In a bid to boost his image with young voters, the barnstorming GOP presidential candidate is giving away opening-night tickets to the new red-hot "Star Wars" movie.
Cruz, who counts himself as one of the millions of "Star Wars" geeks around the world, says supporters who gather enough points by using his "Ted Cruz 2016" cell phone app between now and Tuesday will win pairs of tickets to "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
There will be seven winners.
"I grew up on 'Star Wars.' I collected all the 'Star Wars' action figures, I had them all in a Darth Vader carrying case and with my friends we would play and fight them back and forth," Cruz, who is the GOP front-runner in some recent polls, told
ABC News.
Just six years old when the original "Star Wars" debuted in 1977, Cruz called the movie's swashbuckling space crusader Han Solo "the coolest character in all of cinema."
A message sent to the users of Cruz's app reads:
"Ted is a huge fan of the entire saga, and we know many of you are too. So keep helping us get the message out for a chance to win a movie night on us!"
Cruz earlier told ABC News the ideology of "Star Wars" is applicable for political campaigns.
"A message that I give to folks on the campaign trail sometimes they'll say we tried. And my response is straight out of Yoda — 'There is no try. Do or do not,'" Cruz said.
"And likewise if someone does something very impressive, I'll turn to them just like Vader and say, 'The force is strong with this one.'"
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which opens Friday worldwide and is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, stars many of the same actors who played in the 1977 film, including Harrison Ford as Solo, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.
Film analysts say the 3-D blockbuster, which cost around $200 million to produce, could rake in $1.5 billion to $2 billion.
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