The SF Gate talks about the wait is almost over for Star Wars fans waiting in line:

The fans' anticipation is so thick you can cut it with a light saber.

Lines swelled outside movie theaters Wednesday for the first screenings of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," to debut at midnight showings across the country early Thursday.

Outside Hollywood's historic Grauman's Chinese Theater, dozens joined a line that had started in early April.

"It's hot and I need to take a shower, but other than that it's so much fun," Autumn Robertson, 19, of Lake Forest, Calif., said from a pay phone along the Chinese Theater line.

Robertson said she had waited off-and-on in line for nearly 260 hours. She planned to change late Wednesday into her Jedi costume: a brown cloak, toy laser blaster and hand-crafted light-saber handle.

In New York, some fans have waited in shifts outside the historic Ziegfeld Theater since April 27. They're raising money for the Starlight Children's Foundation, which grants wishes for terminally ill children. When "Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" came out in 1999, the fans raised $15,000. This time, the goal is $25,000.

Snuggling in tents and bundled in sleeping bags and blankets, they watched the original "Star Wars" early Wedneday morning on a TV and VCR. They go online via a DSL connection through the theater, and have their own address -- 139 W. 54th St. -- for deliveries.

Why endure long days and cold nights on the sidewalk?