Tuesday/And time for STAR WARS stuff!
EDITOR'S NOTE: WELL, GLAD WE GOT ALL THAT OTHER STUFF OUT OF THE WAY SO I CAN GO BACK TO OBSESSING ABOUT STAR WARS!
FIRST UP, CHECK OUT THE COOL PIC!
Film Review Magazine Star Wars Coverage
Here's the Star Wars press release for the May issue of Film Review magazine.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I DON'T KNOW...IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES HE LOOK A LITTLE PEEVED? (TEE HEE)
Press Release:
FILM REVIEW - MAY 2005 ISSUE (#656) – PUBLISHED MARCH 24
* HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN TELLS US WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE DARTH VADER* PLUS CELEBRITIES REVEAL WHAT THEY REALLY THINK ABOUT STAR WARS!
Hayden Christensen gives us an in-depth interview, covering topics like: what we can expect from the upcoming Revenge of the Sith; how he's been affected by his involvement in Lucas's epic series; and what it's like to actually make the movies.
Plus, some famous fans tell us what Star Wars means to them. Want to know how the likes of Mike Leigh, Keira Knightley or the rock band Ash felt about the films?EDITOR'S NOTE: NO, NOT REALLY. Here's your chance to find out!
“It has been almost 30 years of film-making, leading up to the telling of this story. And it pays off in every respect...”Versatile young star Hayden Christensen tells us about the challenges of playing the most famous badguy in cinema, what it’s like to work with George Lucas and what we can expect in the final instalment...“I spent Christmases running about trying to get the right Star Wars toys – it was an inevitable and inescapable part of my life.”
As well as discussing his latest social drama Vera Drake, the venerated British director Mike Leigh tells us just why Star Wars has played such an important part in his life. EDITOR'S NOTE: I BET HE JUST LOVED THAT. (SMIRK)
Actor shows a dark side, and the force of marketing
By Garry Maddox, Film ReporterMarch 22, 2005
EDITOR'S NOTE: PURTY.
Semi-matured ... Hayden Christensen says Revenge of the Sith isn't for kids; you must be nine.
Four years ago he was a little-known 19-year-old Canadian actor. But for the rest of his life, Hayden Christensen will be an icon for the most devoted movie fans around. EDITOR'S NOTE: AND JUST AS PICKED ON AS THE LOVELY FELLOW WHO PLAYED HIS SON. (POOR, PRETTY, WHINY GUYS).
In the final episode of the Star Wars saga, he gets to play one of cinema's great villains, as Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader.
It was a role that required him to arrive in Sydney three months before filming Revenge of the Sith to train four to five hours a day for the fight scenes. He was also eating six meals a day to add 11 kilograms to his frame.
The early phases of a long promotional effort before the movie reaches theatres in May had the 23-year-old actor launching a cinema trailer, meeting fans and leaving his handprints in a new Star Walk at Fox Studios last night.
So what was it like donning the famous helmet for the first time?
"It was just one of those ecstatic moments," he said before the trailer screening. "Just the sensation of having it on was very empowering and just really cool."
But on exactly what makes the young Anakin turn into Darth Vader, Christensen was guarded: "I can't give away too much. But Anakin is a very conflicted character, a very complex character, and I think struggles with the frustrations of life and those anxieties get the better of him in this film.
"He makes a pact with the devil, in a way." EDITOR'S NOTE: ALL TOGETHER NOW...DUH! (MAYBE THE PRETTY ONES SHOULDN'T SPEAK?)
Director George Lucas has already said the movie will be too strong for younger viewers. Christensen agreed that Anakin's journey was a dark one.
"Four- and five-year-olds should stay away," he said. "But nine and 10, you're fine."
During two long stints in Sydney filming episodes II and III, Christensen said he grew to love boogie-boarding.
"I stayed in Bondi both times I was living here and integrated into the whole beach community," he said, adding that he planned to get back into the surf this week.
That affection meant he had been looking for other movies to make here, he said.
He was even interested in the new Superman movie, which is being filmed in northern NSW and Sydney.
"I talked to them about that," he said. "It would be weird, though, to have Darth Vader play Superman. I think kids wouldn't really know what to think."
Lucas' world comes full circle
By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — George Lucas loves stories about redemption.
The gang's all here — well, almost: Although C-3PO is missing from this photo, he will be back for Sith.
On May 19, he gets the chance to live one.
When Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith arrives in theaters, it comes freighted with more hopes and expectations than an X-wing run at the Death Star.
For many fans, the culminating chapter of Lucas' six-part, 28-year-old space opera is a chance to return some of the luster to a story they say lost its way in the previous two installments.EDITOR'S NOTE: OH SKIP IT. LET'S JUST AGREE TO ENJOY IT FOR WHAT IT IS...WHATEVER IT IS...AND NOT PIN OUR LIFE'S DREAMS AND ASPIRATIONS ON IT, OK? THE SAGA AS A WHOLE IS AN AMAZING THING; SHOULD WE DEMAND MORE THAN THAT?
For Hollywood, Sith marks the industry's best hope to regain footing after two years of sliding movie attendance and disappointing big event films.
And for Lucas, the film's release is a chance to set down the No. 2 pencil and notebook of loose-leaf paper he picked up 33 years ago when he first set out to write a father-and-son tale set in a galaxy far, far away.
"It's almost over," Lucas told USA TODAY last week at ShoWest, the annual convention for theater owners. "For so long, it dominates your life. There were a lot of tearful moments making this one. You'd realize that every time you did something, it would be the last time. There have been a lot of farewells. But it's time to move on."
His swan song received a sneak peek at the convention. The footage — which included Anakin saving Obi-Wan Kenobi's life during a firefight and R2-D2 squaring off with a menacing droid — drew a huge ovation from the crowd.
"That's the film," says John Bentley, owner of the Metroplex Theatre in Delano, Calif. "That's the movie to get the lines going at your theater." EDITOR'S NOTE: OK, THE FILM MIGHT BE BRILLIANT, BUT THESE THEATER OWNERS GIVING IT A STANDING-O ARE NOT GOING TO BE ANY INDICATION OF THAT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. THEY ARE APPLAUDING POTENTIAL CONCESSION SALES AND A SUMMER OF FULL SCREENS. IF A TEST-PATTERN MADE KIDS LINE UP OUTSIDE THEIR METROPLEXES, THEY WOULD JUMP UP AND DOWN AND CLAP.
Already, the movie world is gearing up for its own goodbye. Fans are stocking tents and packing supplies for a weeks-long encampment outside theaters. Merchandisers are cranking out everything from Sith action figures to video games to clothing in a retail flood expected to reach $1.5 billion in sales.
Theater owners are deciding how many screens to reserve for the final film. EDITOR'S NOTE: DOES LUCASFILM LET THE THEATERS DECIDE? (GIGGLE). I THOUGHT UNCLE GEORGE TELLS THEM WHERE TO JUMP AND HOW HIGH?
"A lot," says Robert Beall, owner of Weatherford Cinema 10, a multiplex in Weatherford, Texas. "The last year and a half has been a little bit tough on us. The movies they said were going to be big hits didn't turn out so big. We're hoping this one kick-starts the summer."
There's reason to hope. The trailers for Sith, unlike those for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, have earned almost universal praise from Internet fans.
The movie will be dark, much like The Empire Strikes Back, which is generally considered the best of the films. Lucas says he expects Sith to be rated PG-13, a first.
"This one seems to have more energy than the last two, which seemed geared toward kids," says Robert Bucksbaum, owner of the Majestic Crest Theater in Los Angeles. "Kids are still going to see this, but there's hope there will be more for the adult, original fans."
Most important, Sith completes the story arc, connecting the beloved trilogy of the 1970s and '80s to the newer films. C-3PO is back, and Chewbacca makes his return (albeit as a young wookiee). We will see how the Jedi Knights fall and how the Empire rises to power.
And we get Darth Vader. All along, Lucas says, Star Wars has been his story, the tale of a father nearly destroyed by evil until his son shows him the light. EDITOR'S NOTE: THAT STILL PUSHES MY BUTTONS. LIKE 30-SECONDS OF DOING THE RIGHT THING AT THE VERY VERY END OF ROTJ CAN MAKE UP FOR ALL THE EVIL THAT COMES BEFORE. (THEY GOT A LOT OF SPLAININ TO DO ON THAT ONE).
His return could not come soon enough for fans. Vader's cavernous voice (supplied by James Earl Jones), labored breathing and samurai-warrior-inspired mask have been sorely missed over the past two films, says Philip Wise, president of theforce.net, the largest Star Wars fan site.
"When Darth Vader showed up in the trailers, that's when people really got excited that Star Wars was back," he says. "He's the reason these are more than just movies to people. This is a story people grew up on, a world they live in." EDITOR'S NOTE: SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, FANBOY. VADER IS PART OF A SAGA THAT WE CARE ABOUT. BUT NOT ALL OF US ARE JUST IN IT FOR THE BLACK LEATHER AND THE MASK.
Lucas could not have known he was on the brink of launching his own universe in 1972 when the skinny, scruffy filmmaker set pencil to paper to write a screenplay that was part Western, part biblical parable, part Buck Rogers.
Few believed that a script that included jazz-playing aliens or a gorilla with a laser gun could turn a profit. Universal Pictures walked away. 20th Century Fox agreed to finance only $10 million of the $12 million film.
Lucas ponied up $2 million and made the shrewd move of giving up his directing fee for a percentage of the box-office take and all merchandising rights. Since then, his movies — which he personally finances — have taken in $1.6 billion domestically and $3.4 billion worldwide.
How the story began
Star Wars opened in 1977 amid general opinion it would bomb. Instead, it shattered nearly every box-office record, ultimately taking in $461 million in the USA, including a 1997 re-release. It's the second-highest-grossing movie ever.
Lucas suddenly became ruler of his own empire. Star Wars-related merchandise has topped $9 billion in sales so far, Lucasfilm Ltd.'s licensing division says.
Lucas did it all with some pretty simple storytelling, in which the bad guy wears black and the good guy saves the day.
Yet that plain style has influenced a generation of filmmakers. Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Gladiator, recalls being in Los Angeles in 1977 when a friend suggested he see Star Wars.
"That was a seminal moment," Scott says. "I saw what kind of world could be created on film. It inspired me to make Alien as kind of the opposite to George's amazing fairy tale."
Moviegoers found a deeper meaning in Lucas' stories, which played on mythic story lines going back millennia.
"One reason for the sensational success of the Star Wars series is that it touches something deeply spiritual in all of us," says William Blizek, editor of The Journal of Religion & Film at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
"The idea of the Force, for example, tells us that there is something out there, bigger than ourselves — maybe God," EDITOR'S NOTE: OR MAYBE JUST HAN AND LUKE AND YOUNG OBI-WAN. (EITHER WAY, SOMETHING GOOD) he says. "But the ambiguity of the Force allows each of us to describe it in our own way, thereby transcending any particular religion."
As Lucas' tale comes to a close, Anakin is battling Obi-Wan Kenobi on the fiery, lava-oozing planet Mustafar after Anakin has made a Faustian bargain for power.
"He has made a deal with the devil," Lucas says. "Where else can the film end but in hell?"
Studio executives and theater owners are hoping for heavenly returns. Rudyard Coltman plans to open his new eight-screen theater in Vancouver, Wash., to time with Sith's opening weekend.
With its digital projectors, surround sound and stadium seating, Coltman's theater "is really built for his kind of cutting-edge movies, which I think is the direction all movies are headed. He's kind of the pioneer of what movies can do."
Sith also could be the harbinger of the year's box office, says Paul Dergarabedian of industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. He points out that Hollywood's highest-grossing year, 2002, got its momentum when Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones opened to $80 million and went on to make $310.7 million domestically. EDITOR'S NOTE: PRETTY DARN GOOD FOR A MOVIE ALL THE SAGES PICK ON, EH?!
"Star Wars could again be the springboard to summer," he says. "If this movie delivers, if people go out and have a good experience early in the summer season, they're more likely to come back."
And how the story ends
Armando Gomez, 19, appears to be convinced. The Los Angeles actor plans to camp out with several friends in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater beginning May 1.
"The last two haven't been great, but come on, it's the end of a saga," he says. "How can you not want to know the final piece of story?"
Lucas seemed acutely aware of that legacy while filming his final movie. Sith begins the way Star Wars did: with a fierce space chase. And it ends the way Star Wars began: with Darth Vader aboard the Death Star, the ultimate weapon.
"You could see it in George's eyes," says Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker and dons Vader's black costume at film's end. "You could tell he was going through a retrospective in his mind, making sure the final piece was exactly right. I think he wants this to be seen as not six different movies, but one complete story."
A story, Lucas says, with a pretty simple message.
"It's really about possessiveness and greed," he says. "Vader wants to control the universe, control life. But you can't do that. You have to accept life. You have to accept the sun is going to go down. And that it's going to get dark. And that everything, ultimately, has to end."
Even Star Wars. EDITOR'S NOTE: SNIFFLE. WELL DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT. WHIMPER....
"Sith" A Tearjerker?
It's a two hankey affair EDITOR'S NOTE: IS THAT HOW YOU SPELL 'HANKY'?
At ShoWest, George Lucas told everyone, including STAR WARS fans, to leave their lightsabers at home, but definitely bring the tissues.
Lucas said, "It's not like the first one. It's more emotional. I describe it as a 'Titanic' in space.EDITOR'S NOTE: SHUDDER..... It's a real tearjerker, and it will be received in a way that none of us can expect."
In part of a six minute clip shown during the ShoWest presentation, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and master Obi-Wan Kenobe wage a furious fight against their adversaries in a battle of deadly spaceships. In this episode, Skywalker becomes the notorious Darth Vader.
Sith preview takes theater owners to galaxy far, far away
---------------------------------------------------------
By DAVID GERMAIN
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Two decades ago, George Lucas pulled off the mask to reveal the face of one of cinema's greatest bad guys. Now, he's about to slip the mask back on.
Lucas offered a preview Thursday of his final Star Wars chapter, which spells out the last dark steps the once goodhearted young Anakin Skywalker takes to become the villain Darth Vader.
"It's not like the old Star Wars," Lucas told theater owners at the ShoWest convention. "This one's a little bit more emotional. We like to describe it as Titanic in space. It's a tearjerker."
Opening May 19, Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith brings full circle the mammoth sci-fi saga Lucas began in 1977 with the original Star Wars, which shattered box-office records and remains one of the top-grossing movies ever.
Reaction was mixed on Episode I — The Phantom Menace and Episode II — Attack of the Clones, many fans grousing that the first one was too much a kiddie flick and the second one too sappy a love story. Calling the latest movie a Faustian tragedy, Lucas said he is unconcerned about whether Revenge of the Sith draws more barbs from Star Wars fans.
"I feel that I've made the movie the best I can and it turned out the way I wanted it to be, so I'm happy," EDITOR'S NOTE: AND IF UNCLE G IS HAPPY, WE SHOULD BE TOO! Lucas, 60, told The Associated Press in an interview. "I never try to anticipate what the world's going to think or even worry about whether they're going to like it or not. That's not my job, to make people like my movies. They either like them or they don't. That's completely out of my hands."
The intensity of the action and themes in Revenge of the Sith probably will earn it a PG-13 rating, Lucas said. The first five Star Wars movies all were rated PG.
Lucas' entry at ShoWest was preceded by a parade of 21 Star Wars stormtroopers in white armor, followed by an actor dressed as Darth Vader.
Along with the trailer, Lucas showed the opening minutes of Revenge of the Sith, featuring the familiar "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." catch phrase followed by the franchise's rousing introductory music.
The film immediately launches into a space battle elaborate even by Star Wars standards as Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and his Jedi knight master, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), lead a mission to rescue the kidnapped Palpatine, chancellor of the Republic.
The trailer sets up the rest of the scenario, with the suspicious Jedi council assigning Anakin to spy on Palpatine after his rescue, while the chancellor — the future evil Emperor of the original trilogy — plots to seduce the young knight to the dark side of the Force.
"It's very dangerous putting them together," warns Jedi master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). "I don't think the boy can handle it."
Everyone who has seen the original Star Wars knows Mace is right. That film opens in a dark, oppressive age a couple of decades after the action of Revenge of the Sith, when Vader and the Emperor have conquered the cosmos, stamped out democratic rule and are hunting down the vestiges of a freedom-fighting rebellion.
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi recount the rise of Anakin's farmboy son, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who teams with his newfound sister Leia (Carrie Fisher) and brash smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to take down the Empire and ultimately redeem Vader, bringing him back to the side of the good guys. EDITOR'S NOTE: WELL...NOW THAT THEY'VE GIVEN AWAY THE WHOLE PLOT, I DON'T KNOW IF I'LL EVEN BOTHER TO SEE THE NEW ONE! (SNICKER)
Amid the climax of 1983's Return of the Jedi, Luke takes off Vader's black mask so father and son can see each other face to face in the elder Skywalker's dying moments.
Luke and Leia's characters will appear as infants in Revenge of the Sith.
The trailer screened Thursday showed what fans have been waiting for since Lucas began the story of Anakin's journey from good toward evil in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Namely, Anakin in the guise of Vader: Black cloak, mask and helmet, an outfit rigged with life-support devices for Skywalker, whose battle wounds have left him part flesh, part machine.
Lucas knows many fans wanted the prequel trilogy to introduce Vader early on rather than trace Anakin's downfall from nice little boy to bratty teen to dark knight of the galaxy. Revenge of the Sith presents Anakin in Vader's black get-up only at the very end of the movie, Lucas said.
"Obviously, fans would love to see a movie about Darth Vader running around killing people," said Lucas, who also was on hand to receive a "galactic-achievement award" from ShoWest organizers. "I'm not telling that story, and I'm not interested in that. That's not what the movie is. EDITOR'S NOTE: NO MATTER WHAT YOUR FEELINGS ARE ABOUT EPISODES 1 AND 2, YOU MUST AGREE THAT THIS DESCENT INTO YOUKNOWWHERE, STARTING WITH THE INNOCENT LITTLE BOY AND THE HOPEFULL, ROMANTIC YOUNG MAN....THAT THAT STORY IS EVER SO MUCH MORE COMPELLING AND POIGNANT. YES?!
"This first trilogy is really about the father, the struggles of a father, or a man, basically, to find himself, and at the same time fall into a trap of wanting certain powers, making a pact with the devil and basically spending the rest of his life regretting it."
AND A GIGGLE TO CLOSE OUT THE PROCEEDINGS ON THIS ITEM....
FIRST UP, CHECK OUT THE COOL PIC!
Film Review Magazine Star Wars Coverage
Here's the Star Wars press release for the May issue of Film Review magazine.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I DON'T KNOW...IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES HE LOOK A LITTLE PEEVED? (TEE HEE)Press Release:
FILM REVIEW - MAY 2005 ISSUE (#656) – PUBLISHED MARCH 24
* HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN TELLS US WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE DARTH VADER* PLUS CELEBRITIES REVEAL WHAT THEY REALLY THINK ABOUT STAR WARS!
Hayden Christensen gives us an in-depth interview, covering topics like: what we can expect from the upcoming Revenge of the Sith; how he's been affected by his involvement in Lucas's epic series; and what it's like to actually make the movies.
Plus, some famous fans tell us what Star Wars means to them. Want to know how the likes of Mike Leigh, Keira Knightley or the rock band Ash felt about the films?EDITOR'S NOTE: NO, NOT REALLY. Here's your chance to find out!
“It has been almost 30 years of film-making, leading up to the telling of this story. And it pays off in every respect...”Versatile young star Hayden Christensen tells us about the challenges of playing the most famous badguy in cinema, what it’s like to work with George Lucas and what we can expect in the final instalment...“I spent Christmases running about trying to get the right Star Wars toys – it was an inevitable and inescapable part of my life.”
As well as discussing his latest social drama Vera Drake, the venerated British director Mike Leigh tells us just why Star Wars has played such an important part in his life. EDITOR'S NOTE: I BET HE JUST LOVED THAT. (SMIRK)
Actor shows a dark side, and the force of marketing
By Garry Maddox, Film ReporterMarch 22, 2005
EDITOR'S NOTE: PURTY.Semi-matured ... Hayden Christensen says Revenge of the Sith isn't for kids; you must be nine.
Four years ago he was a little-known 19-year-old Canadian actor. But for the rest of his life, Hayden Christensen will be an icon for the most devoted movie fans around. EDITOR'S NOTE: AND JUST AS PICKED ON AS THE LOVELY FELLOW WHO PLAYED HIS SON. (POOR, PRETTY, WHINY GUYS).
In the final episode of the Star Wars saga, he gets to play one of cinema's great villains, as Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader.
It was a role that required him to arrive in Sydney three months before filming Revenge of the Sith to train four to five hours a day for the fight scenes. He was also eating six meals a day to add 11 kilograms to his frame.
The early phases of a long promotional effort before the movie reaches theatres in May had the 23-year-old actor launching a cinema trailer, meeting fans and leaving his handprints in a new Star Walk at Fox Studios last night.
So what was it like donning the famous helmet for the first time?
"It was just one of those ecstatic moments," he said before the trailer screening. "Just the sensation of having it on was very empowering and just really cool."
But on exactly what makes the young Anakin turn into Darth Vader, Christensen was guarded: "I can't give away too much. But Anakin is a very conflicted character, a very complex character, and I think struggles with the frustrations of life and those anxieties get the better of him in this film.
"He makes a pact with the devil, in a way." EDITOR'S NOTE: ALL TOGETHER NOW...DUH! (MAYBE THE PRETTY ONES SHOULDN'T SPEAK?)
Director George Lucas has already said the movie will be too strong for younger viewers. Christensen agreed that Anakin's journey was a dark one.
"Four- and five-year-olds should stay away," he said. "But nine and 10, you're fine."
During two long stints in Sydney filming episodes II and III, Christensen said he grew to love boogie-boarding.
"I stayed in Bondi both times I was living here and integrated into the whole beach community," he said, adding that he planned to get back into the surf this week.
That affection meant he had been looking for other movies to make here, he said.
He was even interested in the new Superman movie, which is being filmed in northern NSW and Sydney.
"I talked to them about that," he said. "It would be weird, though, to have Darth Vader play Superman. I think kids wouldn't really know what to think."
Lucas' world comes full circle
By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — George Lucas loves stories about redemption.
The gang's all here — well, almost: Although C-3PO is missing from this photo, he will be back for Sith.
On May 19, he gets the chance to live one.
When Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith arrives in theaters, it comes freighted with more hopes and expectations than an X-wing run at the Death Star.
For many fans, the culminating chapter of Lucas' six-part, 28-year-old space opera is a chance to return some of the luster to a story they say lost its way in the previous two installments.EDITOR'S NOTE: OH SKIP IT. LET'S JUST AGREE TO ENJOY IT FOR WHAT IT IS...WHATEVER IT IS...AND NOT PIN OUR LIFE'S DREAMS AND ASPIRATIONS ON IT, OK? THE SAGA AS A WHOLE IS AN AMAZING THING; SHOULD WE DEMAND MORE THAN THAT?
For Hollywood, Sith marks the industry's best hope to regain footing after two years of sliding movie attendance and disappointing big event films.
And for Lucas, the film's release is a chance to set down the No. 2 pencil and notebook of loose-leaf paper he picked up 33 years ago when he first set out to write a father-and-son tale set in a galaxy far, far away.
"It's almost over," Lucas told USA TODAY last week at ShoWest, the annual convention for theater owners. "For so long, it dominates your life. There were a lot of tearful moments making this one. You'd realize that every time you did something, it would be the last time. There have been a lot of farewells. But it's time to move on."
His swan song received a sneak peek at the convention. The footage — which included Anakin saving Obi-Wan Kenobi's life during a firefight and R2-D2 squaring off with a menacing droid — drew a huge ovation from the crowd.
"That's the film," says John Bentley, owner of the Metroplex Theatre in Delano, Calif. "That's the movie to get the lines going at your theater." EDITOR'S NOTE: OK, THE FILM MIGHT BE BRILLIANT, BUT THESE THEATER OWNERS GIVING IT A STANDING-O ARE NOT GOING TO BE ANY INDICATION OF THAT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. THEY ARE APPLAUDING POTENTIAL CONCESSION SALES AND A SUMMER OF FULL SCREENS. IF A TEST-PATTERN MADE KIDS LINE UP OUTSIDE THEIR METROPLEXES, THEY WOULD JUMP UP AND DOWN AND CLAP.
Already, the movie world is gearing up for its own goodbye. Fans are stocking tents and packing supplies for a weeks-long encampment outside theaters. Merchandisers are cranking out everything from Sith action figures to video games to clothing in a retail flood expected to reach $1.5 billion in sales.
Theater owners are deciding how many screens to reserve for the final film. EDITOR'S NOTE: DOES LUCASFILM LET THE THEATERS DECIDE? (GIGGLE). I THOUGHT UNCLE GEORGE TELLS THEM WHERE TO JUMP AND HOW HIGH?
"A lot," says Robert Beall, owner of Weatherford Cinema 10, a multiplex in Weatherford, Texas. "The last year and a half has been a little bit tough on us. The movies they said were going to be big hits didn't turn out so big. We're hoping this one kick-starts the summer."
There's reason to hope. The trailers for Sith, unlike those for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, have earned almost universal praise from Internet fans.
The movie will be dark, much like The Empire Strikes Back, which is generally considered the best of the films. Lucas says he expects Sith to be rated PG-13, a first.
"This one seems to have more energy than the last two, which seemed geared toward kids," says Robert Bucksbaum, owner of the Majestic Crest Theater in Los Angeles. "Kids are still going to see this, but there's hope there will be more for the adult, original fans."
Most important, Sith completes the story arc, connecting the beloved trilogy of the 1970s and '80s to the newer films. C-3PO is back, and Chewbacca makes his return (albeit as a young wookiee). We will see how the Jedi Knights fall and how the Empire rises to power.
And we get Darth Vader. All along, Lucas says, Star Wars has been his story, the tale of a father nearly destroyed by evil until his son shows him the light. EDITOR'S NOTE: THAT STILL PUSHES MY BUTTONS. LIKE 30-SECONDS OF DOING THE RIGHT THING AT THE VERY VERY END OF ROTJ CAN MAKE UP FOR ALL THE EVIL THAT COMES BEFORE. (THEY GOT A LOT OF SPLAININ TO DO ON THAT ONE).
His return could not come soon enough for fans. Vader's cavernous voice (supplied by James Earl Jones), labored breathing and samurai-warrior-inspired mask have been sorely missed over the past two films, says Philip Wise, president of theforce.net, the largest Star Wars fan site.
"When Darth Vader showed up in the trailers, that's when people really got excited that Star Wars was back," he says. "He's the reason these are more than just movies to people. This is a story people grew up on, a world they live in." EDITOR'S NOTE: SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, FANBOY. VADER IS PART OF A SAGA THAT WE CARE ABOUT. BUT NOT ALL OF US ARE JUST IN IT FOR THE BLACK LEATHER AND THE MASK.
Lucas could not have known he was on the brink of launching his own universe in 1972 when the skinny, scruffy filmmaker set pencil to paper to write a screenplay that was part Western, part biblical parable, part Buck Rogers.
Few believed that a script that included jazz-playing aliens or a gorilla with a laser gun could turn a profit. Universal Pictures walked away. 20th Century Fox agreed to finance only $10 million of the $12 million film.
Lucas ponied up $2 million and made the shrewd move of giving up his directing fee for a percentage of the box-office take and all merchandising rights. Since then, his movies — which he personally finances — have taken in $1.6 billion domestically and $3.4 billion worldwide.
How the story began
Star Wars opened in 1977 amid general opinion it would bomb. Instead, it shattered nearly every box-office record, ultimately taking in $461 million in the USA, including a 1997 re-release. It's the second-highest-grossing movie ever.
Lucas suddenly became ruler of his own empire. Star Wars-related merchandise has topped $9 billion in sales so far, Lucasfilm Ltd.'s licensing division says.
Lucas did it all with some pretty simple storytelling, in which the bad guy wears black and the good guy saves the day.
Yet that plain style has influenced a generation of filmmakers. Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Gladiator, recalls being in Los Angeles in 1977 when a friend suggested he see Star Wars.
"That was a seminal moment," Scott says. "I saw what kind of world could be created on film. It inspired me to make Alien as kind of the opposite to George's amazing fairy tale."
Moviegoers found a deeper meaning in Lucas' stories, which played on mythic story lines going back millennia.
"One reason for the sensational success of the Star Wars series is that it touches something deeply spiritual in all of us," says William Blizek, editor of The Journal of Religion & Film at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
"The idea of the Force, for example, tells us that there is something out there, bigger than ourselves — maybe God," EDITOR'S NOTE: OR MAYBE JUST HAN AND LUKE AND YOUNG OBI-WAN. (EITHER WAY, SOMETHING GOOD) he says. "But the ambiguity of the Force allows each of us to describe it in our own way, thereby transcending any particular religion."
As Lucas' tale comes to a close, Anakin is battling Obi-Wan Kenobi on the fiery, lava-oozing planet Mustafar after Anakin has made a Faustian bargain for power.
"He has made a deal with the devil," Lucas says. "Where else can the film end but in hell?"
Studio executives and theater owners are hoping for heavenly returns. Rudyard Coltman plans to open his new eight-screen theater in Vancouver, Wash., to time with Sith's opening weekend.
With its digital projectors, surround sound and stadium seating, Coltman's theater "is really built for his kind of cutting-edge movies, which I think is the direction all movies are headed. He's kind of the pioneer of what movies can do."
Sith also could be the harbinger of the year's box office, says Paul Dergarabedian of industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. He points out that Hollywood's highest-grossing year, 2002, got its momentum when Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones opened to $80 million and went on to make $310.7 million domestically. EDITOR'S NOTE: PRETTY DARN GOOD FOR A MOVIE ALL THE SAGES PICK ON, EH?!
"Star Wars could again be the springboard to summer," he says. "If this movie delivers, if people go out and have a good experience early in the summer season, they're more likely to come back."
And how the story ends
Armando Gomez, 19, appears to be convinced. The Los Angeles actor plans to camp out with several friends in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater beginning May 1.
"The last two haven't been great, but come on, it's the end of a saga," he says. "How can you not want to know the final piece of story?"
Lucas seemed acutely aware of that legacy while filming his final movie. Sith begins the way Star Wars did: with a fierce space chase. And it ends the way Star Wars began: with Darth Vader aboard the Death Star, the ultimate weapon.
"You could see it in George's eyes," says Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker and dons Vader's black costume at film's end. "You could tell he was going through a retrospective in his mind, making sure the final piece was exactly right. I think he wants this to be seen as not six different movies, but one complete story."
A story, Lucas says, with a pretty simple message.
"It's really about possessiveness and greed," he says. "Vader wants to control the universe, control life. But you can't do that. You have to accept life. You have to accept the sun is going to go down. And that it's going to get dark. And that everything, ultimately, has to end."
Even Star Wars. EDITOR'S NOTE: SNIFFLE. WELL DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT. WHIMPER....
"Sith" A Tearjerker?
It's a two hankey affair EDITOR'S NOTE: IS THAT HOW YOU SPELL 'HANKY'?
At ShoWest, George Lucas told everyone, including STAR WARS fans, to leave their lightsabers at home, but definitely bring the tissues.
Lucas said, "It's not like the first one. It's more emotional. I describe it as a 'Titanic' in space.EDITOR'S NOTE: SHUDDER..... It's a real tearjerker, and it will be received in a way that none of us can expect."
In part of a six minute clip shown during the ShoWest presentation, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and master Obi-Wan Kenobe wage a furious fight against their adversaries in a battle of deadly spaceships. In this episode, Skywalker becomes the notorious Darth Vader.
Sith preview takes theater owners to galaxy far, far away
---------------------------------------------------------
By DAVID GERMAIN
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Two decades ago, George Lucas pulled off the mask to reveal the face of one of cinema's greatest bad guys. Now, he's about to slip the mask back on.
Lucas offered a preview Thursday of his final Star Wars chapter, which spells out the last dark steps the once goodhearted young Anakin Skywalker takes to become the villain Darth Vader.
"It's not like the old Star Wars," Lucas told theater owners at the ShoWest convention. "This one's a little bit more emotional. We like to describe it as Titanic in space. It's a tearjerker."
Opening May 19, Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith brings full circle the mammoth sci-fi saga Lucas began in 1977 with the original Star Wars, which shattered box-office records and remains one of the top-grossing movies ever.
Reaction was mixed on Episode I — The Phantom Menace and Episode II — Attack of the Clones, many fans grousing that the first one was too much a kiddie flick and the second one too sappy a love story. Calling the latest movie a Faustian tragedy, Lucas said he is unconcerned about whether Revenge of the Sith draws more barbs from Star Wars fans.
"I feel that I've made the movie the best I can and it turned out the way I wanted it to be, so I'm happy," EDITOR'S NOTE: AND IF UNCLE G IS HAPPY, WE SHOULD BE TOO! Lucas, 60, told The Associated Press in an interview. "I never try to anticipate what the world's going to think or even worry about whether they're going to like it or not. That's not my job, to make people like my movies. They either like them or they don't. That's completely out of my hands."
The intensity of the action and themes in Revenge of the Sith probably will earn it a PG-13 rating, Lucas said. The first five Star Wars movies all were rated PG.
Lucas' entry at ShoWest was preceded by a parade of 21 Star Wars stormtroopers in white armor, followed by an actor dressed as Darth Vader.
Along with the trailer, Lucas showed the opening minutes of Revenge of the Sith, featuring the familiar "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." catch phrase followed by the franchise's rousing introductory music.
The film immediately launches into a space battle elaborate even by Star Wars standards as Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and his Jedi knight master, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), lead a mission to rescue the kidnapped Palpatine, chancellor of the Republic.
The trailer sets up the rest of the scenario, with the suspicious Jedi council assigning Anakin to spy on Palpatine after his rescue, while the chancellor — the future evil Emperor of the original trilogy — plots to seduce the young knight to the dark side of the Force.
"It's very dangerous putting them together," warns Jedi master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). "I don't think the boy can handle it."
Everyone who has seen the original Star Wars knows Mace is right. That film opens in a dark, oppressive age a couple of decades after the action of Revenge of the Sith, when Vader and the Emperor have conquered the cosmos, stamped out democratic rule and are hunting down the vestiges of a freedom-fighting rebellion.
Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi recount the rise of Anakin's farmboy son, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who teams with his newfound sister Leia (Carrie Fisher) and brash smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to take down the Empire and ultimately redeem Vader, bringing him back to the side of the good guys. EDITOR'S NOTE: WELL...NOW THAT THEY'VE GIVEN AWAY THE WHOLE PLOT, I DON'T KNOW IF I'LL EVEN BOTHER TO SEE THE NEW ONE! (SNICKER)
Amid the climax of 1983's Return of the Jedi, Luke takes off Vader's black mask so father and son can see each other face to face in the elder Skywalker's dying moments.
Luke and Leia's characters will appear as infants in Revenge of the Sith.
The trailer screened Thursday showed what fans have been waiting for since Lucas began the story of Anakin's journey from good toward evil in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Namely, Anakin in the guise of Vader: Black cloak, mask and helmet, an outfit rigged with life-support devices for Skywalker, whose battle wounds have left him part flesh, part machine.
Lucas knows many fans wanted the prequel trilogy to introduce Vader early on rather than trace Anakin's downfall from nice little boy to bratty teen to dark knight of the galaxy. Revenge of the Sith presents Anakin in Vader's black get-up only at the very end of the movie, Lucas said.
"Obviously, fans would love to see a movie about Darth Vader running around killing people," said Lucas, who also was on hand to receive a "galactic-achievement award" from ShoWest organizers. "I'm not telling that story, and I'm not interested in that. That's not what the movie is. EDITOR'S NOTE: NO MATTER WHAT YOUR FEELINGS ARE ABOUT EPISODES 1 AND 2, YOU MUST AGREE THAT THIS DESCENT INTO YOUKNOWWHERE, STARTING WITH THE INNOCENT LITTLE BOY AND THE HOPEFULL, ROMANTIC YOUNG MAN....THAT THAT STORY IS EVER SO MUCH MORE COMPELLING AND POIGNANT. YES?!
"This first trilogy is really about the father, the struggles of a father, or a man, basically, to find himself, and at the same time fall into a trap of wanting certain powers, making a pact with the devil and basically spending the rest of his life regretting it."
AND A GIGGLE TO CLOSE OUT THE PROCEEDINGS ON THIS ITEM....
posted by QOTD (the Queen of the Dweebs) at 3:17 PM
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