Star Wars: Rogue One sessions selling out as the hype awakens

Star Wars fans have rushed to the box office in order to be first in line when Rogue One comes out next month.

Tickets for the latest movie in the beloved sci-fi franchise went on sale on Monday, and disappeared faster than light speed.

Event Cinemas have revealed that three-quarters of their Imax midnight screening sold out in 10 minutes, and the cinema chain has had to add extra sessions at 3am and 6am to keep up with demand.

"People really want to experience this type of movie on the big screen," Kathyrn Harris of Event Cinemas said. The company has also seen huge demand for their Gold Class and Vmax sessions.

Last year, the previous instalment in the series, The Force Awakens topped the local box office, earning $9.8 million after its release in the same timeframe in December.

Rogue One is hoping to do similar numbers, however the Wellington earthquake is expected to affect sales. Several cinemas in the capital are closed, including Reading Cinema which will likely not reopen until after its car park has been demolished due to quake damage.

The closures appear to have benefited The Embassy, home to several Peter Jackson world premieres, which had people queuing at the door on Monday waiting to buy their seats, and has sold 700 seats in the main auditorium for the midnight session.

In Australia, Event Cinemas sold 8000 tickets in the first 10 minutes after the movie went on sale, and pre-sales have eclipsed other big blockbusters of the year.

The box office crown for 2016 is currently held by Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which has earned more than $12 million since its release earlier this year, three million more than nearest competition, Finding Dory.

Rogue One, starring Felicity Jones and Ben Mendelsohn, is out December 15.