Hey folks, Harry here. You should be seeing coverage of this issue beginning this Monday from other outlets, but I just wanted to let ya see some of these incredible pics that Annie Leibovitz took while on the set of STAR WARS EPISODE ONE. I believe there are still more to be seen in the New VANITY FAIR, so you'll probably be wanting to scour newstands to get your hands on it. In fact, you'll also be treated to.... well... hell, here's what our spy at VF told me as an advance look at the article. P.S. Click on the pics for larger versions....

Vanity Fair's February cover story is a piece on Star Wars:The Phantom Menace with an interview with George Lucas by David Kamp accompanying amazing photos of the cast and crew in Tunisia, all shot by star photographer to the stars, Annie LeLeibovitz. The piece doesn't have a lot that we don't already know from reading your site and Force.Net. However, Lucas does say that there will only be SIX episodes, not the traditional nine which we were raised to believe existed! Lucas is quoted as saying, "That's not really part of the plan at this point. When you see it in six parts you'll understand. It really ends at part six." Lucas goes on to say that the prequels were the only stories he ever had plans to make. "I never had a story for the sequels, for the later ones, and also, I'll be to a point in my age where to do another trilogy would take 10 years." When asked by VF writer David Kamp if he would let others write and helm future Star Wars film projects just as he has franchised out the comics, paperbacks and CD-ROMS, Lucas replies: "Probably not. It's my thing." Lucas talks about a character named Lord Sidious who is the true Phantom Menace of the title. He is the boss of Darth Maul (AWESOME shot of Kenobi (McGregor) an Maul (martial artist Ray Park) attackingeach other!) However, Lucas says, "nobody knows Dark Sidious exists. Well, he's seen to the audience, but not to the players." Also, and maybe Lucas is just playing with the fans, but he says that Palpatine is shown as merely a politico representing the planet Naboo on the Galactic Senate. "Palpatine is a wonderful guy in this movie," Lucas says. OK, I guess that's enough. Let me know your thoughts. Take care!

These pictures have been removed, by Vanity Fair's insistence. If ya gotta see them, and the other killer images, you'll have to purchase a copy. They are tres cool mon ami!

Hey folks, Harry here. I've been reading the whole "Lucas sucks ass for not making 9 Star Wars films!" debate in TALK BACK below. Well, here's my feelings on the subject.

While I technically am quite thankful for the films we will be getting, there is an anger and frustration that lies deep inside me. When I was a child, there were 9 films. NINE FILMS... N-I-N-E... That was what I dreamed of, what I conjured in my mind. What all my friends were told. Now sure, maybe the younger Star Wars generation is of the mind that there was no way they would see a new STAR WARS film. But for me... for the last 15 years, there has been no doubt that one day, I would be able to put in and watch all NINE FILMS!!! It's really tough to sit there and think... all those dreams and talks that every fan and I have ever had over the course of several hundred conventions is bullshit because some guy wearing flannel decrees it so... it's the fact that these conversations are now dead. Well... technically, there is that belief that the HARRY that remembers being told that EWAN McGREGOR and NATALIE PORTMAN were not ever going to be in the film. Well skeptic HARRY believes that this is all a cover story, to keep us fans and the media focused solely upon the films he's currently working on. BUUUUUUUT.... that's conspiracy theory Harry, and serious Harry has to be just... honest and think... perhaps he is telling the truth. Am I angry with Lucas? Sure, but what the hell man, I love the films I already have, and I love the thrill of looking forward to these upcoming films. He's one of the kings of cool in my eyes, so it's an unhappy statement that I won't get to learn (On Film) what becomes of the rebellion, but it's a fact of fucking life that I'm not gonna get to see NINE FILMS. But hey... this just fuels talks about "What an ass George is..." and "Man, wouldn't it be cool if..." and "Ya know what... I'm gonna make an action figure sequel trilogy and it'll be soo big..." So cest la vie, que sera sera... tis the madness of King George. It's not like we can form our own colony and throw his tea in the bay, and fucking kill the red coats....

On further thought...

in just over 5 months... we'll be getting a new STAR WARS movie, and really... when ya get right down to the nitty gritty, that's what counts. And after that, we'll have another and then another... and that... is sooooooo cool. I can live without seeing the last trilogy, I know friends and I will always talk about it, consider it, wish for it, but if it had been a choice between a sequel trilogy and these prequels... I would have chosen these films without a moment's hesitation. To see the death of the jedi, the clone wars, the arcs of OB1, Palpatine, Anakin, et al... well, that gravy is pure icing. I think it would be best to begin whining after our plates are empty... We have other things to look forward to... like our own lives, loves and pursuits. Hell, take those dreams you have had of a sequel trilogy, write the scripts, change the character names, the phrases, the universe of the story and you have your own movie to make. Make JOHN CARTER OF MARS or DOC SAVAGE or BUCK ROGERS or ADAM STRANGE... make your own characters... it's a helluva lot better then whining about Lucas not making a movie or three for ya. I'll watch em, and hopefully I'll make a few....