Ok folks, this is a whole big hodge podge of pretty much non-spoilers stuff. If ya get upset... well... you probably shouldn't be reading any post, anywhere concerning Star Wars. It's fairly mild. As for the reliability. This first one comes from this cool fella I met in a Pretzel Sandwich shoppe in Times Square when I was in N.Y. And he works at an illustrious pen and ink department at a super company that you'd go bats over. No real reason to hide his identity, but he doesn't want the fellow office workers being a pest. As for the other news... well take it with a grain of salt. Here we go...
A couple of nights ago I hiked on over to the opening of that new united artists theatre in Manhattan- the UA union square 13. Anyway, attending were several high up UA people (only the pres. and some vice pres.) who were all eager to to answer the question of the minute. This UA guy, a sharp lookign fella in suit giving a few people a tour, told this one dude that mr lucas had indeed prepared a two part spot for select theatres before the large run. That rumor is absolutely true. also as he continued, that Lucas was to go ahead with another. All men commented that another lucky UA vp had seen this incarnation of the trailer and had been floored. He also talked heavily about the digital formats Lucas proposed to shoot ep. 2 and 3 in. They all had much disdain for Lucas in terms of what his digital vision would cost them. i could go into detail on this more but it made sense for Lucas to work with Sony on this since they are the only major studio that also owns a large chunk to theaters as well. digital projectors cost over a million now while normal projectors run 20G for 35mm and 40G for 70mm. another dilemma with lucas' new 6:1 sound speaker system is it is not compatible with SDDS or DTS which pissed them off. Lucas also wants his film released on 70mm prints which UA hasn't run in nearly seven years. save for that ken b. Shakespeare movie and another musical re-release some years back. Anyway this could prove troublesome and costly for many theatres who are not equipped with a dying format. (70mm makes the detail in effects shots look better). Also there is no sound backup on 70. If the magnetic stripe is scratched or de-maged then the film can't be shown. Full house refund. 35mm has a backup system through the sound decoder. They even hinted at ticket price hikes as a result! bottom line, these big wigs were not happy or optimistic about lucas' digital or 70mm preferences but were enthusiastic about their new flagship theater (which is anticipated to top Sony Lincoln square in Manhattan as the nations top grossing theater from now on) and the great possibility it would show the sneak peak two part trailer due to it being both new, capable and a great test market.
Mr Womprat
Meanwhile this cool entity just happened to bump into Brian Blessed, who had this to say...
I recently met up with the british Actor Brian Blessed, who has a small role in TPM. He told me that when he arrived at leavesden to film his scene (just one day) he was told he was to be "half man half dinosaur". he walked onto the set and saw miles of blue screen "they" (he wasn't specific as to if he met lucas or not) told him he was " facing Obi Wan, Liam Neeson and 100 Jedi Knights" and asked him to improvise what his character would do ! He told me he lept up and down and made a gutteral jabbering noise. Tthey" loved it and told him it was perfect, he shot the scene infront of the blue screen and left.
Blaine
Here's a bit of reaction to seeing the Star Wars Episode One Trailer out in L.A. Apparently a couple of theaters claim to already have it. I'm working on verifying this, then I'll post where you can run to. Allegedly one is even showing it, within driving distance from Austin. ROAD TRIP!!! I'll confirm before mentioning the location.
The first bit here is not for publication, but really just a "heads up" on what a very good friend of mine saw out in LA a little while ago. This is probably not news to you, but I wanted to let you know that it is out there if no one else had. My friend, who has just got his foot in the door out in Hollywood, was invited to a screening of what was ostensibly a product reel. There were several scenes from various films attached to this reel. These included The Thin Red Line (which he said looked amazing--I actually saw the trailer this weekend and agree), and a scene from the new Star Wars film. My friend said that it was only about two minutes of a fight scene. He said that there were some laser action and light sabers. He was painfully cryptic in his description of the action (he doesn't believe in giving out spoilers to movies whether you care or not--he's a goddamn purist about it). He did say, however, over and over, "OH MY GOD!!! It was fucking amazing!" He said that the digitally created parts of what he saw were absolutely seamless, unlike the digital additions to the reissue that he and I were both critical of (don't get me wrong--I love the films, enhanced or no, it's just that some of the digital additions to the original three stuck out more than they should).
I am sorry that I have no real content here. As I said, this is nothing worthy of publication. My aim is really to let you know that the reel is out there. I don't doubt that you have already had reports on it. If not get your spies out there into action. I, for one, want more details!!! I love the spoilers. I can't imagine anything ruining my enjoyment of these next three films.
Mickey Garland
And then here is the rumor as to when we will see the 'real' poster. I've noticed that some people are a bit concerned about the stylistic change from ART to Photographic Imagery. (NOTE: Photographs can and often time are considered ART) Well, this seems to be a temporary thing. Read on...
we all enjoyed seeing the episode I one-sheet posted by the official site. This is however, just a teaser...the poster that will appear later and that will be on the videocassette and dvd releases of the film will appear in theatres, after the new year, most likely mid-january.
no i will not tell you what it looks like because it is still in production, but i can tell you that it will be similiar to the original one-sheets from the current trilogy, and have no fear you will see it soon enough. Oh yeah, the next one-sheet WILL have THE PHANTOM MENACE on it...it wasn't on the first one to avoid confusion of a sequel to return of the jedi..
not much but definately worth noting...i like the current one-sheet but can't wait for the next one..it's gonna rock!
take care
call me fred
