The Force is back, and “Star Wars” fans have been turning out in masses to celebrate director George Lucas’ newest installment of the series, “Episode One: The Phantom Menace.”

Movies 12, 1317 Buckeye Ave., is playing host to hundreds of local fans who were more than willing to stand in line for the coveted tickets for hours, and in some cases, a week before the premiere of “Episode One.”

Manager of Movies 12, Eric Hoffmaster, said the enthusiasm for the latest “Star Wars” movie is staggering. He said when the film premiered at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the opening titles were met with cheers from a sold-out crowd.

“Everybody seems really excited about it,” he said. “Everybody comes out saying that they can’t wait for the next two.”

Lucas is planning on releasing two more “Star Wars” episodes within the next few years. But for now, Hoffmaster said he has no doubt that “Episode One” will be breaking box offices records, although he isn’t sure if it will surpass the current champion, 1997’s “Titanic.”

“It depends how well it does,” he said, noting that “Star Wars” will likely open stronger than “Titanic” did, but it might not have the staying power. “But it should,” Hoffmaster said.

Roy Huggins didn’t seem too concerned about whether “Star Wars” would clean up at the box office.

Huggins, a senior at Grinnell College, bought tickets from Movies 12 last week for a 10 p.m. Tuesday showing, and he traveled with friends to see “Episode One.”

Huggins said “Star Wars” was part of a family tradition.

“In my house, it was part of reality,” he said. “I was born right before the first one. Apparently, I was brought to the movie as an infant. Now I’m back.”

Jonathan Bovenmyer, an Ames resident who bought his tickets Sunday, brought his toy light saber to the showing, while a friend of his carried a “blaster.”

The “Star Wars” series is a fond childhood memory for Bovenmyer.

“I’ve grown up with it,” he said, remembering that when he was a kid, he and his childhood buddies used to watch every movie in the trilogy back to back. The new film, he said, is “just another piece in the puzzle.”

Huggins is not worried about early reviews of “Episode One,” which have been mixed at best.

“Star Wars is an event. The first movies — plot-wise, they weren’t very complex,” he said. “They were just really good space opera.”

Another member of the Grinnell troop who was unconcerned about the early negative reviews was Morgan Page, who played cards with her friends as she waited in line.

“We don’t care if it’s good or bad,” said Page, who was sporting Princess Leia-style buns. “Whether it’s good or not is not that important.” What is important, she said, is that “in 20 years, we’ll be telling our grandchildren we were here.”

Although Iowa State student Jeff Greiner was one of the more than 100 people standing in line for the show hours before it started, he said he isn’t an extreme “Star Wars” fan.

“I’m a big ‘Star Wars’ fan, but I’m … not fanatical in that way,” said Greiner, sophomore in history, adding that he’s heard plenty of positive feedback about “Episode One” from people who caught one of the first showings.

“[The new movie] is really good for people who like the original ‘Star Wars,'” he said.

Former ISU student Scott Kovach, said in “Episode One,” he is “looking for another high-riding, swashbuckling adventure.”

Kovach said he is somewhat unsure about whether the newer cast, which consists of more high-profile actors than the first cast, can deliver.

“[Harrison] Ford, [Carrie] Fisher, [Mark] Hamill — they had an incredible synergy; you can tell they’re having a good time,” he said. “Judging from the previews, I’m not very assured of that [with the new cast].”

Although the members of the 10 p.m. line were predominantly male, one of members of the Grinnell College crew doesn’t agree that “Star Wars” is for boys only.

“The female to male ratio here is ridiculous,” said Liz Neerland, junior at Grinnell College. “Women are just as excited about ‘Star Wars’ as men are, or they can be. It’s not a guy flick.”

And watching over that crowd was security guard Tom Flynn, who said he’ll be working security outside Movies 12 for the rest of the week. The crowd, although large in size, was very well behaved, he said.

Flynn said members of the crowd were telling him that they were arriving early to ensure “choice seats.”

“I guess it’s like anything else,” he said. “If this is your thing, you’ll do whatever you can.”