Reuters checked in on the folks in line in LA:

A variety of Web sites now offer advance ticket sales so the slackers say the main point of the line, its Web site and other similar fan sites, is its camaraderie. "I already know the movie sucks and I'm still here," said Malaki Keller, 29.

Other lines have sprung up in Seattle and New York. The Los Angeles group, mostly male college film students and technical geeks under 30, looks eerily like a 21st Century tailgate party. They sit in the moonlight sipping drinks, eyes glued to a glowing computer screen that lights up the far end of the makeshift tent. "We're watching a bootlegged 'Spider-Man' with Chinese subtitles," one slacker said. "You didn't hear this."

Others are crouched behind a dumpster sawing and gluing and shaping toilet pipes, dowels and garden hose into makeshift "light sabers" which are then used in mock "Jedi-style" duels.

Cathy Gellis and Ric Peralta, who met on another line in 1999, got engaged, are currently smooching in the parking lot. ("I didn't wear my diamond ring to the line just in case; you never know who's around," she said.)

Much of this, of course, is captured on the Web site, which has become a 21st century version of a fan magazine, featuring chat rooms where fans around the country can correspond.

Much of the line-waiting activity is technically illegal. But this is Hollywood, where leniency is extended toward fanatical fans. Plus they're slacking for a good cause.

The slackers, many of whom have day jobs, are hoping to top the $75,000 raised in 1999 during the first "line" for tickets to "Star Wars: Episode 1 -- Phantom Menace," sponsored by Countingdown.com, which since has moved beyond charity to other movie marketing endeavors.

Visit the link above for more. Thanks to Larry for the alert!