Star Wars, Episode One

Sixth Archive

Scoops During March 29, 1997 - October 22, 1998

March 29, 1998... Not much new to report from either Leavesden or ILM since the Imperial garrison was set up to disuade employees from surfing the Internet. But there are two scoops we'd like for you to read. They're like the opposite ends of a coin, and perhaps there's a kernel of truth embedded in each of them.

"Regarding the so-called 'Bothan Spy' - it occurred to me the other day that in Return of the Jedi, the Bothan Spies supplying the Rebellion with info on the Death Star were actually fed false information by the Emperor himself..(i.e. 'It was I who allowed the plans (blah blah blah)...' and 'Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!' etc, you know how it goes...)

"Consider this. The rumour of a misinformation campaign has been going around since day 1. Secrecy is crucial in the production. So why would Lucasfilm allow this so-called 'spy' to continue with such regular updates, when really not much of it has been proven yet? Put it this way....George Lucas = Emperor....Bothan spy = fool, or a figment of Lucasfilm's misinformation agenda. The name itself, Bothan Spy, suggest some kind of trap, doesn't it? 'Öh, and I'm afraid that the deflector shield is quite operational....'.

"Don't believe it until you see it for yourself next year." [Debate sparked by anonymous.]

Nest up is 'Borefice's essay about what they believe is the origin of the word 'Gungan'. As you'll remember from previous SW1 entries, Gungans are speculated to be the name of a aquatic race we'll see in the new picture. Our scooper puts forth an interesting theory that Lucas might be paying homage to Ruyard Kipling and a 1939 movie you may remember: Gunga Din. Read on:

"the word is a derivation of gunga, as in gunga din, the 1892 rudyard kipling poem about an indian water boy who longs to be a british soldier. the poem, of course, was eventually developed into the 1939 George Stevens blockbuster movie of the same name. do the lines 'when it comes to slaughter, you will do your work on water' (i.e., the fourth and fifth lines in Kipling's original work) have any significance to the roles of the water-living characters in episode i? in fact, episode i itself may well have been based on the movie version. notice any similarities between prequel speculation and this movie review?"

'The Gone With The Wind of the comic action-adventure genre, Gunga Din has a bit of everything - humor, suspense, spectacle, action... this rousing adventure opens as a remote, mountainous British outpost is raided by a band of rebel natives...' [substitute a remote planet of Naboo raided by Gungans or Nimoudians.]

'Three of the Army's most reliable frontier veterans are sent to the now- silent outpost...' [sub qui-gon jinn and/or obi-wan kenobi sent to tatooine and/or naboo to defend the galactic peace.]

'Accompanying them is a small contingent of Indian troops and water-carriers...' [sub the lowest-class water-boy with an eight-year old former slave who won his freedom in a pod race] '...whose only ambition in life is to become a soldier. the sergeants then receive their orders - to annihilate the murderous thugs, a violent and mystical sect previously thought extinct...' [an edict passed down to our heroic trio via the jedi council.]

"coincidence? i think not. mark my words, garindan, when all is said and done, i guarantee lucas claims this as one of the foundations for his storyline, much like episode iv was based on kurosawa's work."

[A damn interesting theory, brought to us by 'Borefice'.]

April 5, 1998... On Thursday, April 2nd Twentieth Century Fox announced it had obtained the distribution rights to the three Star Wars prequels. Fox said that the release date for the first new film, Episode One, still was scheduled for a May 1999 release date. The details of the deal between Lucasfilm and Fox were not disclosed. Fox also obtained television broadcast rights for the picture.

In a statement Lucas released to the press, he said he was "delighted that we can continue our relationship with Fox through all six of the Star Wars films."

Fox Group chairman and CEO Peter Chernin had this to say about Fox's successful negotiating. ""The ability to have these movies has untold importance to theater owners, agents, video stores and anyone else who does business with us. There is so much risk associated with tentpole films, we have the incredible luxury of knowing that over three summers in 10 years, we have the event movie of the summer."

Lucasfilm president Gordon Radley told Daily Variety that Lucasfilm now estimated Episode One's budget to come in at around $115 million, after all post-production work had been completed.

The 20th Century Fox news held true to what we were scooped by a source inside Fox in late February. In their scoop to CA, the informant wrote:

"I'm a first-time scooper, writing you from the office of 20th Century Fox distribution. There has been a TON of buzz around here all day, Monday February 23, about the STAR WARS prequels. The word coming down from on high is that George Lucas is preparing to begin bidding for domestic and international distribution rights, and he is looking for a single studio to handle both. I haven't been privy yet to any figures, but what I do know is that Fox is prepared to fight tooth and nail to get their hands on whatever Lucas wants to deliver. I've also heard that if we can get the rights (and bidding may start as soon as next week) Fox wants to start a campaign beginning with the X-Files movie. I'll let you know more when I hear it."

If the rest of the scooper's information holds up, a trailer for the first new Star Wars film in over fifteen years will be running in front of The X-Files movie, opening June 19th.

[News reported to us by Charles, 'shargraves', 'Santora', 'chaber', 'Spanky', 'time traveller' and anonymous. Additional information attributed to Daily Variety.]

Also, Star Wars expert Brent Lynch tossed us his two cents on 'Boraface's theory that Lucas may be paying homage to 1939's Gunga Din. "His theory isn't too wacky, because Gunga Din is an acknowledged by both Spielberg and Lucas, inspiration for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." [Thanks to libriarian Brent Lynch.]

April 7, 1998... Our scooper 'C' tells us John Williams has started working on new material for Star Wars, Episode One. Williams has been approached to do a number of projects, including Disney's Treasure Planet, but has declined citing a project over the next five years which will take up "a great deal of time." [Jedi Knight 'C' delivers.]

May 19, 1998... According to an interview in last weekend's 'Art' section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Liam Neeson was listed as playing a Jedi named 'Bosh' and not Qui Gon Jinn. The paper also said Neeson's Jedi is a 'Padawan' or 'almost master Jedi'. [Thanks to 'DeMzaLF' for picking this one up for us.]

According to our scooper 'Mrs. X', there was a summit last week at the Skywalker ranch. One of the topics raised was in regards to a trailer appearing in front of the June 19th release of The X-Files. Contrary to previous reports from scoopers, 'Mrs. X' said that there will not be a trailer in front of The X-Files. "The trailer will happen in December and as of now there is NO feature associated with it. (Its in black and white on the Summit Sheet). There is no planned trailer/teaser until Xmas time (im assuming Thanksgiving) when the HUGE HUGE promotions for the Prequels start," 'Mrs. X' concluded. [Thanks 'Mrs. X'.]

May 26, 1998... Will there be a trailer in front of The X-Files? At the Cannes Film Festival, this scooper had the opportunity to speak to Twentieth Century Fox Chairman Bill Mechanic and ask him just that question. While the scooper asked Mechanic that status on some of the studio's franchises (no present plans for an Alien 5 or Titanic 2, as reported last week by the scooper to Ain't It Cool News), the scooper also asked Mechanic about the near-mythical legend of a SW1 trailer appearing in front of The X-Files. Mechanic's answer was simple and to the point: "No, there won't be one. It won't be ready on time." Mechanic also said he'd already seen a half an hour of the picture and told the scooper it "looked good." [Thanks to Liam for sending us the scoop.]

Meanwhile, an anonymous user sent us this digital enigma:

"The title? Wait until December 1998 for a trailer that will run 3 min long. Of course, this summer there will be a teaser poster in just about every North American movie theater. Here is what one possible design looks like:

[against a black background, in white letters]

'A long time ago,in a galaxy far far away -- an incredible adventure began...'

[then below in sliver letters]

'Coming To A Galaxy Near You May 1999'

[Anonymous.]

May 28, 1998... The Official Star Wars Web Site has posted what they call their "special Episode One One-Sheet" teaser poster. We'd like to applaud the site's sense of humor and agree with their 'poster' statement. Just do good come May '99, ok fellas? [We were notified by these SW site visitors: 'JusMonster', Marco Giamberardino and anonymous.]

May 30, 1998... The playful SW1 "teaser" one-sheet that was online at the official site has now been removed. As near as we can tell, the image was removed sometime Friday from the Star Wars site and had been online for somewhere between 24 to 48 hours. There was no reason stated for the image's cancellation on the Lucasfilm site, but we're speculating that someone objected to the parody of the Godzilla marketing campaign tagline 'Size Does Matter'.

Thanks to 'Mr. Clark', you can see the 'poster' by clicking here.

[A big thank you to our covert ops specialist 'Mr. Clark' for the evidence -- the funds have been sent to the Swiss bank account. Additional payola made to 'Nonentity'.]

In a May 29th update to the prequel information on the Official Star Wars Website, Lucas denies the rumors that Boba Fett will be seen in the first prequel. But as for the second prequel...you'll just have to click on that film page, won't you? [Credit Joe Hanna for the scoop.]

June 10, 1998... A new scooper has come forward to share some hypothetical information with us. Now since you know we do try to not jump to conclusions and take all the rumors we receive as speculative until proven accurate, I'm sure you'll do the same with what this fellow has to say.

Our friend, using the pseudonym 'Oliver Twist', has told us that Lucas is indeed using codenames for some of the new characters in the film, and then promptly given us the alleged 'real' name for Ahmed Best's character as well as a possible connection they might have to an event scheduled to be seen in Episode Two. While we agree the name sure sounds better than 'Jar Jar', (and we dig the aquatic concept our scooper described Best's character as having) we must stress that our scooper's information cannot be substantuated at the present time. Perhaps someone else out there would care to deposit their two cents on the matter...?

Nevertheless, 'Twist's comments make for some interesting reading...

"ONE - 'Jar Jar' is apparently named 'Duras Din'. Some reports say 'Jar Jar' (Duras Din) has dreadlocks. They're not actually dreadlocks, but *airhoses* coming out of a life support system that is actually built into his physicality. I am told he is part of a race called the Da'Naga - who are similar to the Mon Calimari in that they are WATER BASED. They don't actually live in the water (have evolved out of it), but they are still very much TIED to the water. Hence the life-support in all Da'Naga.

"What is their tie to the water you ask? They are tied to the water because the Da'Naga are GENETICALLY ENGINEERING creatures that look a whole lot like the space-faring creature that had the little baby creature that thought the Enterprise was it's mommy in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation.' Yep. Seems those 'Gunga Subs' we've seen designs of aren't SUBS at all, but are actually genetically engineered lifeforms that are used for a variety of purposes. Not the least of which is ATTACK. Attack creatures, you ask? Well - think about the worms in 'Dune'. Think of 'Dune' as a partial inspiration for Star Wars. Then you get the idea.

"In the follow-up films, all this GENETIC ENGINEERING stuff will later become a basic element of a little war that Obi Wan and Anakin will fight in. Something about Clones. Can't quite remember ;-)

"TWO - We've all heard about Palpatine and Yoda being in then Prequel in some capacity. No one's been able to figure out *how* really - a whole lot of conjecture afoot. Well, seems the first time we see Palpatine and Yoda (early on in the film - one of its first scenes apparently), they are together having a very philosophical and spiritual talk. One of those magical moments Obi Wan was so good at in A New Hope. Palpatine (at this point) is an okay guy, and a little like early-Luke as far as all of this 'Force' stuff goes - he doesn't really get it. Yoda is explaining it to him. If some Star Wars virgin someday viewed all six films in sequence, this will mark the first time we see either Palpatine or Yoda - the first time 'The Force' and its positive and negative qualities are expaned on - and lay the philosophical and emotional groundwork (for the audience) for Anakin and Palpatine's eventual slide towards darkness. It is also an ironic conversation - the characters who will ultimatly become manifestations of darkness and enlightenment are talking about the ultimate darknesses and illuminations. I'm told this scene is very powerful, very atmospheric.

Look for Samuel L. Jackson to be in this sequence as well. I'm not totally sure of the character (or the setting for the scene), but he should be the equivilent of Yoda's 'driver' or 'escort'. He breaks into this magical and mysterious moment, telling 'Master Yoda' it is time for them to leave. I guess even Yoda needs a ride every once in a while..." [Scooped by 'Oliver Twist'.]

It's fun to read, eh? We're hoping the action figure you know we'll haveta buy will be labeled 'Duras Din'. Notice how that also connotates with the name 'Gunga Din' as well? Perhaps the scooper is on to more than just fan speculation...

June 17, 1998... Ok, so we know that there won't be a SW1 trailer running in front of The X-Files. So, why not?

" It was not ready in time, as the print was struck last week. There is a possibility that it might be sent separately to theaters this week, but I doubt it. A better chance is having it loose in the can with DR. DOLITTLE a week later. As for the pre-TITANIC video thing -- you're right." [You can thank 'Snagglepuss' for crankin' up the old trailer rumor mill horn again.]

June 23, 1998... A new feature on the Official Web Site provides an even greater opportunity for fans to see the making of the new prequel film. A RealVideo feature entitled Making Episode One is now avaliable on the SW1 site (www.starwars.com/making). Lynne Hale began filming this ambitious documentary in 1994 just as George Lucas began writing Episode One. Marc Hedlund at Lucasfilm advises us that the feature will be updated regularly from now until the new movie opens, as well as hinting that the people who download the parts to come will enjoy what they will see. [Thanks to Marc Hedlund for the heads up.]

June 28, 1998... Look for two female Twilek twins to help Anakin just before the pod race commences. (SPOILERS BELOW)

Whatever it is that they do helps the young boy win the race. [Thanks to anonymous.]

July 8, 1998... Throw another email on the rumor fire. Y'know, if this keeps up Lucas should consider doing a 'Hidden Meanings of SW1' companion book...

"Very strange scoop here. Actually, not really a scoop, but some interesting cross-referencing I stumbled across. I belong to the James Randi amiling list (you, the Amazing Randi, the guy who likes debunking psychics and stuff?) Well anyways, he recently sent out an article from a Japanese newspaper about scientists at Sony looking for evidence of ESP. Here's the direct quote. See if you can figure out why I'm sending it to you:

['Helveyri', you da man.]

July 9, 1998... Here's what 'GWL' sent to us regarding the latest on post-production with SW1. We'll letcha know our thoughts about what they said after you finish reading their scoop:

"ILM is severely stressed past their limits. There are regular teams there who are working between 10 and 12 hours a day to complete the visual effects load that they are facing.

"The current rough cut assembles all of the best available shots (as rough or incomplete as they may be) and puts them together in the order they will be in for the movie, as Lucas dictates (although he can always order further edits and changes). The current running time? OFFICIALLY CLOCKED IN AT 135 MINUTES, MORE OR LESS.

"Also, official word from ILM -- there will absolutely be NO TRAILER UNTIL ALL VISUAL EFFECTS ARE PRETTY MUCH DONE. Absolutely none. The goal they have been working for the past year is Christmastime 1998. Well, you better be praying, folks, because there are quite a few skeptics at ILM who doubt it will be ready any earlier than 1999. So stop making the BS rumors about anything being attached to prints this summer -- it AIN'T HAPPENING!!!! PERIOD!" [Scooped by 'GWL'.]

Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News has also posted reports that the current cut of the film is clocking in at over two hours in length. While we haven't been able to confirm this is legit, some sources have confirmed that ILMers are indeed pulling long shifts these days.

And frankly we haven't a clue as to when any trailer for SW1 will be ready for theaters. Although our earlier source who scooped us about Fox heavily gunning for distribution rights also mentioned the studio pushed hard for a trailer to run in front of The X-Files, which of course did not manifest. The only rumor worth repeating (and worth pointing out that it's unconfirmed) is that a trailer will be included on the Titanic videocassette -- but until substantiating proof arrives at CA, we've got to use our salt shaker on that scoop too.

July 20, 1998... Last weekend's Wizard World con may have scored us a minor, albeit still way cool SW1 scoop. Just so you know the value of this scoop to CA's esteemed Director Patrick Sauriol, the sick man collects "all things Greedo." From action figures to keychains to funny-smelling erasers that feature the likeness of the we-hardly-knew-ye Rodian wannabe bounty hunter from A New Hope, he wants 'em all. Bear in mind that this is also the same fellow who created the site you're reading. If that fact doesn't send a shudder of fear coursing throughout your body, also know this: he doesn't show any signs of stopping.

In any case, we apologize for digressing and scaring the young children in the audience. Here's the Rodian scoop that was deposited upon our doorstep this past weekend:

"Howdy, just got back from Wizard-con where I waited in line to see the 'Men behind the masks' tour (David Prowse, Jeremy Bolloch, Kenny Baker, etc.) Anyway the woman that played Greedo from SW4 was there, and while in line one of the hosts of the event asked a 10-year old boy who was standing next to me if he knew what race Greedo was. The boy correctly answered 'Rodian' (I was impressed) so the host proceeds to tell the boy 'That's right, and young Anakin Skywalker's best friend in the new movies is a Rodian.'

"So I leaned over and asked the host if this was true, and he said it was, and the Rodian was played by Warwick Davis who plays four different characters in the new movies. At this point I quietly ponderded how long it would take me to get home and spread this onto my favorite movie webs." ['TubRing' has given Patrick a new reason to light the candles in his shrine room to Greedo.]

This reminds us about an interesting scoop we received waaaay back in January from someone claiming to be "in the know" on the prequels. Much of what the scooper said couldn't be proven and we decided it was better to wait and see if some of what they said turned out to be eventually proven correct (believe it or not we don't post even a tenth of the SW1 scoops we receive and still people say we're posting nothing but false leads!)

The January scooper did offer one Rodian-related piece of info that we'll share now. Read after 'TubRing's scoop this one may look a bit more respectful but it's still ain't a smoking gun, so we can't vouch for the authenticity of the scoop (or the remainder of what the scooper had to say about SW1).

Here's what the earlier scooper had to say:

"Greedo is supposed to be in the picture too. That's how they are calling one of the Rodians during the shoot. However, their functions aren't the same. They [the Rodians] are cleaning the streets of the Little City from Tatooine appearing in the first chapter."

[Deposited by 'Rubaldo Di Cantafone' who'd we like to believe in. Honest.]

July 31, 1998... A surprise email from a first-time letter writer has snagged our imaginations. In their email the scooper claims to be writing direct from their laptop at Orlando, Florida's airport because they just spoke to George Lucas. The scooper alleges that Lucas was on-board the latest Disney cruise ship, Magic, as a VIP on vacation with his family. "I was going through customs with him this morning and asked him when we would see trailers for the new Star Wars movie...he said Thanksgiving," our emailer attests. "I did not follow up because he was with his family..but that's what I heard today." That would be yesterday, the 30th. If the scooper is being honest, we give them a pat on the back for respecting the fact George was on vacation and not harping on him for revealing secrets. Call us suck-ups but it's always nice to know that people know when to draw the line. Now, maybe there's a chance we could confirm he was indeed on-board the Magic in late July. If so, we'll have our first solid piece of info about when to expect to see the SW1 trailer. [We hope your vacation went smoothly, 'J Bell'.]

August 4, 1998... Confirmation that Lucas was on-board Disney's Magic cruise liner came flooding into our mailbox. Numerous scoopers reported seeing TV entertainment news stories (E!, for example) about the Magic launch and its many VIP guests, George Lucas among them. Bingo -- it looks like the new 'for sure' trailer release date will be sometime in November '98 (but keep your fingers crossed anyway.) Here's a brief selection of some of the follow-ups we received:

"While waiting for my flight, I was delayed for over an hour and a half at the airport. Upon asking some people there why, they said that George Lucas was on the plane. Being the kind of guy who could never put a face or career to a name, I simply waited, even as the tourist's cameras and questions were hurled at the celebrity, who I didn't see, because well, I was, sorry to say, dumb. I then used the IMDB, and... smacked myself. Anyway, after reading your latest scoop, I had to respond, that everything I said is true, and if that fellow says he saw Lucas on that flight, I think he really did. Heck, I could've had I wanted too!!!" [Anonymous.]

"I live in Orlando and I saw him on the news during an interview, it was just a simple question about whether he liked the cruise or not. There were no more questions asked because he was on vacation." [Jay Anderson.]

"Re: the scooper who met Lucas after disembarking the Disney Magic. I was on same cruise -- it was a media affair - and can confirm Lucas was aboard. He was a personal guest of Michael Eisner, the Disney Co. chairman. It was bizzare to see him exposed to so many reporters, but I don't think he gave any interviews. Whenever he was on deck he walked around with a big 'do not disturb' scowl on his face. Since Eisner had Lucas to himself for the better part of three days, I'd guess there's something cooking between the two of them, though I don't have a clue what it might be." [Anonymous.]

[Thanks also go out to our other scoopers, including 'Hal 9K', 'jsolomon', 'Greedo1978', 'New Orleans', 'chuckd21', and many anonymous readers.]

Sometimes you get some pieces of the puzzle sent your way from magazine readers. Here's a good case in point where in the latest issue of Creative Screenwriter (July/August) actress/screenwriter Carrie Fisher addressed the rumors about her ghostwriting the dialogue for female characters in SW1. (When we contacted Ms. Fisher's agent months ago they denied the rumor...but it's still making the rounds.)

Here's an excerpt from Laura Schiff's interview with Fisher and what the writer had to say about SW1:

"I read it, but I did not sit and tinker with it. The dialogues in the [new] script, for the main characters, are generally sort of arch, because you're playing Jedi Knights. And then you have characters that are animals or minerals - robots - and those characters get a lot of the comedy."

[From the friendly 'Dooovall'.]

According to the latest issue of the Star Wars Insider, Madison Lloyd's character's name is indeed Princess Ellie, and the "unnamed Rodian" played by Warwick Davis is named Wald. ['KryptonKnight' was passing by the Tatooine system.]

We've also got one more snappy scoop for you SW fans so sit up and pay attention. First up is this scoop we received from 'anonymous' who asked us not to publish their email address because "law suits could happen if identity gets out." However since the party in question didn't bother to leave an email address, we can't vouch for their identity: they claim to be a Lucasfilm employee who has access to "Inside information from Skywalker Ranch." Sure, and these droids are yours too, right?

But they did interest us with a couple of things they had to say. "-The poster art will feature young Anikin (SP) walking in a desert, his shadow will not be the child but Darth Vader's Shadow" they claimed. (Of course, if this person was working in Skywalker Ranch they should know how to spell Anakin's name, right? I know, we're so jaded.) The scooper also said that there's been no official title as of yet, just rumors, and that there will be more than one full CGI character. (The last part we had kinda assumed by now...) [Anonymous sent in their information "for Star Wars fans."]

September 1, 1998... Our good confidant 'C' tells us that John Williams has been signed to score all three new Star Wars films. This announcement was made by Williams himself at a concert in Chicago. ['C'.]

September 7, 1998... The Official Site has updated again. This time if you go to www.naboo.com you'll get to see a conceptual drawing of Naboo's swamp region as well as hear sounds of its animal life. There's also a secret 'section' on the Official Site that shows two of the Naboo swamp's lifeforms and Doug Chiang's sketches of them. This announcement seems to confirm that 'Naboo' is a final name for the young Queen's homeworld.

And that's twice we've now heard that the title given to licencees producing Star Wars, Episode One goodies is 'The Jedi Knights'. [Anonymous and anonymous.]

Also of note but posted with a SPOILER WARNING are two links. Both theForce.net and JediNet.com are running images of the new Mace Windu action figure that will be offered in a mail-in offer by Kenner this coming holiday season. Mace's lightsaber is blue. Again, this officially confirms the name of Samuel L. Jackson's Jedi Knight character.

September 27, 1998... Anonymous and suspicious trailer rumors? We got 'em! "The trailer will be first shown on TV during the Superbowl in Jan.99 The theatrical trailer will be shown with a fox realease either during thanksgiving or christmas." [Rumor mill ground into life anonymously.]

Scoopers' hunches about where and when? We got them too! "This isn't exactly a scoop, just a hunch on where the European (and, perhaps, World) premiere of EPISODE ONE will take place: Cannes. Why Cannes? Because it's in May (I suppose next year's festival will either be from the 5th to the 6th, or from the 12th to the 23rd), because it's prestigious, and because I can already see Lucas being there to talk about his late friend Akira Kurosawa."

You want a title also? Well, just this once. Like it or lump it, here it is. "As the more wired folks will probably have already have picked up on, Lucasfilm has finally released the official title for the next Star Wars film...previously known as just Episode I for the past twenty or so years. The Flash Gordon serialesque title is: Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

"While Lucasfilm hasn't elaborated on it, the title is a reference to a character who develops into the key villian of the Star Wars saga (hint: Not Darth Vader) over the course of the new trilogy of films as the heroes of the new trilogy (including a Young Obi-Wan Kenobi played by Ewan McGregor) fight against a more immediate threat to the galaxy." [Thanks to Brent Lynch for keeping those of us not-so-wired folks in mind.]

Also, in the news is your friend and mine, Sam Jackson. We've got an anonymous scooper telling us he's a Jedi Master and not a Jedi Knight. That's as maybe, but what we all want to know is if he'll quote from the Jedi equivalent of the Orange Catholic Bible before he wastes somebody. [Scoop provided by anonymous]

September 29, 1998... Jedi Knight 'Cervaise' writes in with the following helpful info: "I know I won't be the first to report the new Star Wars title." Nope, you're just the third. I promise. "However, I might be the first to confirm the following:

All of the above are indeed pointers back to the main starwars.com site. Those of you who hate the title, feel free to groan now. [Thanks to 'cervaise' for taking that extra step.]

September 30, 1998... We got this just yesterday: "The rumor' that Sam Jackson's character will be a Jedi Master and not a Jedi Knight is in fact not a rumor at all. In his interview in 'Star Wars Insider' Issue 38, the photo caption clearly states 'Samuel L. Jackson (seen here in costume) plays a JEDI MASTER and a member of the Jedi Council in Star Wars : Episode One' ...rumor, my buttocks..." Well, we're glad you're so proud of your buttocks. We were just testing you. That's right, testing just you, Mr. Anonymous Buttock Scooper. And you passed. Go up to the first stranger you meet and ask for your prize. [Test passed by 'Anonymous']

Also, 'manfromnan' did some searching. "I did a whois search for Lucasfilm at Internic...It isn't news, but it is pretty(VERY) firm confirmation of the title of the movie." We'll spare you the full list, because it crashed our mail server. "As you can see, Mr. Lucas is pretty intent on getting all of the variations of 'Phantom Menace' :)" And boy, did he ever. [Thanks to 'manfromnan,' the Internic detective.]

October 11, 1998...Word on the streets (and on the sidewalks) is that we'll see a trailer for this bad boy in front of The Siege. Don't hold your breath, though: there's been talk about when we'll actually get to see the SW1 trailer for nearly a year now. We haven't heard from any of our trusted inside moles about what the trailer will show, so we're guessing that a trailer hasn't begun the editing process yet. With that Thanksgiving deadline that Lucas dropped looming ever closer, shouldn't we have at least heard some rumblings about what we'll see on that prodigal trailer yet? [Scoop provided by 'ddieter' and anonymously.]

October 19, 1998... We're told by our reliable insider that Williams will reportedly be working on the score during the February/March timeframe in London. [Scoop provided by 'C'.]

October 20, 1998... We've received this report on the status of domain names: "Just wanted to report that not all of the variations on the Phantom Menace as a domain name have been have been bought by Lucasfilm. The domain name 'www.thephantommenace.net' was lost to someone else. This seems to have just been an oversight by LucasFilm." Oversight? Not likely. It was probably just last on the list of 1,257 permutations and someone else just beat them to it. [Thanks to The One Legged Man and anonymous.]

October 22, 1998... Additional rumors about the phantom trailer for The Phantom Menace have arisen -- and this time TheForce.net is claiming that they are indeed accurate. According to one of their sources who is a member of The Siege post-production crew the SW1 trailer will appear in front of the Denzel Washington/Bruce Willis action/thriller. Will the Force be with The Siege? [Our thanks to 'JJB' for passing along the news; originally appeared on TheForce.net.]



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