With the controversy surrounding upcoming Star Wars themed comedy Fanboys, it seemed like a good time to explain what all of the fuss is about, and share one fan’s thoughts on why it’s worth doing something about – whether you’ve seen the film yet or not.

What?

Fanboys is the upcoming comedy set in 1999, months before the release of The Phantom Menace. When main character Linus finds he is dying of cancer, and will not make the release of the film, he and his friends travel across America and attempt to break into Skywalker Ranch to steal a copy of the film.
A rough cut of this film was shown at Celebration Europe, in July 2007. The film received a standing ovation. All of the people who I spoke to afterwards, and all of those whose comments have been posted on the web, felt that the film was a complete success. It was one of those rare comedies that succeeds in having a heart – about a serious subject matter – but is tonally confident enough to still be hilarious throughout. The rough cut of the film is moving, without being overly sentimental.
However, despite the insanely positive response (comparatively a star of the original trilogy who also appeared on the CE stage did not get a standing ovation), the Weinstein Company decided that film didn’t work. That the cancer storyline should be removed. The film has been re-cut to eliminate that storyline.
Hmmm.... so why must the fans steal the edit from Skywalker Ranch? Why not just wait until May?
There has also been murmurings that the new version is geared at a younger, more specific audience, and mocks Star Wars fans rather than laughing with Star Wars fans at themselves as the rough cut did. That this is no longer a celebraton of fandom.
Other info worth knowing is that it is claimed the audience won’t laugh for 5-10 minutes after cancer is mentioned – rubbish. The audience at Celebration Europe didn’t go one minute without laughing during this film. The cancer is handled so well and artfully that it doesn’t detract from the humour at all.
Finally, the original director – who at Celebration, was evidently pleased to have a big studio and the big budget to finish this extremely personal project with – was ditched for the re-shoots. Kyle Newman certainly seemed like a fanboy himself, and that’s what a movie like this needs to guide it; a fanboy at the helm.

So why should I care?

Well, one of the problems with raising awareness of this issue is that only a few hundred people saw that cut at Celebration Europe, and anywhere else it was shown. So no-one else knows what they’re missing out on. But we’re asking for a leap of faith, for those of you who have not seen this rough cut to believe us in saying that it’s worth fighting for. That without the cancer storyline, the movie may be funny, but won’t be the fully-rounded re-watchable movie that we saw at Celebration. I, and many others, truly believe that it’s worth making the effort now so that all of us Star Wars fans have a truly brilliant movie to enjoy that celebrates our fandom.

So what next?

Well, there’s a heck of a lot of people who really do care about this movie. I’ll link to the websites where you can find out more, and the forums where I have a few suggestions of my own.

There are two suggestions of who to contact here, remember that the more folk they hear from the more compelled they may be to act.
Jedi News Message Board

There are ideas which I also suggest you go for on the main site for the campaign, “Stop Darth Weinstein” at this address;
http://committed.to/stopdarthweinstein
I do urge, however, all communication be polite. We need to persuade people to our point of view, and not irritate them/or hurl abuse at them.

Add the MySpace profile to your friends list;
http://www.myspace.com/stopdarthweinstein

And finally, should all of this fail and the watered-down version is released, please don’t go and see it. We need to send a message to the Weinstein Company that we expect fully rounded films from them – as they have released so many times in the past. And we won’t accept comedies with no genuine story or heart, be Star Wars the subject matter or not.

So how off kilter am I with this? Should we all just stop bleating and trust the Weinsteins to make a great movie? Or is this one worth fighting for? Join in the discussion at the Jedi News message board.

Opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those shared by Jedi News.