French — "Que la Force soit avec toi", Italians — "Che la Forza sia con te" or Portuguese _ "Que a Forca esteja contigo", the translations of "May the Force be with you" are known to many.

In Ireland, supermarkets spruced window displays with Star Wars toys or masks designed to make kids sound like a breathy Darth Vader. On one Dublin playground, kids battled with toy light sabers received in a cereal box promotion.

In Australia, a dozen stormtroopers were to walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge to the city's famed Opera House Wednesday ahead of the first screening there.

Some fans worry about being perceived as fanatics.

"I don't build my life around it," said Romain Berteau, who was dressed as a Jedi at the Paris convention. "We like Star Wars like some people like cars. It's not like they'll always sleep in the garage."

Don't tell that to the kids, though.

"This will be the best Star Wars ever," said Gavin Dowling, a 7-year-old in Dublin, where tickets have been on sale for the last month. "It's going to be a lot bigger."

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