The Force is coming to Churchill Square

Ryan Grimmond, manager of the HMV store at Churchill Square, prepares for release of the biggest movie in the galaxy

Star Wars fans from across the galaxy are being invited to Brighton’s Churchill Square on Monday, 18 April, to join in the celebrations as The Force Awakens is released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Colleagues at the centre’s HMV store have been busily gearing up for the biggest release of the year – and have planned some out of this world entertainment to mark the occasion.

All staff will be in fancy dress, there will be exclusive artwork of classic Star Wars villains to give away and a host of other surprises throughout the day to mark the release of one of the most successful movies of all time.

“Most of us who work here are huge Star Wars fans, so we knew we wanted to do something special to mark the home release of Episode VII,” said Ryan Grimmond, manager of the HMV store at Churchill Square.

“The soundtrack will be playing on a continuous loop, while our colleagues will be dressing as either Jedi or Sith to make sure the atmosphere is something special,” said Ryan. “You never know, the occasional lightsaber duel might even break out.”

Star Wars movies have been playing non-stop in the store’s Blu-Ray section and the soundtrack will be playing in the Churchill Square malls in the run-up to the release of what is the most eagerly anticipated dvd in ‘a long, long time’.

“We’ve been taking pre-orders every day from people desperate to make sure they get their hands on their own copy on release day,” said Ryan. “This new Star Wars movie is a huge event, people are so excited and we just wanted to make sure we did something really special.”

As well as managing the Churchill Square HMV store, Ryan is an artist and has personally created several pieces of original, Star Wars-inspired art to mark the occasion. “The originals are spray paint, charcoal and pastel, and we’re going to give exclusive prints to the first 100 customers buying Star Wars on Monday,” he said.

“We’ll also be holding in-store competitions, give-aways, and a few extra surprises on the day – and with every single member of our team in Star Wars costume, it’s going to be an absolute blast!”

Mark Buchanan-Smith, Churchill Square Centre Director, said excitement amongst colleagues and shoppers at the centre was reaching astronomical levels.

“We’re playing music from the Star Wars movies throughout the mall on Monday,” said Mark, “and it’s great to see so much excitement. This is going to be the biggest release of the year – possibly of all time – so it was important we lent our support to the stellar efforts of Ryan and his team.

“We’re hoping that fans will come along to Churchill Square on Monday and help us make this event a huge success,” he said. “May the Force be with us!”

About Daniel White
Dan has written numerous articles for Title Sussex. He no longer works for Title Media and has made a confident career in the world of coffee!