Fanboys galvanizes fanboys against Harvey Weinstein

Writer: Julia Reidy
News, Published online on 26 Mar 2008

Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's got a new nickname. Previously labeled "Harvey Scissorhands" because of his notorious tactics with film editing, he's gone on to be compared to another famous movie character who's ambiguously amoral, but probably tends a little further toward outright evil than Edward Scissorhands.

"Stop Darth Weinstein form ruining the movie Fanboys!" reads a header on one of the many grassroots sites now dedicated to preserving the original version of the Weinstein Co. movie Fanboys. Vader or not, Weinstein and his company are now entangled in turmoil (perhaps of the intergalactic variety?) surrounding the film they signed onto in 2005, a comedy detailing a troupe of Star Wars fanatics' quest to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch and steal Episode I: The Phantom Menace before its release, watching it first and thus securing their place in Star Wars fandom history.

A rough cut of the original version of Fanboys, centering around one character's struggle with cancer as impetus for the journey, was screened at Star Wars Celebration Europe (a London Star Wars fanfest) in July of last year and received very well. Featuring sound effects from the original movies authorized by Lucas, an appearance by William Shatner, and using the costuming talents of many real fanboys (as well as featuring their appearances as extras), the film seems equipped to hit home for even casual Star Wars watchers, but has taken on a different life with the addition of several recently-shot scenes and the removal of the cancer-centric storyline in re-editing. The reaction to the transformation of the movie's subplot has incited an immediate reaction from the Star Wars fan community. As so many were involved in the project from its inception, they feel that not only is the movie less compelling in its altered form, but that it becomes, according to StopDarthWeinstein.Chris-Marquette.com, a "mindless yuk-fest that portrays Star Wars fans as loser criminals."

In a partial victory for the protestors, the Weinstein Co. has now promised the release of both versions of the movie, if only to DVD. Theater release for one or both films is currently in discussion. Neither has a date yet. "While the later version tested very well with audiences, the grass-roots support we have received for the first version simply cannot be ignored," a Weinstein spokesperson told HollywoodReporter.com. The company received over 300,000 angry emails, according to a press release, prompting some acquiescence to the push for the film's first incarnation. Unsatisfied, however, many of the angered groups have demanded that the original version (and only the original version) be released in theaters, threatening a picket at this Friday's opening of Superhero Movie and boycotting of every subsequent Weinstein Co. film.

For protest plans and a detailed (if impassioned) list of demands addressed to Weinstein, visit Committed.to/StopDarthWeinstein, where "Jek Porkins" warns him, "If you release your mutilated anti-fan version of Fanboys in ANY FORM, you can look forward to a lifetime boycott of your studio by every Star Wars fan on the planet."

For a journal from one of the leaders in the...ahem...resistance, visit Bladeseller.com, where Ken VanLyssel, head of one of the large fan groups in New Mexico that assisted in the making of the movie chronicles his experience with the whole controversy.

Fanboys was directed by Kyle Newman, executive produced by Kevin Mann, and produced Even Astrowsky, Dana Brunetti, Matthew Perniciaro and Kevin Spacey, whose production company, Trigger Street, began the project in 2003 with Newman, Perniciaro and writer Ernest Kline before the Weinstein Co. entered the picture.

And while we're waiting for either version, or both versions, to be released in theaters or on DVD, here is a trailer:

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Fanboys galvanizes fanboys against Harvey Weinstein

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