May the force be with ... if you’re attempting to drive through Hollywood this weekend.

Ahead of Monday night’s premiere of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Hollywood Boulevard has been closed to motor traffic between Highland and La Brea Avenues, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

The closure, said to be much more extensive than for a typical Hollywood movie premiere, began Thursday at 11 p.m. and will end Tuesday at 10 a.m., LADOT said in a message posted to its Twitter account.

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“The Force Awakens,” the seventh installment in the closely watched space-adventure series, officially opens next Friday, though many theaters -- including the Disney-owned El Capitan, near the intersection of Hollywood and Highland -- will show the movie starting Thursday evening.

As The Times’ Tre’vell Anderson reported this week, “Star Wars” fans began lining up as early as Dec. 5 outside the TCL Chinese Theatre Imax, just down and across the street from the El Capitan, for early showings of the film.

The TCL, then called Mann’s Chinese Theatre, was the first to show the original “Star Wars” in 1977.

Twitter: @mikaelwood


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