Donny and Marie Osmond Rent Out Texas Theater to Screen 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'
— -- For "Star Wars" fans in Gainesville, Texas, Donny and Marie Osmond had the ultimate hook up. The two gave away free tickets Thursday to see the latest installment, "The Force Awakens," the following day.
The celebrity duo rented out an entire movie theater so fans could see the film with them and their band. Donny announced the winners, 18 in total, on his Facebook page, adding that the "contest was a huge success."
Donny told People magazine how he and his sister came up with the idea.
"So I had this idea last week," he said. "Marie and I are on our Christmas and we have a day off between traveling from Tulsa to Gainesville, so I thought what are the chances that we could get some private theater owner to let us do a screening? I thought let's do a social media campaign because so many people want tickets and they can't get them."
The Osmonds said they were inspired to do a contest surrounding the box office blockbuster because the original characters from the 1977 film made their TV debut on their long-running variety show, "Donny and Marie."
"[Creator] George Lucas asked us to introduce these characters," Donny recalled. "Little did I know, these characters that I'm singing and dancing next to were going to change the world."
Marie added, "We were there in the beginning! Who knew that it would me so incredibly huge?"
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News and Lucasfilm.
