Cosplayers flood into New York City every year for the annual Comic Con event. We rounded up some of this year's best cosplayers to see how they compare against the characters they play.
Video by Corey Protin. Reporting by Kim Renfro. Additional camera by Darren Weaver.
Follow TI: On Facebook
You like "Star Wars," right? Sure you do. At least that's what the nostalgia part of your brain is telling you as it's bombarded with "Star Wars" stuff in the lead up to this holiday's big new film.
Sony knows this, apparently, as its big holiday commercial for the PlayStation 4 is focused on the upcoming "Star Wars" game: "Star Wars Battlefront." You know, the game where you get to play as Darth Vader, on Hoth, as he relentlessly murders Rebel scum?
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: 7 reasons you should play 'Star Wars Battlefront' right now
We asked a bunch of "Star Wars" superfans at this year's New York Comic Con what they thought about Kylo Ren— the mysterious new villain in "The Force Awakens."
Video by Corey Protin. Reporting by Kim Renfro.
Follow TI:On Facebook
Monday evening tickets went on sale for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and the demand for tickets is so high that it has crippled the two largest online ticket sellers.
If you try to head to both Fandango and MovieTickets.com and buy "The Force Awakens" tickets, here's what you see.
The apps aren't much better.
Fandango has been in and out for us.
MovieTickets.com says its site is working, but just slower than usual. It suggests using its app.
@frankpallotta it's up now, but a bit slower than usual. You should try the app ;)
— MovieTickets.com (@MovieTickets) October 20, 2015In case you weren't positive if "Star Wars" was going to be huge, here's your proof.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Star Wars' superfans think of the mysterious villain in 'The Force Awakens'
After two lengthy teasers for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Disney and Lucasfilm have finally debuted the first full-length trailer for the next “Star Wars” movie.
The trailer debuted on ESPN during “Monday Night Football.”
We finally get to see more of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (Jon Boyega), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) along with the return of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher as Han Solo and Princess Leia.
If you missed the premiere, check it out again below.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is in theaters December 18, 2015.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Star Wars' superfans think of the mysterious villain in 'The Force Awakens'
The first full trailer for "Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens" premiered on ESPN during halftime of "Monday Night Football."
It has a whole lot to offer running at over two minutes, as it highlights many of the main characters we will follow in this chapter of the saga. From new ones like Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) to favorites like Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew).
Watch it here:
"The Force Awakens" opens in theaters December 18.
SEE ALSO: Why stormtroopers look different in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'
On Monday, the Hasbro Inc. reported weak sales in Q3.
And shares tumbled by 7.2%.
The toy brand and the analysts who follow it attributed some of the shortfall to disappointing sales of its games and toys for girls.
"If the weakness in girls' toys is the result of competitive shifts, then there isn't much to be done," Oppenheimer & Co Inc. analyst Sean McGowan noted. "Other than heavy promotion or an acquisition, there is not much that Hasbro, or any other toy company, can do to change a product's performance in the short term."
However, others pointed to another factor that is plaguing Hasbro: the strong dollar and FX.
"We thought the license for Star Wars would drive EPS higher. In retrospect, FX took a bigger hit in the quarter than expected," writes BMO Capital Markets' Gerrick Johnson in a note to clients. "Foreign exchange was a $132 million headwind in the quarter. Excluding the negative impact of foreign exchange, sales grew +9%. The 9% impact to sales was larger than the 7% impact we had modeled."
This isn't an isolated phenomenon. The stronger dollar and its unfavorable foreign exchange (FX) affects have been plaguing numerous multinational US companies for some time now.
Simply put, what happens is the strong dollar makes it more expensive to sell goods outside the US, hurting competitiveness with foreign-made goods.
This poses a big problem for companies that operate globally — and they've been pretty vocal about it.
Earlier this month, FactSet searched the transcripts of the S&P 500 companies that had conducted third quarter earnings conference calls through October 7 to see their greatest concerns.
Most of them cited the strong dollar/FX as having an negative impact on Q3.
"Similar to previous quarters, the strong US dollar has been cited by the most companies in the index as a factor that either had a negative impact on earnings or revenues for Q3, or is expected to have a negative impact on earnings and revenues in future quarters," according to FactSet's senior earnings analyst John Butters.
“In terms of a year-over-year EPS comparison, a few items of note, and the biggest item of note, FX," Costco noted during their conference call, according to FactSet. "In Q4 year over year, the foreign currencies where we operate were weaker versus the U.S. dollar, resulting in our reported foreign earnings this year in Q4 being lower by about $53 million after tax or $0.12 a share than these earnings would have been had FX exchange rates been flat year over year."
And, as Yum Brands, which announced that it was splitting in two on Tuesday, noted during its call: "I do want to point out foreign currency translation remains a strong headwind as we continue to expect this to impact full year EPS by about 5 percentage points."
In sum, the strong dollar headwind that Hasbro is struggling with is something that most mutlinational companies are also struggling with right now.
SEE ALSO: The famous last words of 18 famous people
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: This is what happened the week in August when global markets plunged
Looks like the actors in the new "Star Wars" movie, "The Force Awakens," were as excited as the rest of us to see the full trailer that debuted Monday night.
After the much anticipated two-and-a-half-minute trailer premiered on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" (and put online), stars Daisy Ridley (as desert scavenger, Rey) and John Boyega (Finn, a former Stormtrooper who has left the Empire) posted videos of their reaction while watching it on Instagram.
Ridley, 23, wrote in her post:
"Staying in a little b'n'b with my friend... Set an alarm to watch the trailer... My friend filmed my reaction. Totally emotional seeing it for the first time and so so so incredibly awed to be part of this incredible legacy."
The video shows Ridley watching it in bed. At one point she begins to cry, saying "Oh my goodness, amazing."
SEE ALSO: Here are all the new "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" LEGO sets
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Star Wars' superfans think of the mysterious villain in 'The Force Awakens'
Disney and Lucasfilm just debuted a new trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and there's a lot to take in from the over two-minute trailer.
If you missed the trailer or want to see it again, head here.
Good?
All right, let's take a closer look at some of the big moments from the latest trailer that you'll be talking about for the rest of the week.
We know from the first teasers (and from merchandise) that Finn was a former Stormtrooper.
Something leads him to break away from the dark side and join up with Poe Dameron and the rebels.
How he winds up with a lightsaber is still unknown.
The character utters the phrase, "I will finish what you started," as the camera pans over Vader's melted, archaic mask.
We saw a new Death Star-like weapon in the new "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" poster. Could Kylo be aboard it in this scene or is simply aboard his own Command Shuttle in this image?
The first full trailer for "Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens" premiered on ESPN during halftime of "Monday Night Football."
It has a whole lot to offer running at over two minutes, as it highlights many of the main characters we will follow in this chapter of the saga. From new ones like Poe (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) to favorites like Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew).
"The Force Awakens" opens in theaters December 18.
We asked a bunch of "Star Wars" superfans at this year's New York Comic Con what they thought about J.J Abrams — the director of "The Force Awakens."
Video by Corey Protin. Reporting by Kim Renfro.
Follow TI: On Facebook
The third trailer for the new "Star Wars" movie, "The Force Awakens," is here.
If you're not well-versed in "Star Wars" lore, you could be pretty confused by what you see. Here's an explanation for everything in the new trailer.
Warning: If you want to avoid potential spoilers or even speculation about "The Force Awakens," stop reading now.
A brand new "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" trailer debuted Monday night, and fans are going wild. Nearly 9 million people have viewed the trailer on the official Facebook page in just 16 hours. Among the thousands of commentors, one important voice stood out: Mark Zuckerberg.
The cofounder and CEO of Facebook "liked" the post, and then added his own comment: "This looks amazing. I love Star Wars."
The Star Wars page replied: "We know."
This joke is spot-on and easy to recognize if you're a Star Wars fan. It recreates the iconic moment from "Empire Strikes Back" when Princess Leia finally professed her love to Han Solo. He replied: "I know."
Here's the moment, in case you forgot:
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Star Wars' superfans think of the mysterious villain in 'The Force Awakens'
"Star Wars" is a cult, but even its own actors aren't immune.
When the trailer for the new "The Force Awakens" movie came out, some of its actors nerded out as much as their fans.
Daisy Ridley and John Boyega (Rey and Finn in the film) literally flipped out when they first saw it. Boyega jumps behind a couch in his excitement, while Ridley burst into tears.
See the movie on December 18th.
Story by Ian Phillips and editing by Chelsea Pineda.
INSIDER is on Facebook Follow us here
The new Star Wars movies are pretty exciting. It freaked out the entire media landscape in a way unseen since the days before cable TV ensured we all didn’t watch the same episode of Friends on Thursday night.
As each trailer brings the new, Jar-Jar free reality of an impending new saga upon us, the inner child of someone who once read the Star Wars Encyclopedia cover to cover bubbles to the surface, realizing some of the tech seen in the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens would have been really useful on some real-world deployments.
SEE ALSO: All of the ways US intelligence thought Hitler may try to disguise himself
Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) is a human scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku (that’s not the desert world of Luke Skywalker’s Tattooine). Jakku is home to thieves and other criminals and someone like Rey must survive by salvaging old parts and reselling them. Having protection from the elements in the harsh, dry, dusty environment (sound familiar?) of Jakku is a real plus.
Rey’s eyepro is stripped from an old Stormtrooper helmet, giving her the same tactical advantage Imperial Stormtroopers had on the battlefield. Though it limits her field of vision, it does help her see in the dark, and through smoke, sand, and glare.
As an Astromech droid in the line of R2-d2, the BB-8 droid can deftly work with electronic devices, which would do efficient work with deactivating explosive devices.
The new droid comes with a number of improvements on the R2 unit’s original design, including a head which appears to float on a 360-degree base, giving the robot vastly improved maneuverability for the rocky slopes of Afghan terrain.
Although in some sci-fi epics, cybernetic hands are more of a problem, in the Star Wars universe, cybernetic limb replacements allow for full range of motion, full use, and full sensitivity. These prosthetic replacements connect mechanical parts directly to the user’s brain via a neural net interface, covered by synthskin, to where no one would know the difference to look at it.
This would be an excellent way to care for troops injured in Afghanistan, considering more than 1,000 lost limbs there. Good thing science already figured this one out. Thanks, DARPA.
If you plan on heading to a showing of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in costume, be careful of what you wear.
If you want to dress up as a Sith lord or a member of the Rebel Alliance you may need to rethink your wardrobe.
AMC theaters have a specific dress code in place:
The policy reads: "AMC does not permit weapons or items that would make other guests feel uncomfortable or detract from the movie-going experience. Guests are welcome to come dressed in costume, but we do not permit masks. In short, bring your lightsaber, turn it off during the movie, and leave the blaster and Darth Vader mask at home."
That also means no Kylo Ren masks, which will probably be a big hit come Halloween.
It's not just AMC theaters which are expected to have regulations in place.
Following the Aurora, Colorado, theater shooting in 2012, both AMC theaters and Regal Cinemas have updated their policies on costume and mask-wearing.
Here is part of AMC's updated policy since July 2012:
We will not allow any guests into our theatres in costumes that make other guests feel uncomfortable and we will not permit face-covering masks or fake weapons inside our buildings.
A representative for Regal Entertainment told the Los Angeles Times in 2012 there would be "stricter controls over character attire and accessories" at theaters.
Tech Insider has reached out to Regal Cinemas about any policy they may have in place during "Star Wars" screenings and will update this post if we hear back.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Star Wars' superfans think of the mysterious villain in 'The Force Awakens'
The whole world is going "Star Wars" crazy right now — even actors from the film are flipping out over their own trailer.
INSIDER is on Facebook Follow us here
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is on track to break box-office records across the board, but not every fan has been able to get their hands on the precious advance sale tickets.
When Disney and Lucasfilm announced pre-sale tickets would be available Monday evening after the new trailer aired, dedicated "Star Wars" fans immediately put together game plans.
The movie premieres on Friday, December 18, but technically the first available showing is at 7 pm on Thursday, December 17.
Some fans decided to purchase tickets online through sites like Fandango or MovieTickets.com.
Others went the "old-fashioned" route, and camped outside their local theater.
Unfortunately for some, the latter strategy failed.
We spoke with Stewart Quarles, who was the first in line at Chicago's Navy Pier IMAX theater. Quarles had called ahead, and was told the theater would "sell to the box office ... as soon as the trailer airs."
Quarles and several other superfans were at the theater early. "We got down there a few hours prior." he told TI. "We knew it was going to be wait...and then we asked in person again: '[Tickets will be sold] as soon as the trailer airs, right?' and she said, 'Yes, but we don't know when that's going to be.'"
Official "Star Wars" press releases said tickets for the film would be available following the launch of the new trailer.
Patience, you must have. @starwars tickets go on sale TONIGHT after the new trailer airs during #MNF! pic.twitter.com/Kj1BS1PaJ3
— Navy Pier IMAX (@NavyPierIMAX) October 20, 2015The press release indicated the trailer would air during the football game's halftime. Since the game started at 8:15 pm (EST), and the average football game lasts just over three hours, most expected the trailer to drop sometime late in the 9 o'clock hour.
The Navy Pier IMAX theater had a FAQ page posted on Facebook and Twitter, repeating the plan (emphasis is ours):
When do tickets go on sale?
After the new trailer that Disney has scheduled to be released on television tonight during the Monday Night Football game on ESPN. No specific time has been announced.
Where can I buy tickets?
You can purchase tickets on our website at www.imax.com/chicago or at the box office. Tonight the box office will be open until 10:00 pm. Online sales are available 24 hours a day.
The new "Star Wars" trailer didn't premiere on ESPN until after 10 p.m; however, tickets were up for sale before the game had even started.
Quarles told TI his friend was texting him before the first quarter was over, warning him tickets were selling out online. One Redditor told TI he saw tickets available on Fandango "around 8pm or shortly thereafter." Another superfan said she was frantically purchasing the tickets at 7:59pm.
Our Entertainment Editor Kirsten Acuna was able to browse and search for tickets after 8:10 pm.
Around 8:20 pm, Navy Pier employees informed queued fans they could now buy tickets, but the first showing was already sold out.
This stunned Quarles, and he said "the entire line had the same reaction." To be clear, the advanced tickets sales seem completely out of the control of individual theaters. That didn't stop upset customers from taking their anger out on social media.
@NavyPierIMAX why would you say tickets go on sale at half time when it was a bold face lie?
— tpapay (@snubgrub70) October 20, 2015Another upset Facebook user posted to the Navy Pier page, stating:
...to BETRAY so many of us by selling the tickets BEFORE the trailer aired, when it was stated repeatedly by all media outlets and on Navy Pier IMAX's own facebook page all day that tickets would only go on sale AFTER the trailer aired...I'm sorry just doesn't cut it. This is inexcusable."
Though Quarles realizes his disappointment is not the fault of the Navy Pier theater, he thinks communication could have been handled better. "I don't think the box office even knew until it was too late," he explained. "But they just stopped caring."
Quarles described his customer service experience as "really rude," and even took to Facebook to lodge a complaint about the handling of ticket sales. Not only was he met with disgruntled theater employees, but the Chicago Police department was even called to come manage the frustrated crowd. In the end, Quarles was contacted by a Navy Piers manager, who was able to sell him two tickets for Thursday's 10 pm showing. The premiere at 7 pm was completely sold out.
Even those with the foresight to check online sales probably ran into major issues. Multiple movie ticket sites were crashing throughout the evening. As one Redditor described it, using a play on an iconic line from the movies: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of servers suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced."
Navy Piers IMAX theater declined to comment on Monday's events. We've reached out to Fandango and Disney, and will update the post if we hear back.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: REVEALED: What 'Star Wars' superfans really think of J.J. Abrams directing ‘The Force Awakens'
If you haven't bought your tickets for advance screenings of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" yet, you may be in trouble.
Tickets went on sale Monday evening for 7 pm showings on Thursday, December 17, hours ahead of the film's release the following day, and many screenings to popular theaters have already sold out.
If you're trying to get tickets to any other showing, you're probably not having a difficult time. But if you want to be one of the first to see the new "Star Wars" movie, you're probably out of luck — unless you want to shell out some serious dough.
Not long after tickets went on sale Monday evening, listings on eBay started appearing selling tickets to the first showings of "The Force Awakens." Tickets are going for hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
For reference, a typical IMAX 3D ticket in the Tri-state area ranges from $19.57-$21.
If you're looking for a standard 7 pm ticket to a screening in a populated area eBay is filled with group packages ranging from $30-$10,000.
Here are some of the pricier bids.
Six tickets in Rocklin, California are going for $300.
There are four IMAX 3D tickets in Arcadia, California available for $350.
Four tickets for the movie at AMC Lincoln Square in NYC at 11:45 pm are going for $400.
Want reserved tickets? 3 IMAX 3D tickets for a 7 pm December 17 screening in Orange County, California can be yours for $1350.
If you want to see the film at the historic TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, there are two tickets claiming to be available for a 5:15 AM showing Thursday for $4,000.
If you're looking for the ultimate VIP experience there are even more expensive packages.
For $4,611.38 (very specific), you can purchase four tickets to an AMC theater in the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Florida. Afterward, you can head to a private party at Disney's Hollywood Studios where you'll have access to some of Disney's new "Star Wars" attractions.
Another seller has four tickets to a 7 pm IMAX 3D showing in Danvers, Massachusetts on December 17 going for $7,500. It doesn't look like you get anything else special with the tickets, though.
Another seller is auctioning off ONE ticket for the Orlando, Florida 7:20 pm screening and party which will also allow access to "Star Wars" attractions for $8,000.
The highest-priced "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" tickets on eBay are going for $10,000. This isn't even to the event in Orlando, Florida. These are just two "VIP" tickets to see the film in Ohio with a limo to take you to and from the theater.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: The full trailer of the new 'Star Wars' movie has got all the fans in a frenzy