Fantastic Fest 2008

Brief Summary:
Desperate to see STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE, five high school friends break into Skywalker Ranch to steal an early cut of the film.

Full Description:
Starring: Dan Fogler, Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Smith, William Shatner & lots of geeks!

Harry Knowles here – talking with you about one of the oddest film experiences of my life. FANBOYS began as a wet dream for Austinite Ernie Cline. It was written in the days and months before THE PHANTOM MENACE opened in theaters. Like most of us, if you’re honest, we were in awe in living in the glow of an up-coming new STAR WARS movie. Somehow, Ernie concocted the evil thought – what if I die before I see a new STAR WARS film – and the kernel for this project began. He wrote me into the film as a character that provides the main characters with the knowledge they need to break into Skywalker Ranch – I agreed to play myself in his Indie movie, and he gave me the script to be sure. Having read the script I excitedly wrote a review of Ernie’s script on December 9th, 1998. I felt the script absolutely captured the mania and fear and anxiety about the coming of Episode 1. Yes, that was 10 years ago.

The following 10 years found Ernie’s script in various stages of development… Possibly being made at somewhere around 5 different studios at different times. Then one miraculous day the film started shooting, with actual Star Wars actors in cameos, with the cooperation of Lucasfilm and with the backing of The Weinstein Company. I saw the first version of this film about 2 years ago. The storied battles behind the scenes are well documented, but the one thing that comes through it all is this… this is a movie about STAR WARS fans made by STAR WARS fans and it has finally come home to Austin!

As you watch this incredibly fun and heartfelt geek movie you need to do just one thing. Go back in time, back when the worst thing about STAR WARS was Ewoks… oh, and Greedo firing first. When the dream about EPISODE 1 was a far away glimmer and the first trailer came out and blew our collective minds. Do you remember that? Remember the geeks lining up for months outside movie theaters nationwide? Do you remember who you HAD to see the movie with? This is a movie about all of that – and – making a bit of fun of all of that. It’s a celebration and embracing of Star Wars fandom. It’s about STAR WARS being the coolest thing in the world… and nobody knew who Peter Jackson was… and that book about those furry footed fuckers was a dim hippie-hazed memory of long ago.

This is about the greatest thing STAR WARS does… bringing best friends together to argue, dream and plot about the greatest adventure ever. (Harry Knowles)