Skip to main content

Witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational Star Wars movie theater

Omaha, Nebraska may seem like an unlikely place to find Star Wars heaven, but a new themed theater just opened up in the Cornhusker State that may soon become a destination for fans of the franchise from all over.

Created by the Alamo Drafthouse cinema chain, this newly-opened Star Wars theater pulls out all of the stops. 10-foot Death Star replica shooting out faux planet-killing laser? Check. Imperial spaceship interior? Check. Emperor Palpatine’s throne? Check.

Recommended Videos

Everything in the lobby seems meticulously crafted to fit the Star Wars motif, right down to the appearance of the snack stand and the uniforms of the employees behind the counter.

“The idea behind the lobby is that we wanted to construct and install a lobby theme that would make us unique in our Omaha market as well as the Midwest,” said Drafthouse’s Omaha team in a statement provided to Entertainment Weekly. “We also wanted a theme that was built around an iconic film and to completely own that theme to immerse our guests in the experience. That is when Star Wars came into the picture and it just so happened that we timed it out just right with the announcement of the huge plans for a new Star Wars legacy starting this December. It is a permanent installation and will be the destination to see all of the new Star Wars films.”

Death Star at Alamo Drafthouse Omaha

This looks like loads of fun and we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Star Wars superfans making the pilgrimage for The Force Awakens and for future franchise films — after all, there should be a new one every year for some time to come. While putting butts in theater seats is becoming more and more challenging, this is exactly the sort of unique experience that you just can’t get without leaving home. Unless, of course, you’re one of these folks.


The Alamo Drafthouse’s Star Wars-themed Omaha theater is currently open for business, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens will hit theaters everywhere on December 18, 2015.

Adam Poltrack
Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…
George Lucas abandoned a Star Wars twist that would have changed Obi-Wan’s story
Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor stand back to back in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Few Star Wars characters have a story as well-known or important as Obi-Wan Kenobi. The character, first introduced as an older Jedi in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, is both a noteworthy mentor to Luke and Anakin Skywalker and a tragic figure due to the dissolution of his friendship with the latter. Thanks to Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness' dual, decades-spanning performances as the character, Obi-Wan's story has been brought to life in almost its entirety over the years, too.

However, it turns out that Star Wars creator George Lucas originally had a very different idea for Obi-Wan Kenobi's story. In an interview with StarWars.com, Iain McCaig, who worked as a behind-the-scenes artist on Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, revealed that Lucas originally intended to swap the names of Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jinn in that film. "It’s interesting how things evolve,” McCaig commented. “For a time, the older Jedi was named Obi-Wan and the younger Jedi was named Qui-Gon."

Read more
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew trailer: The Jedi kids are alright in new Disney+ show
A group of children gather around Jude Law.

A new generation of heroes is born in the Star Wars: Skeleton Crew trailer.

After making a startling discovery on their planet, four kids — Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), KB (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) — find themselves lost in a foreign galaxy. In need of desperate help, the kids encounter Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law), a Force user who agrees to help them get home. The trip will be dangerous, evidenced by murderous pirates breathing down their necks.

Read more
Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley reveals why she finds her return as Rey ‘scary’
Daisy Ridley as Rey in The Rise of Skywalker.

Last year, Lucasfilm announced a handful of promising new film projects set within the Star Wars universe, including one that will follow Rey (Daisy Ridley) as she attempts to rebuild the Jedi Order following the events of 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy subsequently confirmed in an interview with IGN that the film will take place 15 years after the conclusion of Star Wars' Sequel Trilogy and will find the Jedi "in disarray" and Rey trying to rebuild the Order "based on the books, based on what she promised Luke (Mark Hamill)."

Since then, progress on the project has been slow. Its original writers, Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson, departed the project in March 2023, and their replacement, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, reportedly parted ways with the film recently as well. For her part, Daisy Ridley has remained fairly tight-lipped about the project and its status. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, though, she did open up about actually preparing to reprise her life-changing Star Wars role.

Read more