Fanboys DVD information

From the official site:

The Fanboys DVD comes loaded with Special Features including:

• Deleted Scenes
• Commentary with the Cast and Crew
• The Truth about Fanboys
• Star Wars Parallel
• Four Fanboys and One Fangirl
• The Choreography
• Disturbances in the Force: A Series of Webisodes

Comes out May 19th, on the 10th anniversary of The Phantom Menace.

But This Life’s Work And Choice Took Far Too Long

Fanboys ends with two of the main characters, Linus and Eric, sit and talk looking on their friends as they finally make up, with the song Fair by Remy Zero playing. It’s a touching end to the film, one that has seen considerable drama over the past two or so years since principle filming ended. Studio intrusions, fan boycotts, lack of advertising and other problems, and it is a relief to finally see it on the big screen.

Fanboys is the story of four Star Wars fans from high school, who, several years after they drifted apart, got back together to do a road trip cross country to Skywalker Ranch to steal a copy of The Phantom Menace. Why not just wait? Because one of the four, Linus, is suffering from cancer, and won’t live to see the premiere of the film. Linus and Eric also haven’t been speaking for years because they had drifted apart, and the film serves as a story of friendship and a mutual love for Star Wars. The film for most people would probably be middle of the pack – above the Adventure Movie! or whatever crap is being released by those writers, but below some of the more pinnacle comedies of similar genre, such as Superbad or something along those lines.

However, to anyone who has ever been a fan of the Star Wars movies, this will be one to see. Actually, really anyone who is a geek, nerd, dork or other so-called social outcast should find this amusing, provided you have a good sense of humor and self-deprecating attitude. Geek references are everywhere, ranging from Star Wars (duh) to things like Thunder Cats, X-Men, Star Trek, GI-Joe, Wonder Twins, any number of things that a geek in the late 90s would get. The movie is essentially a tribute to the genre and its fans, and doesn’t shy away from that in the slightest. Sharp-eyed fans will have a fun time picking out a number of the cameos of celebrities (especially from the SW movies) who range from Carrie Fisher to Billy Dee Williams to Kevin Smith and William Shatner.

But this film is more than just a series of throwaway laughs as the group travels across country to get beaten up by Harry Knowles (of Ain’t It Cool News – who should have been in a wheel chair), to wandering into a gay bar, smashing a statue of James Kirk (and ironically, there was a Star Trek trailer before this. Huh?) to wandering into a Star Trek convention to have William Shatner give them the plans for Skywalker Ranch. The story, once you look beyond the gags, is one that has some good themes to it – the bonds of friendship, a shared love for the Star Wars movies, but also about identity, which is something that I haven’t seen a whole lot of when it comes to films like this, and it really does bring the film up a bit.

There is a perception of the geeks/nerds/fanboys out there that this film plays into, and we see them represented amongst the main characters – you have the overweight guy in need of a shower, the tall, spindly one who has trouble interacting with people, especially the opposite sex and the undersized guy who knows everything about it. To boot, you have the geek-girl who is feisty and geeky, and the geeky guy who’s made efforts to distance himself from the perceptions, and is somewhat normal. The identity crisis really comes with Eric, who had gone to get a real job, and left his friends behind at their comic book store, and is blamed by Linus for this abandonment. I found this to be the most interesting part of the film in a way, because it felt the most honest. Eric has a dream where he sees his father as an Imperial, and essentially realizes that he really can’t turn his back on who he really is, as he sketches comics after hours in his dad’s car dealership, and while still being able to passionately argue about Luke and Leia’s complicated relationship. I particularly identify with elements of all the characters, and together, they show that they are a team, a group of friends who depend upon each other, and fully embrace who they are – fanboys.

At points, I’m a little bothered by the general perception of geeks/nerds/fanboys et al, because it’s an inherently unfair one, perpetrated by people who really don’t understand the passion that we feel towards the genre and the specific works within it. This film, while it reinforces some of these views, goes beyond that, and tells a good story about it, one that made me laugh almost from the beginning to the end, but also brought about a number of sobering moments, such as at the end with Remy Zero’s song, when the film closes without Linus. It is a bittersweet ending, and I can understand why the Weinstein company wanted to alter the cancer storyline to have something upbeat, but by keeping that aspect of the film intact, it made the film memorable, something beyond the gag film. Plus, it has Kristin Bell in a Slave Leia costume.And, the 501st Legion got a mention.

Kyle Newman, Director of Fanboys Interview

Kyle Newman, Director of Fanboys Interview
Posted By: Sheila Roberts

MoviesOnline sat down with director Kyle Newman to talk with him about his exciting new movie, “Fanboys,” a heartwarming story set in 1998 that follows a group of young, passionate Star Wars fans on a cross-country quest to break into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and watch Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace before it’s released.

The film stars Jay Baruchel, Dan Fogler, Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, and Kristen Bell. It’s produced by Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, Evan Astrowsky and Matthew Perniciaro. The screenplay is written by Adam F. Goldberg and Ernest Cline from a story by Ernest Cline and Dan Pulick. Kevin Mann served as executive producer.

Kyle Newman is a fabulous guy and we really enjoyed our time with him. Here’s what he had to tell us about the long awaited “Fanboys” and the excited adventures he experienced along the way to its final release:

MoviesOnline: Can you talk about the long and winding road to making this film and finally getting it released?

KYLE NEWMAN: Well, I think just like in the movie which I didn’t expect it to be, for me, what I’m so happy with is the journey, not the destination, because we met so many amazing people making this movie, and the fans helped us make the movie and finish the movie. We had 501st which is the costume division of Star Wars fandom. We didn’t have a budget to make all the costumes. They were even making our Star Trek outfits so… Can you imagine Star Wars fans having to sit there and sew Star Trek outfits? They were like, “Alright, we’ll do it for the sake of Star Wars.”

I was just impressed by how many people came together because of their love of Star Wars. That’s how we got so many cameos too. People were like, “I grew up on that. I love it too. I want to come in and sure, I’ll do it for half a day. Why not?” So, that was the most impressive thing to me and then also working with Lucasfilm after hearing all these things which were so untrue about them online and people’s perspective of what they’re like and then having them welcome us in like part of the family and embracing us. I think they realized at that point that there are no more movies and there wasn’t a TV show yet so it was a way to keep Star Wars alive, and I think they realized fandom is the future of Star Wars. That’s why they’re doing those kind of… They support the fan film awards.

If you look online, there are so many Star Wars fan films. This was like us getting to make almost like an official fan film because we were all such fans. It was all these incredible things which I never expected when we started to make this movie – never knowing if we were going to get Lucasfilm approvals, never even planning to get so many cameos, never planning to actually get to shoot on the ranch which no one has ever gotten to do before.

Full interview: http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_16344.html

Fanboys Website Up!

Finally, we have a website for Fanboys:

http://www.fanboys-themovie.com/#/home-page

About time!

New Fanboys Trailer and Poster

Fanboys, the oft delayed movie that features some 501st members and their garb, has had some news lately. FIrst, it’s going to be delayed, again, to February of next year. The good news is that there’s a new poster, and a new trailer, which signals some new effort in actually marketing the film. Take a look here.

Fanboys Release Date – Backed up Again

This is getting tiresome. First, it was last winter sometime. Then it was January 2008. Then April. Then drama about the Cancer vs. Cancer Free version that caused all sorts of problems. Then finally, we had a release date of September 19th – the film was coming and with Cancer! And, since that announcement, no new trailers, posters or any sort of advertising at all. And September 19th is only a couple weeks away.
Turns out, September 19th is a limited release date. The Weinstein’s Co. website updated recently with yet another date – November 26th, which puts it just a couple days before The Road, Transporter 3 and Australia – all big films.
I’m not totally sure what to think about this yet – either it’s really good, because it’s out of the dumping grounds of August-October, but on the other hand, it’s been pushed back yet again and it’s potentially goingup against several big films. I guess we’ll see.

Fanboys Release Date & Review

A lot of places are covering the San Diego Comic Con, and a blog I frequent, Cinematical, has posted up their review:

SDCC Update: Cinematical Has Seen ‘Fanboys’!

… and, ya know, it’s pretty darn adorable.

Last night a special screening of Fanboys was held here in San Diego, and Cinematical was on hand to witness what producer Kevin Spacey (in attendance) called “the third annual screening of Fanboys – next year, we’re going to series!” Director Kyle Newman and writer Adam Goldberg were there — as well as an assorted number of suits, one imagines — and they were met by a packed house of nutty Star Wars fans. The theater had absolutely no air conditioning and it was standing room only, so you can understand these weren’t ideal screening conditions. Nevertheless, the first words started scrolling up … and the folks in attendance ate up every minute of the film from then on out.

Opening in theaters (either wide or in limited release — Weinstein hasn’t decided yet) on September 19 (a date announced by Newman last night), this is apparently the final cut of Fanboys. I won’t go into the whole two-year-labor-of-love thing because Scott still needs to swing by here and throw out his review. I will say, though, that this is not just a film for Star Wars fans — it’s a film for any geeky dude or dudette who’s ever horsed around with their friends, gone on a nutty adventure and inserted random movie quotes into every other line of dialogue. This flick has so many friggin’ Star Wars references — and movie references in general — that it’s just a ball to watch them all hit the screen at warp speed. And the cameos! All I’ll say is that when Judd Apatow came on to help things move along, he brought with him a bunch of friends.

Oh, and one more thing: Out of all the dude sweat in this film, Kristen Bell totally steals the show. What a cutey.

Fanboys. September 19.

Very good news! I can’t wait!

Fanboys to hit Theaters in September!

Some good Fanboys news: the film will be screened at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, and the first 300 people in line at the Lucasfilm’s 7th Annual Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge Awards, held on July 24th at 8:30pm in Ballroom 20 at the San Diego Convention Center at the con will receive free tickets. Additionally, the film will be released with the cancer plot, which is fantastic news.

Additionally, Cinematical, a movie blog, has reported that the movie will be released in September of this year. I can’t wait – and it’s about time – this movie has been in limbo for a while. It’ll be nice to finally see it. Hopefully, there’ll be a good 501st turnout for this!

Source: http://www.cinematical.com/2008/07/21/fanboys-to-screen-comic-con-and-hit-theaters-in-september/

Fanboys News

A short blurb from the SciFiWire came up today, stating that Comedy Central bought the rights for Superhero movie, along with the yet-to-be-released film, Fanboys, which features several members of the 501st and their gear.

Comedy Central, which has agreed to pay the Weinstein Co. $2.7 million for cable rights to Superhero Movie as part of a deal that also includes pre-buys of two unreleased titles, including the Star Wars-themed Fanboys, Variety reported.

Following up with Variety, they announce that Fanboys and The Promotion were both part of the deal.

Comedy Central nabs Weinstein trio
Pact includes ‘Superhero Movie,’ Fanboys’
Spoof ‘Superhero Movie’ will become available to Comedy Central starting in September 2010.
“Superhero Movie” is blasting its way onto Comedy Central, which has agreed to pay the Weinstein Co. $2.7 million for cable rights to the picture as part of a deal that also includes pre-buys of two unreleased titles: “Fanboys” and “The Promotion.”
Comedy Central will end up paying TWC about 11% of the final domestic box office of “Fanboys” and “The Promotion.”
There’s no release date yet on “Fanboys,” directed by Kyle Newman, which deals with a group of young people who trek cross country in 1998 to sneak into George Lucas‘ Skywalker Ranch to steal a print of “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” before the movie’s release.

Comedy Central gets “Superhero Movie” in September 2010, “Fanboys” in December 2010 and “Promotion” in March 2011.

Full Article

What seems to be significant here is the mention of box office receipts, which leads me to believe that the Weinsteins are still looking at a theatrical release for the movie, which has been delayed several times now and has been plagued with a bit of controversy over the content of the movie. (The revised version aka, cancer free blurb is still up on the Weinstein’s webpage). Hopefully, they will be locking down yet another release date, hopefully sooner, rather than later.

Media and the 501st

Here’s a really good example of the media as a whole not fact checking and generally lumping all fan groups together. Reuters and the Hollywood Reporter have, along with numerous other websites, attributed the 501st with the recent protests over Superhero movie.
That being said, apparently only a single person showed up to the protest in New York. One. I’m not terribly surprised, and I’m not surprised that the movie flopped anyway.

Here’s the article:

“Star Wars” fans picket in support of delayed film
By Borys Kit and Gregg Goldstein, Reuters
LOS ANGELES — Angry “Star Wars” fans, aggrieved about editing changes to an upcoming Weinstein Co. comedy inspired by the sci-fi franchise, picketed theaters playing the studio’s latest film, with both sides claiming some sort of victory.

Protesters, organized by a fan group calling itself the 501st, showed up in “Star Wars” gear on Friday at AMC Theatres in New York and Los Angeles that were playing “Superhero Movie.”

They want to draw attention to the fate of “Fanboys,” about four diehard “Star Wars” fans who break into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch in order to see “The Phantom Menace” on the eve of its release. The film was originally set for the release last August, but a cancer storyline worried Weinstein, which shot a second version of the film. Fans were outraged.

Weinstein said last week that it will release the two versions on DVD, and a studio source later said that is exploring two theatrical versions. The announcement did nothing to satisfy the fans, who vowed to proceed with their picket of “Superhero Movie.”

But the exact number of fans who donned “Star Wars” gear differs depending on which side is talking.

The 501st claims 14 members showed up in New York, but an AMC spokesperson said there was no protest, and a Weinstein source cited a YouTube video posted Friday night showing one protester saying no one else was there. The video has since been removed by the user.

The group also claimed more than 20 showed up at AMC’s theaters in L.A.’s Century City district, but an AMC rep said this was limited to one person in a Darth Vader costume on the street outside the theater. A Weinstein source said eight protesters did appear, and were taken out for pizza by one of the filmmakers.

“We’ve been working on this movie for many years and if someone is going to take time out of their personal life and support our film, whatever that support may be, at the very least what we can do is say thank you and buy them a couple of slices of pizza for caring about this project as much as we do,” “Fanboys” producer Matthew Perniciaro said.

“They seemed to take the term ‘phantom menace’ to a whole different level. I guess they weren’t that organized. Apparently getting Star Wars fans to give up their Friday night isn’t as easy as it looks,” one source said.

Organizers learned quickly that it’s all about location, location, location. For Los Angeles, the group chose a mall in Century City rather than a public area. Malls are private property and AMC and Weinstein Co. personnel were able to shut down protesters, visibly identifiable in “Star Wars” costumes or geekwear such as a Green Lantern T-shirt, almost as soon as they stepped foot into the outdoor mall.

“Guards were everywhere,” said one protester, who declined to be identified. “At one point, I counted nine, no joke. They hired a whole force and whenever someone showed up looking around for the protest, they were surrounded by guards and told to leave instantly or be arrested. I guess you can’t really hold a protest on private property.”

The 501st claimed victory by pointing to “Superhero Movie’s” dismal performance at the boxoffice.

“We’re really not too concerned with how many people did or didn’t show up at the protests,” said the group. “‘Star Wars’ fans showed their support for ‘Fanboys’ by not showing up at theaters all over the country. Our primary goal was to make sure that that ‘Superhero Movie’ tanked on its opening weekend.”

The movie mustered up a gross of only $9.5 million despite several predictions of a $14-milion-$19 million bow.

Full Article Here

Bold parts are the incorrect ones.

Note that we aren’t the ones behind the protest, and note that we have in no way claimed that the dismal performance was due to the one guy.