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'Rogue One' tickets are on sale: Deep breaths, Lord Vader

Fans reacted with Jedi joy, though some struggled to buy tickets online right at stroke of midnight.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper

Jedi Masters and Sith Lords stay up late, right? At midnight ET on Sunday, tickets for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" went on sale. Then there was a great disturbance in the internet, as if millions of fans were crying out and rushing for the same ticket websites, and were suddenly silenced.

The official Star Wars Twitter account announced the news right at midnight, and within one minute the tweet had been liked more than 300 times.

Fans were maybe a little excited.

Some on social media complained that internet infrastructure still was not ready for the demand of such an anticipated movie. I tested the Fandango ticket site 15 minutes after tickets went on sale and saw an error message. Trying again two minutes later gave me a message that I was in line with a wait of only one minute, then took me to the Fandango ticket site for my local theater (though many of the reserved seats in choice locations were already sold).

Other fans had worse experiences than mine, and weren't afraid to tweet about them.

Although some experienced the sweet, interstellar smell of success.

"Rogue One" is the first Star Wars spinoff movie and takes place between "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and "Episode IV: A New Hope." We review its trailers here and here (warning: spoilers).

"Rogue One" officially opens Dec. 16, with preview shows the night of Dec. 15.