Memph, TN The "Fanboys" Debacle

You know, I'm to the point that I don't even want to see this movie now.

The stuff I saw at C4 was good. It had heart. Look at what's going to come out in the theaters, apparently.

http://www.cinematical.com/2008/02/21/the-dirty-truth-about-fanboys/

Here's the Fanboys synopsis currently up on IMDb: "Star Wars" fans travel to Skywalker Ranch to steal an early copy of "Episode I: The Phantom Menace" for their dying friend."

Problem is, that's not the movie everyone will see when it eventually hits theaters. There's been a ton of talk surrounding the Fanboy re-cuts; how the cancer storyline was taken out, how Kyle Newman was replaced as director, and how the Weinsteins have pretty much turned Fanboys into a completely different film from what was originally intended. Yesterday, fans wrote into AICN claiming to have donated props for the film, and were upset over all these changes. So upset they were starting a campaign against The Weinstein Co., hoping to get Newman's original cut released instead of this new one.

Thanks to a well-placed, super delegate secret spy source, Cinematical was able to get the real skinny on what was going on with Fanboys. Some of this info is new, some old, but I have confirmed all of it to be true. First off, Kyle Newman definitely was replaced as director for the re-shoots by Steve Brill (Without a Paddle). The "dying of cancer" storyline was completely dumped, and, instead, the fanboys are now trying to sneak a copy of Phantom Menace simply because they're fans and want to see it. According to my source, the story is now "disjointed, nonsensical and lacking any heart."

Oh, there's more ...

Here's where it gets messy: Apparently, both versions were screened for test audiences -- and the new version only tested two points higher than the old version. My super delegate source also claims plants may have been in the audience -- there to pursuade moviegoers to vote against the original version -- but this has not been proven. In two days, after the old version was screened, Brill re-cut the film and they tested it again -- this time it was tighter, dirtier and contained nudity, lots of F-bombs, the whole works. And even with all that, it still only tested two points higher than the old version. But since Weinstein had to justify the fact that they spent an extra $2 million on the re-shoots, they went with the newer, flashier, Without a Paddle-esque version of Fanboys.

This new version, I've been told, is funny, but nowhere close to what it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be for fans who grew up with Star Wars -- it was supposed to be a love letter to George Lucas -- and now it's, well, Without a Paddle 2. The real problem here, I feel, is not so much the fact that the movie was re-shot and re-cut, but that the studio may have been using plants in a test audience to try to get moviegoers to sway their opinion. What the *beep* is the purpose of a test audience then?

There's some more that I can't get into, but there you have it. There's still no word on when the film will arrive in theaters (if at all), but I'll be checking out a cut of Fanboys soon and will report back on how it is.

Apparently, the director is also trading flames with fans over email and disguising himself in an email to the Myspace page devoted to getting the original movie:

(From solojones in JCC) TF.n has linked to the MySpace running the campaign against the Bastardized Fanboys... and they just got an e-mail yesterday from the director, who tried to disguise himself, but forgot to take his name out of the header (lol, whoops). So, here's that e-mail:

To: stopdarthweinstein@yahoo.com
From: "Steven Brill" <frankhuddy@aol.com>
Subject: None
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:14:17 -0800


I can hook you up with the facts on this one.
My only advice is don't judge something til you have seen it. Have you seen the cancer version of this movie? I have. It is unreleaseable. It would be irresponsible to release it. The cancer is used as a convenient subplot

 

1. DRAMA!!!

2. Would you really go and see a film called Fanboys?

3. How I love alcohol (Yes, this one is offtopic).




PS:

"It is unreleaseable. It would be irresponsible to release it."

So was the SW Holiday Special....

 

That's about all I can say at this point.

I wonder how folks like George Lucas, Carrie Fisher and Ray Park feel about this movie now. Will George ever grant this level of access and cooperation again?

*puts on CR hat*

If the recut version is the one released, I don't know how we can support this film as a FanForce. A raunchy, condescending take on our fandom is not what we are about, and I would be against making its release an official SMT function.

*takes off CR hat*

EDIT: I promise I'll stop editing this point in a minute.

The official FanForce position on the movie is that we have no official position. Per Dajuan, we can boycott it or not individually but not as representatives of FanForce. While I'm not advocating a boycott, I do not believe we should make the Fanboys premiere (assuming it actually sees the light of day) an official FF event with costumes, etc.

 

Gotta agree with both Nicki and Ben on this one. (Nicki because I agree that we don't need to make this a FF event, nor do we need to get officially up in arms about the whole mess, and with Ben because he likes alcohol and that cinematic crap shouldn't see the light of day.) I'm so Meh-ed out by this whole thing that I just don't even care to see it. If it does ever make it to the big screen, I may just wait for it to come on HBO, because it'll only be a couple of months after the cinematic release.

Anyway, I discovered that Fanboys was trumped 10 years ago by a film called Free Enterprise, which I just saw last Thursday morning before my stepfather's funeral.

 

Yeah, my point in all this: I'm not going to pay to see it. SMT function or not. I'm now officially, "Meh" about the whole thing, even more than I am about the new Legacy book.

 

Amen to that, sister!

We'll be able to rent it at Blockbuster 4 weeks after it's released in theaters. No sense in us all wasting 8 bucks to see it. That way, we can all be appropriately socially lubricated when we see it, and we can rip it a new one without anyone complaining about the noise.


Wait... With the director change, does this means that we'll have to deal with a special cut of it in 10 years like they did with the freakin' Donner cut of Superman II? (Also, since they've changed directors, that means they have to go back and refilm it so that at least 75% of the movie is directed by the new director in order for him to get credit for the picture.)

 

Official Site Poll

I voted.

 

I know Chattooine originally wanted to do something when we first started hearing about it, but yeah... I think we'll just skip this as a group thing and focus on Indy and Clone Wars.

 

Well, it wasn't hard to guess that Fanboys was going straight to DVD. No idea which version, and I really don't care, but it'll supposedly be out on Blu-Ray on November 18th.

I'll wait for cable, if I even bother with it then. I don't even think I'd buy it from the $3 rack at Big Lots. (It'll sit there collecting dust even in the cheap bin, just like Gigli.)

 

It's actually coming out in theaters on Sept. 19

 

I missed that news tidbit somehow.

But, just like the DVD release of Fanboys....

[image=http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Highrise/7474/madtv/characters/vancome.jpg]


You know what? Nuh-uh!

This is me so totally not caring.


And a DVD release date that's already set when the movie hasn't been release yet? Wow, you can tell they're expecting that to be a huge success.

 

Yeah I know it does seem weird. I guess it's a Lorenzo Lamas film! And we all had such high hopes for this which is what makes this all so sad.

 

Now, now, Sal... Considering what Fanboys has turned into, calling it a Lorenzo Lamas film is insulting to Lorenzo Lamas!

[image=http://www.gigacities.com/World/United_States/California/CelebrityMeetAndGreet2007/Lorenzo_Lamas/Lorenzo_Lamas_002_m.jpg]

After all, this is "Snake Eater" we're talking about!

 

I thought that was made out to me. Now I really have a reason to cry...

On the good news front for this film is that it was restored to the original film script! No edited version! This is supposed to be the original idea so all the hoopla that was made about the re-shoots is gone. The studio decided to go with the original film idea and left out all the extra stuff they planned to add and the story is as we had first heard it. Or so they say.

 

That's brilliant marketing on behalf of The Weinstein Company.

You have an anticipated movie with a built-in fan base; therefore, you must:
A.) Change the entire tone of the movie post-production;
B.) Totally infuriate your fan base with the proposed changes;
C.) Delay the release of the movie for over a year;
D.) Say "nevermind" to all of the changes.

Not every movie has to be on the intelligence/humor level of your average Judd Apatow movie (which I despise).

Bravo, Weinsteins.

 

Weinstein peed in their Cherios a long time ago with this film as far as I'm concerned. I won't pay to see it out of principle now. (Yes, despite what y'all have heard, I do have principles.)

 

You haven't even seen Dark knight dude!

The only way to get you to go to a movie is if they put a purple flaming Hutt with a southern accent and a lisp in it and if they do add that this movie would rock!

 

That's right... I have Ziro tolerance.

 

Ok- that was a good one!

My only advice is don't judge something til you have seen it.

Well, if they had released it when they were hyping it I know I would have gone.

Now, if I happen to be flipping channels and there are no infomercials on...maybe. But only if I can have a drink while I watch it. I've got a feeling I'd need it.

Lin

 

So, I guess I'm going to see this alone? Anybody want to go with me?

 

I'm still too pissed over the whole bullschtein that surrounded the movie. I just don't feel a need to support it by buying a ticket. After all the stuff they pulled, I think they deserve to flop at the box office.

 

You and me, Trace. Girls night FTW!

 

Count me in! I still want to see it!

 

Well, with hair like that I guess you could go along for girls night out!