Theatrical relase doesn't look to good atm...
Date: March 25, 2008
By: George 'El Guapo' Roush
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Just read this from the HR and shake your head at how another Hollywood big wig decides what 'he thinks' is better for audiences than the people who actually made the movie:
The geeks have been heard.
Faced with a grass-roots boycott of its films, bicoastal protests at screenings of its Friday opener "Superhero Movie" and a campaign calling its co-chairman "Darth Weinstein," the Weinstein Co. said Monday that it now plans to release two versions of "Fanboys." The company said it will release the two versions on DVD, and a company source later said that is exploring two theatrical versions.
"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, wrapped production two years ago and has been stuck in limbo as a tug-of-war between Harvey Weinstein and the filmmakers waged over competing versions of the movie.
The latest announcement did nothing to satisfy the filmmakers, who accuse the company of only putting out the announcement in order to sidestep a meltdown at this weekend's boxoffice.
"This is more about avoiding picket lines at 'Superhero' than it was about making a decision about the release of our movie," said Kevin Mann, one of the producers.
Mann -- along with producer Matthew Perniciaro, director Kyle Newman and writer Ernie Cline, who originated the story -- worked on "Fanboys" in 2003 with Kevin Spacey's Trigger Street coming on board in 2005. The cast, including then up-and-comers Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen and Dan Fogler, all signed up for a script that one year made the Blacklist, the annual industry ranking of the top scripts in town. Footage began making the rounds at "Star Wars" festivals, while 40 minutes of "Fanboys' " rough cut was screened at Star Wars Celebration and Comic-Con, where it was enthusiastically received by a standing-room-only crowd last year.
The Weinstein Co. picked up the project in late 2005, and following production slated "Fanboys" for release Aug. 17, 2007. That got pushed back to a Jan. 18 release. Then it went off the grid altogether.
Insiders said the root of the problem was Weinstein's issue with the underlying story in "Fanboys." The cross-country adventure is put in motion because one of the characters is facing cancer. Late last year, the company decided it would do reshoots, hiring Judd Apatow's producing partner Shauna Robertson to oversee a $2 million reshoot of four scenes done by director Steve Brill ("Drillbit Taylor"). That, combined with re-editing, created a version that excised the cancer subplot.
"Harvey feels it's hard to market, especially with this cast," an insider said. "He wants to market to a more teen audience. The filmmakers wanted a dramedy along the vein of 'Stand by Me.' "
The Weinstein Co. this year began testing both versions. Unprompted by the filmmakers, "Star Wars" fans began uniting to oppose the noncancer version, led by the 501st, a "Star Wars" fan group named after a fictional battalion. The group created a Web site that provided updates on developments while also lampooning Harvey Weinstein by Photoshopping him in Darth Vader drag.
The test screenings yielded a minuscule win for the noncancer version -- one insider said the difference was only two test points -- but that only emboldened the geeks. And some of the producers remained unmoved.
"The original reason we wanted to get involved with this script was because it was a comedy with heart," Mann said. "In my opinion, when the cancer was taken out, the heart went with it."
Wow. You wasted 2 million dollars to shoot scenes and re-edit it because you didn't think it was marketable to audiences. You're right Harvey. It's only about Star Wars and its fans. Nobody will go see it. Having lost family members to cancer, it's insulting to take the subject matter out just because you don't think its marketable.
I guess people on Harvey's planet don't get cancer.
File this one under "WTF".
