This is the news that greeted visitors to the official Star Wars site
yesterday, as the buzz grew and fans, mostly with high degrees of disbelief,
went to check the title for themselves. It was of wide belief that Lucas
would not choose his title until just
weeks before the film's release. In fact, he said so himself, in an
interview which wrapped just 9 months ago and conducted by ET's Leonard
Maltin. When asked by a reader of the prequel's title, his answer was very
clear: "I haven't chosen one yet and will not make that decision until
a few weeks prior to the release.
If so, it would seem that the majority of internet users have
fallen for it hook, line and lightsabre,... Most fans
are polarised with the love-hate gut reaction response being
5% for and 95% against.
Some readers took time to suggest their own winning titles for StarWars: Episode One. Titles bandied around included the ever-popular Balance of the Force and the more original such as Breakfast at Chewies; Weekend at Obiwan's; There is Something about Yoda; Fast Jedi Kill; How Chewie Got His Groove Back; Four Jedis and a Funeral; Wookie Nights; and the guaranteed box-office smash: Jetanic
The most convincing argument to the truth behind The Phantom Menace
is probably Harry's note that Lucasfilm yesterday registered every possible
domain permutation: the-phantom-menace.com, phantommenace.com, thephantommenace.org,
phantom-menace.net, thephantommenace.com, starwarsphantommenace.org, phantom-menace.net,
starwarsphantommenace.com, the-phantom-menace.net, and phantom-menace.com.
They all point to the Official Site.
Oddly, no other character on the CD-ROM gets the same joking treatment.
Is it because the princess is a slave to fashion or, more simply, because
of the slave outfit -- the legendary garb that's a fetish for any male
"Star Wars" fan -- which also appears in the fashion show? "Leia has some
really great costumes, not just the slave outfit, that lends herself to
a fashion show," says Haden Blackman, a LucasArts writer/researcher who
penned the fashion show segment, "We could have done a stale presentation
of the different costumes like we do with the other characters but we wanted
to show some information in a lighter way." So far, no one knows
what the Emperor himself, George Lucas, thinks about the CD-ROM's skits.
"He hasn't seen them yet," Blackman says cautiously (content on the discs
only had to be approved by the licensingdepartment). "But I think he'll
enjoy them...I hope he does." May the force be with you, Haden.
SPEAKING OF THE STAR WARS PREQUEL... Problems on the shoot for the latest
episodes of GEORGE
LUCAS' sci-fi classic STAR WARS are reportedly forcing the budget into
outer space. Costly reshoots have had to be
ordered on the set of the movie starring screen hunk EWAN McGREGOR,
after it was discovered the master negative
was out of focus. A source at the studio in Hertfordshire, England
tells us, "The original budget was $72 million but
Lucas has ordered loads of reshoots and now it's going to cost nearer
$112 million." A hi-tech high-speed zoom lens is
also reported to have cut tiny portions out of shots, making it necessary
for more reshoots. Perhaps this was why no
trailer was ready for the big screen this weekend...