Thur., Jan 22, 1998

An anonymous Lucasfilm source gives us more info. about the plot to Episode I:

"I told you a few weeks ago that Episode I would involve a "rescue." The rescue involves the Jedi Knights and our heroes (Liam Neeson, Ben Kenobi, Anakin, Ahmed Best's CG character and others) on a "crusade" to free the young Queen's homeworld, which has been "captured" by computer-generated "bad guys." Anakin is the hero of the "big" battle just like young Luke was the hero of Episode 4 when he destroyed the death star." (Source: Anonymous Lucasfilm Source)

When you think about it, if Ben and Owen are brothers, then Owen must be Force sensitive also. I bet he is a former Jedi Knight/Master in hiding on Tatooine. And is smart enough to change his name from "Kenobi" to "Lars." (Source: Malcontent) (Ed. Note: Considering that I believe the moon contains a hollowed out base inhabited by aliens, there is not much that I don't believe in . . . )

Some things I noticed while watching ROTJ SE:

The Ewoks will not appear in the Senate: When Leia meets Wicket for the first time she says: "I'm not gonna hurt you." Which means they have never met before, or else they wouldn't react to each other that way. When Boushh gets the bounty for Chewbacca Boba Fett gives a slight nod to Boushh. Maybe it's a nod of understanding between to bounty hunters, but this nod could also mean that they have met before, perhaps they have done a job together (wiping out some Jedi?). (Ed. Note: It will be interesting to see how much of the Jedi slaughter George will show us in Ep 3. I wonder how long it took to hunt down and murder all the Jedi, except for Ben and Yoda. I guess it depends on how many years Ep 3 covers. It's hard to believe that the Empire could have destroyed the Jedi in a matter of months. It must have taken years or even decades to hunt down some of the Jedi that went into hiding. And how is Yoda so certain that Luke is the last of the Jedi? If Palpatine can't sense Yoda, how can Yoda be so sure that some Jedi exist that he can't sense.)

When Jabba says to Luke that his Jedi Mind Trick doesn't work on him, it doesn't have to mean Jabba is a Jedi. Obi-Wan told Luke in ANH that the Force can influence the "weak-minded", Jabba is probably "strong-minded". (Or Hutts can't be affected by the Force as someone said before) (Ed. Note: That is probably the most accurate comment on that subject that we have seen yet)

When Luke confronts the Rancor he doesn't look in disgust at the beast, meaning that Luke knew of the Rancor (if he didn't know the beast he must have been horrified when he saw it). Maybe the Rancor has been around a LONG time? (Ed. Note: Maybe Luke had a pet Rancor as a kid)

Why did George put this herd of bantha's in ROTJ SE? Is it because they are of importance to a part of the prequels, or does he just like them? (Ed. Note: The herd of Banthas added to the "epic" grandeur and sweep of the movie and was just a pretty cool idea. Will we see them in the prequel? Why wouldn't we?)

When Luke talks to Yoda, Yoda tells him: "Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor." This probably means that Yoda and the Emperor have met each other (in the prequels). (Ed. Note: I like that idea. They may have actually been pretty close associates until Palpatine betrayed everybody)

About 20 years before ANH Luke and Leia were born. I heard Episode III is set about 14 years before ANH. (Ed. Note: Actually it is set 20 years prior to ANH). This means that Luke and Leia are about six years old when Episode III starts. Which means that they are born at the end of Episode II (Ed. Note: McCallum has publicly stated that Ep 3 ends with the birth of the Skywalker twins). Episode II will probably end with the hiding of L&L, then when Episode III starts they are hidden and the story can continue with Ben/Anakin/Yoda etc. Luke and Leia do not have to appear in Episode III, because the Emperor plays an important role in the Star Wars Saga and he didn't appear in ANH. Luke and Leia are of no importance at the age of 6 so Episode III can take place without showing Luke and Leia. (I am not sure about this theory because I am not familiar with the exact time-settings of the first three Episode's)

I don't think droids can use the Force, but what about this: When Luke, Han etc. are captured by the Ewoks, Luke says to C3PO: "Threepio, tell them if they don't do as you wish, you'll become angry and use your magic." C3PO tells them but they don't listen. Then Luke uses the Force and lifts Threepio in the air. When 3PO is put down again he says: "I never new I had it in me." Maybe he says this because droids CAN use the Force, but he didn't know HE could do it (which he can't of course). It could also just be a joke of Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas, but who knows?

Something I don't understand: If Luke and Leia were to be hide from Darth Vader and the Emperor, why did Luke keep his last name Skywalker? And: If Ben and Owen are brothers, why was Luke hidden with members of a Jedi-family?

One last thing: George shows in his movies that Size Does Not Matter. Could that be something personal? (No offense George) (Source: Frumentuviris) (Ed. Note: Lucasfilm (aka George and Rick) has stated in recent editions of the Star Wars Insider that the "hero" of Episode 1 is Anakin, a "midget-sized" character, and you may ask: "Why would George make a 9-year-old the hero of a Star Wars movie?" Part of the reason is as follows: Once George (like Spielberg) comes up with an idea that they believe in and like they will use it in a film until it is successful with the audience. For Spielberg, he loved the dance number in his movie, 1941 (which was a box office flop), Spielberg was determined to put a dance number in another film that would be appreciated and successful with the audience. That is the reason Indy Jones and the Temple of Doom begins with a dance number . . .

George wanted to make a big-budget film starring a "midget" hero. The name of that film was "Willow," which was a box-office failure. So George is determined to recycle the "midget" as hero idea until the public accepts it. So when George penned the script for Episode 1 he was determined to make sure that a "midget" character would be the hero of the film. We may not like Anakin being the hero (some of us didn't like the Ewoks, a second death star, Luke and Leia being twins, a silly song and dance number or the death of Fett in ROTJ) but that won't stop George from doing it . . . but, if your going to have a kid be the hero of a Star Wars film, could you pick a better one than the future Darth Vader? I don't think so, even as a 9-year-old, Anakin can probably kick the living daylights out of most ordinary men. I wouldn't mess with him.)

Wed., Jan 21, 1998

"Hello rumors page. Thanks for all the speculation that you post. I never knew how complex Star Wars is and it seems impossible to keep up with all the possible plot variations and ideas that can be used in the prequels. But the reason I am writing you is to present to you an interesting question. How much would it cost a Hollywood studio to produce a new Star Wars film? I work at a major Hollywood studio and during lunch we have talked about the new Star Wars film and my associates and I are amazed that George Lucas is going to be able to make the new Star Wars film for under $ 75 million. So we asked ourselves how much would it cost us to produce a film as complex as Star Wars? Well, first instead of making prequels we would definitely decide to make sequels to the current trilogy.

We would want the films to be upbeat and cheerful like the current ones and would hire one of the top Hollywood screen writers to pen the script (centered around the adventures of the children of Han, Leia and Luke) for about $ 500,000 after the first draft is finished we would then turn this version over to another top talent for a re-write at a cost of another $ 500,000. Finally, we would spend about $ 250,000 on a script doctor to make the dialogue top notch . . . Next, with script in hand, we would seek a producer known for handling complex action films. The price tag of this producer would be around $ 3 to $ 5 million. The producer would then be responsible for setting up the production including the hiring of the right director and actors. The producer would probably order several more re-writes of our original script. As for the director, the studio would want a known talent who has proven successful with high-budget, action films in the past. The list would include, of course, Spielberg, Lucas and Cameron, but they would be unlikely to direct the film due to price. So we would go with a second tire director like David Fincher, Jans de Bont, Joel Schumacher, Paul Verhoeven or some one of similar experience for about $ 3 to $ 4 million . . .

As for the actors, we would ask the producer to cast at least one A-list star for one of the major characters which would cost about $ 20 million. Since this is Star Wars, we would undoubtedly have our pick of anyone in Hollywood: Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, John Travolta, Jim Carrey, Nic Cage and Tom Hanks. Our first choice would be Cruise since he has had 5 consecutive films to gross over $ 100 million in North America . . . the other cast members would be selected from mostly known actors at a total cost of around $ 15 to 20 million. We would ask to have at least one or two actors from a popular TV show to be cast in order to tap the vast TV viewing marketplace . . . The producer would probably budget the film at about $ 15 million for the construction of sets, $ 40 million to cover the actual costs of studio and live filming and probably $ 30 to 35 million for the special effects budget to be farmed out to either Digital Domain or ILM.

We would expect that the film will have budget overruns totaling about $ 10 to $ 20 million because there is always something that goes wrong with a film of this magnitude. Promoting the film would probably cost around $ 50 million with tie-ins to dozens of corporate sponsors like McDonald's, Coke, Ford, etc. Distribution and making the film prints would probably cost around $ 40 million since we would try to release the film on as many screen as possible ( at least 7,500) in order to maximize the opening weekend gross. We would project an opening gross of at least $ 160 million for the four-day Memorial Day weekend or $ 40 million per day with a final North American gross of $ 400 million . . . The actual budget would be about $ 135 million and the total cost for us to produce and distribute the film would be approximately $ 245 million including interest on the debt, studio overhead and profit-sharing distributions. Thanks . . . " (Source: Anonymous Movie Studio Employee)

Mr. Lucas and Mr. McCallum have stated recently that people will think that the prequel is Star Wars because the prequel has a shorter Luke Skywalker and that Anakin is the hero of the prequel. Does this mean that Anakin rescues the young Queen and this is how they first meet and eventually fall in love? Is having a 9-year-old piloting star ships and fighting with light sabres going to look silly? (Source: John Goodson) (Ed. Note: George has already warned everybody that the prequels are going to be unconventional and some of the things he may get "killed" for. George has stated that it is great that everybody goes crazy for the movies, but he still going to make the film he wants to see refgardless of the criticism he may receive)

Here is some more speculation and a few questions. Why did Jabba order his men to not let Skywalker enter in ROTJ. Our thought on this is that Vader told Boba Fett to tell Jabba that he could have Han but not to harm Skywalker for the emperor has other plans for him. The only bump in the road to this is why if the empire knowing that Han is a loyal and trusted friend to Skywalker did they not send soldiers in advance to wait and capture the all elusive Skywalker? (Ed. Note: Our guess is that Jabba was scared to death to face a Jedi Master because of his prior run-ins with Jedi during Episode 3 . . . Jabba is reluctant to confront a Jedi Master, but has no choice once Luke sneaks into the palace)

Why did Obi-wan wait for Luke to visually see him face Darth Vader to give up his life in front of Luke? Take a moment open your minds and prepare yourselves for a incredible theory that takes us into the heart of the prequels. (This theory is based on the Bible) We feel that the character Obi-wan was so distraught over his failure to teach Anakin the Jedi way that he turned away totally from the Jedi religion to live in exile, as a punishment to himself for his ultimate failure. Obi-Wan in Star Wars,when meeting the son of anakin and feeling the presense of the force sees a chance for his own redemption. Obi-Wan Leading the young Skywalker off on a adventure to destroy the empire and to save many lives. In Star Wars when Obi-wan comes face to face with Vader he says that if you strike me down I will become more powerful then you can possibly imagine (In sense like a marter,Jesus). Obi-Wan waits until Luke can see clearly and lets Vader strike him down. Not only does he repay the Jedi religion for what he has done but he gives inspiration to young Luke.Even in the beginning Obi-Wan knew that a young boy could not destroy the empire by himself. In sense the devil would have never killed Jesus if he knew that he would have become such a great martyr.Obi-Wan like Jesus made Luke realize that if he did not try to stop the empire everyone that he would love or be friends with would be destroyed. Think of this, Princess Lea never coming in contact with Obi-Wan but hearing incredible stories from her father of the once great Jedi Knight seeks out Obi-Wan by faith alone, in her heart knowing that he can help to save her people from the empire.Jesus says to his disciples that it is greater to have faith without sight by hearing alone then to have seen a miracle and then believe! Note: Lando greets Han as a friend that he has not seen for a long time welcomes him and then delivers him into the hands of Vader.Just like Judas Iscariot greets Jesus with a kiss on the cheek and a hug,in turn delivering him into the hands of evil (We just thought of this).

How bout his not recalling the name of the apostle that in the beginning did not beleive in the christian way and killed many christians.God sent an angel and blined him as a punishment and then jesus laying hands on him healed him then the apostle by listening to him and others became very faithful (true beleiver).Han solo when released was blind, think to the beginning Han did not beleive in the Jedi,thinking of it as a hokey religion.As chewy tells him in rotj that Luke is coming to save us and is a jedi Han replys Luke can hardly take care of himself then Chewy tells him that Luke is a Jedi and Han reacts with great rejoicement knowing the implications of the power of a Jedi Knight, in turn another expression of faith. It is also known that luke is the name of an apostle.

The next time we talk to you we are going to give you speculation on episodes1-3 as we see it should be fun.(Grown adults Ha Ha) Jeff Hildreth And Rick Hummel Are you listening Lucas? (Source: Jeff and Rick) (Ed. Note: As for Ben's sacrifice in ANH. Here is our theory about what is going on with Leia's search for General Kenobi. At the end of Ep 3, Bail is told by Yoda and Ben that they are going to have to go into hiding for a very long time until the "Child of Skywalker" can fulfill his/her destiny and destroy the Emperor. Bail keeps Leia safely hidden from the Empire and promises to contact Ben when the time is right for their plan to start so that they can destroy the Emperor.

The sign to Ben to know that it is time for Luke to start his path towards destiny is Bail sending Leia to find Ben. Bail knows that without the "Child of Skywalker" to destroy the dreaded Death Star the entire galaxy will be forever under Palpatine's control. Luke is the only one in the galaxy who can stop the Emperor and the Death Star. And to make sure that Luke does destroy the Empire, Ben sacrifices himself in the most dramatic fashion to insure that Luke will join the crusade to destroy the death star and the Emperor. By being dead, Ben can guide Luke to use the Force to destroy the Death Star without relying on the Force, the faith you guys talk about, Luke could not have destroyed the death star and the rebellion would have died along with the new hope of all the galaxy. The Force is the Star Wars equivalent of God. And by putting his complete faith in the Force, Luke destroys the death star and his first step towards destiny is taken . . .

With the death star destroyed, Bail, Ben and Yoda's plan has begun. However, Ben and Bail have to sacrifice there lives as willYoda later, but they are willing to sacrifice everything to stop Palpatine. Yoda is able to keep himself alive long enough to finish Luke's training. They know that only Luke as a Jedi Master can successfully confront Vader and the Emperor and resist the temptations of the dark side. For reasons that will be explained in Ep 3, we learn why Bail, Ben and Yoda know that Vader will not let Palpatine kill Luke. Vader believes he can turn Luke, but he can't change destiny. So the gamble pays off for Bail, Ben and Yoda because Vader chooses to kill himself and Palpatine in order to save his son. Undoubtedly, when Vader is watching Luke die, he thinks to himself that his wife, Ben, Bail and millions of others were willing to sacrifice their lives to stop Palpatine and even his son is. I wonder if Vader watched Palpatine electrocute the young Queen (or someone else extremely close to him possibly close Jedi friends, his mother or father) to death in Ep 3 because she/he/they would not turn to the dark side??? Palpatine must have some ultimate control over Vader's own life for Vader to fear "betraying his master" so much and is powerless to challenge the Emperor without sacrificing his own life. So Palpatine makes a huge mistake thinking that Vader is unwilling to sacrifice his own life to save Luke. Pure speculation. It is difficult to predict what George is going to do because the possibilities are nearly endless)

Tues., Jan. 20, 1998

The way I've always explained Owen's dislike for Ben is that Owen (and Beru) must have known Anakin. (Remember Owen and Beru's conversation: "He's too much like his father." "That's what I'm afraid of.") Maybe this can be explained in that, since Ben and Anakin were obviously good friends, Owen (as Ben's brother) was a good friend of Anakin's as well, and when Anakin fell, Owen had to blame SOMEONE for the loss of a friend. Perhaps (because Owen is portrayed as having no Force abilities), Ben became responsible in Owen's eyes because HE had introduced Anakin to the ways of the Force, and was thus responsible for Anakin's fall. (Or, perhaps, his blame was also based upon some prior, unresolved, conflict between the two of them--but I won't get into that.)

It must be hard to lose a friend to the Dark Side, it's as if the person you knew is dead, but they are still alive as a completely different person than they were before. The good person you knew before is gone, replaced instead by some sort of monster. Or, maybe you fear that "good person" is still trapped inside of that monster, suffering. You would likely start blaming yourself or feeling that YOU could have done something that might have stopped it from happening, much like we often react to the death of one who is close to us. Maybe this is what Owen (and Ben) went through. Both decided that the only thing that could be done for Anakin was to take care of his son.

Owen and Beru, as the married couple, would have been a more "stable" environment for a young child, and Ben just kind of "hung around" in the shadows, always nearby if needed, but never seen. Owen and Beru had no children of their own, so they obviously grew to love Luke as if he were their own, especially since he was their friend's child. Owen's refusal to allow Luke contact with Ben or to permit him to leave Tatooine was done out of love and fear. Love for Luke, and the fear that the same thing would happen to Luke that had happened to Anakin. Owen felt that the only way to prevent this was to separate Luke from any kind of danger. The line: "That's what I'm afraid of." implies that he was afraid FOR Luke, not wanting him to suffer the same fate as his father. Owen feared that involvement with Ben would increase the likelihood of such an occurance. Ben's idea of taking care of Luke, however, involved giving him the ability to face and defeat his problems, rather than to hide from them.

In one book ("Children of the Jedi," I believe, but I'm not sure) Luke speaks of one occasion when Beru had lost something, (scissors, I believe) and Luke had been able to find them after she had given up on finding them in the house. This was an early sign of Luke's abilities with the Force, though Luke did not know this. Owen had punished him severely, saying that Luke must have hidden them because he had found them so easily. Luke says that he is sure Owen punished him because he knew Luke's abilities were beginning to appear, and he was afraid of where they might lead him. The punishment was supposed to make Luke wary of using his abilities again (or so Luke believed).

BTW, don't expect the prequel characters to be so much like the characters of the existing trilogy. Lucas may be recycling themes, but he isn't recycling characters. I think that certain personality traits may allow one to make connections between characters of the two trilogies, but I don't necessarily think that there will be any clear distinctions of a "Han character" or a "Luke character", etc. That would make the characters a bit . . . repetitive (Source: S. B.)

If it is true that the Clone Wars don't begin until Episode 2, I think that the Mandalorian warriors (the dudes dressed like Boba Fett) will only be minor, background characters in the first movie. They may even be in an alliance with or actually be a member of the Old Republic before the Clone Wars start. (Source: James)

I have a theory on the colors worn by the stormtroopers and Imperial guards. Lucas or somebody with Lucasfilm has stated that once we see the prequel trilogy, we will understand the significance of the color scheme of the Empire: Black, White and Red. I think the stormtroopers use to be "good guys" that is why they where black. So when ANH begins and we see the troops in white blowing through the door, on a psychological level, we assume that since they are dressed in white they are the good guys . . . soon we realize we are wrong when Vader appears. I believe the stormtroopers use to be guards/troops used by the Old Republic. Once Palpatine crushed the Jedi and the Old Republic, he used these white troops as soldiers in his own army. As for the Imperial guards, I think they use to be the guards for either the guards of the Old Republic's royal families and/or guards of members of the Senate. Once again with a sadistic ring of irony, Palpatine uses these uniforms for his own guards . . . also, I think the prequel opens with a scene similar to ANH where we see the Republic stormtroopers bursting into a ship used by the "bad guys" (maybe the Sith Lords, who have stolen plans to cloning technology or something similarly significant to the prequel) (Source: Towering Inferno)

I wonder what Vader is going to look like in Episode 3 when we finally get to see him in his black suit. It should be different from what we see in A New Hope because 20 years passes. We see the beginnings of Vader similar to the way we see the beginnings of C3PO in Ep. 1 (Source: Starrunner)

What is 3PO going to look like? Daniels was rumored not to have been used during live-action filming so obviously 3PO may not be a humanoid shaped droid in the prequels. Could he be some kind of droid that looks like a medic droid or a torture droid that is some kind of puppet? I think 3PO will be some kind of skinny droid that was created by the Lucasfilm prop department that is too skinny to fit a human inside. Since Daniels voice want be added until much later, no one will be able to guess which droid is 3PO, even if you actually watched all the prequel being filmed. This would be a great way for Lucas to hide the "true identity" of 3PO. (Source: Greg Hanson)

I don't believe that there is any chance that See Threepio will be computer generated in Ep 1. That would be too expensive and unnecessary since a cheap robot creature could be made by the guys/gals at Lucasfilm. Mr. Lucas says that he uses CG only when he can't achieve the desired result in some other better and cheaper way. A creature robot manipulated by humans is much, much cheaper to do than a fully CG robot. Mr. Lucas is making a bunch of "synthetic" creatures with CG technology because those life-like creatures look fake when their puppets. But a droid looks real whether it's CG or a creature puppet. (Source: Gunner)

If you look closely at Mos Eisley in ANH: SE, it looks like there is wreckage from a star ship that crashed sticking out of the ground. Could this possibly be a ship used by the young Queen that crashes on Tatooine at the beginning of Episode I? That would kind of be something that ties Ep 1 and Ep 4 together. (Source: Jedi Redeye)

Hey guys, I love your page! Anyway, just thought I'd let you know the address of this page that has got a ton of new production pics from Episode 1. I have also heard a rumor that Yoda flies the Millennium Falcon. Do you know if there is any truth behind it? Anyway, the address for the page is https://members.tripod.com/~MHecht/index.html (Source: Metropolis) (Ed. Note: Maybe there is a running joke in the prequels where the Falcon gets traded from one pilot to another (i.e., Kenobi pilots it for awhile then Anakin, then Yoda, then Fett . . . then Salacious Crumb, etc.)

Wed., Jan. 21, 1998: We know George is going to complete Episode I for under $ 70 million, but how much would it cost a major Hollywood studio to make Episode I?

Fri., Jan. 23, 1998: We will post why the gigantic "promotional push" for Episode I will not begin until late, late 1998 . . .

Sun., Jan. 25, 1998: We will post the reasons why no Episode I trading and CCG cards will be released until mid-1999 . . .

Mon., Jan. 19, 1998

Prequel News: Phase 2 of live-action filming for Episode I (George intends to "tweak" and improve certain scenes for "technical" reasons . . . Some new scenes and certain re-shoots of scenes already shot will take place to refine the "story" that George wants to convey to the audience . . . )

"Twenty years of ILM's pioneering spirit and achievement in SFX technology are being poured into the prequel trilogy. Everything we have learned to do and everything we will shortly learn how to do will be utilized to create the most stunning battle sequence ever seen on film . . . The "primary" battle for Episode I will last for 20 minutes (story boarded to the most minute detail) and will primarily occur in an aquatic environment. Just like in the original trilogy, George wants the primary battle sequence in each episode of the prequels to surpass the main battle sequence of the previous film. While the death star battle in Star Wars was stunning for its day, it was topped by the battle at Hoth. And, of course, that battle was surpassed by the marvelous battle at Endor. Endor is still considered by many in our industry as the greatest space-battle sequence in cinematic history . . . Never before has a SFX house been able to create a realistic water environment entirely in a computer . . . until now. Live-action filming of such battle sequences has proven to be prohibitively expensive as exemplified in the $ 180 million Waterworld (which suffered massive cost overruns caused by mother nature and other hazards while filming at sea) . . . It has only been in the last few years that the vast computing power and massive storage capacity that we need has come in to existence that makes it possible for us to develop the software needed to create such a complex and sophisticated effects shot . . .

Even with this technology at our disposal the shots can look extremely "fake." The utmost in skill, patience and diligence is needed to make a CG water environment seem perfectly real. So this battle sequence will be by far the best battle sequence ever seen of film and will be the measuring stick upon which all films are judged until the epic battles of the Clone Wars are seen in Episode II . . . The sequence will be so complex, multi-layered and dazzling that it will be impossible to fully appreciate it with a single viewing.

It will take multiple viewings to fully take in the subtleties in detail that will exist. Much of the amazing and carefully-crafted shots (and sound effects) will lose much of their luster and magnificence if not viewed and heard through a digital theater system. For this reason alone, it is doubtful that George will permit Episode I to be projected on any non-digital screens. Unfortunately, this means that you may not be able to see Episode I on the first day of its release because instead of being released on 6,000 screens it will probably be released on 3,000 screens or less. But when you finally do get to see the film in a digital theater environment, it will be seen and heard as close as humanly possible to the way George intended it to be presented . . . In my opinion, the best way a Star Wars fan will be able to enjoy the intricate this battle sequence will be on a laser-disc system at slow-motion speed. In slow motion, you will be able to appreciate the ultra-detailed intricacies of the CG effects that cannot be seen at full speed. The details you will be able to see will boggle the mind . . . (Source: Anonymous Lucasfilm Employee)

Sun., Jan 18, 1998

At first I thought maybe Mon Mothma could be the Skywalker twins' mom, but now after consulting my "Guide to the Star Wars Universe: Second Edition." I found out some things about Mon Mothma. First off, George has said the twins mother is a queen. It says nothing about Mon Mothma being a Queen of any planet or system(s). It says her mother was a regional governor and her father was a general in the old republic. It also says that Mon Mothma was a senior senator on the High Council when the old republic was starting to come apart. So obviously, she was already older than Anakin. How much older, I have no clue. Mon Mothma distrusted Palpatine from the start. Although she seems a non candidate for the twins mother I'm hoping for her to show up in the prequels somewhere. But this information might have changed since this book came out in 1994. (Source: Ben)(Ed. Note: It is almost certain that she will be in the prequels)

There has been a great deal of speculation involving Obi-Wan Kenobi's relationships with other people. It is certain, at least if Lucas stands by his Del Ray book version of Star Wars, that Owen and Ben are brothers. If memory serves, Owen spoke of Ben (his own brother) as "That old man's just a crazy old wizard." In the book, it is stated that Luke was at one time lost, Ben found him, and brought him back home. Upon seeing Luke with Ben, Owen began yelling at Ben, telling him never to see Luke again. Owen's treatment of Ben in both the book and movie reveals both discomfort and anger. Why would Owen hate his own brother so much?

The answer may rest in Owen believing that Ben, or at least the Ben living in Tatooine, is not his brother. Earlier, I remembering reading a rumor that Ben was cloned sometime during the prequels, I know--yet another OB-1 interpretation, and later confronts his own clone in battle. If this occurred, how would one recognize one from the other? Why would Ben be called OB-1 Kenobi rather than Old Ben Kenobi? People may believe Ben, the eventual victor of the confrontation, is in fact the clone. Owen would have every right to hate a man who he believes killed his own brother, as well as deny him access to Luke.

I could be misinterpreting information. Owen and Ben may be feuding over other matters. But, if this interpretation holds true, Ben does get cloned and there is a battle between the original and the clone. (Source: Nate)

I saw George in an interview 4-5 years ago and he said that the Star Wars movies were the "Adventures of R2-D2 & C-3PO" he may of been joking but think about it. There is always one of the two around, except for certain scenes. (Source: Fett-Boba)

I was watching A New Hope the other day, you know how you do, and this time I was watching for obvious mentions of possible Prequel material. ANH DOES let out a lot of what we might see. When Luke asks if old Ben might know Obi Wan, Uncle Owen says that Obi-Wan died at the same time as his father, thus telling us that when Anakin falls to the dark side and changes his name to Vader, Obi-Wan quits being a Jedi Knight and becomes Ben Kenobi. Also, Anakin will progress quite far from Ben's tutelage alone. Ben says that he was a Jedi "Knight" the same as Anakin. So, Ben and Anakin are probably both up to "Knight" status by Episode 2 and the Clone Wars. The Clone Wars must be a particularly large happening, as Luke already knows about it on the far off planet of Tatooine. The Clone Wars must also be the "damn-fool-idealistic crusade" that Anakin followed Ben into. And, lastly, but strangely, did Anakin REALLY want Luke to have his light saber? Or, did Ben pick up Anakin's saber after the battle at the volcano? Hmmm. (Source: X-Wing http://www.datasync.com/~xwing/starwars.htm ) (Ed. Note: The history of the Clone Wars is George's "private domain." These wars will play an extremely important part of the prequels)

I was looking around the net the other day and I came across a site that has a gallery of old Topps Star Wars bubblegum cards: http://www.starwars.priv.pl/topps1.htm. As one of the original 1st generation SW fans (I was 7 in '77), I have fond memories of those halcyon days of sweet smelling, dried gum sticks and crisp razor sharp, beautiful trading cards. Those were heady days indeed.

I got to thinking about how I never actually saw SW until 1981; how my obsession was borne purely out of the images on those cards and the words and jigsaw puzzles on the reverse. Star Wars for me was REAL. These were real characters, real robots, real aliens. To me Tatooine was a place near Mars or something. Me and my brother (11 months my junior) even created our own language to describe the static images that we could only dream of seeing in movement. We were a modest family, and although my mother bought us the first Marvel SW comic, we never thought about going to see the film!

When Series 2 came out we could not believe our eyes. They were RED. These were NEW. I cannot tell you how much pleasure we received from breaking open a new pack of red cards and seeing shots from alternative angles, and images with sunsets and effects. I'm telling you that we would have done anything to see those unique characters - we knew so well, just moving. The story summaries on the back of the cards taught us how to write and the images taught us how to draw.

My point is this. People complain about Spoilers and rumors, but I think that Lucasfilm should put out some SW:Genesis cards a year before the film's release, bundled with those dry gum sticks. I'm sure that those images and the scent of the gum would leave a lasting imprint on today's generation of kids, as it did to us, as well as remind twenty-something pluses of those great, great sunny days of the past. I personally would do anything to go back to that innocent time.

I'm now a screenwriter and my brother draws comic books, all because of those cards and the film itself (which we do not believe will ever be beaten as the best film of ALL time). I really would like George to read this message. Instead of people speculating wildly and revealing everything accidently, they will have some unexplained images to focus their speculation on. This, if planned well, should draw people's attention away from the actual plot, as well as make untold dollars for Topps and Lucasfilm. (Source: Hardbody) (Ed. Note: That would be a great idea because there are millions of Star Wars fans around the world who have never seen any of the Episode 1 photos that have been circulating on the Net and in various magazines. However, at the present time, there are no plans to release Episode 1 trading cards until after the film is released)

Mr. Lucas speaks of using re-occurring themes in the prequels. This has led to speculation that the main characters in the prequel will mirror main characters in ANH. Let's take that stance and assume Anakin is the Luke of the prequels, OB1 is Solo, and the Queen is Leia. Now lets look at the love triangle being discussed. In ANH, before Luke realizes Leia is his twin sister, Solo and Luke have a fun competition for the Princess's affection. Ultimately Solo wins and the two fall in love. Going further into this analogy we will place the characters in a general sense. Solo the "man of action" and Luke the "Jedi Knight". It is assumed that Anakin and the Queen are lovers and Luke and Leia are the offspring. What if OB1, like Solo, and the Queen fall in Love. This leaves Anakin the "Jedi Knight", like Luke, odd man out. The only difference to this scenario is that where Luke respected this relationship, Anakin does not. Episode 3 would, in fact, be very dark and certainly evil. Anakin would betray OB1 and either by force or cooperation impregnate the Queen. Darth Vader would still be Luke and Leia's father but not necessarily their mother's husband. (Source: Ken Ledbetter) (Ed. Note: Until we actually see the films almost anything is possible . . . )

I heard somewhere that Luke and wedge are cousins. Is this true? (Source: Silktron)(Ed. Note: I don't think they are related)

This isn't really a rumor, more like an attempt to clear up a few things. I see a lot of postings regarding clones and the Clone Wars. In Dark Empire, the Dark Horse Comic series where the Emperor came back as a clone, they stated that the cloning process, while effective, isn't designed to create long term bodies. In other words the bodies deteriorate rapidly and the clone life span is not that long. If this is accepted as Star Wars continuity, which it is for now, then the Emperor we know is probably not a clone and Ben is certainly not a clone (it is Obi-Wan not Obi-one). The Clone Wars were basically the empire creating troops to send out, fight, die and be replaced. I don't think cloning will play a huge part in the prequels as far as any main characters are concerned . . . If the Emperor was a clone of Ben the difference in appearance would be attributed to the decaying body, which is a side effect of the cloning process, and the destructive power of the dark side of the force.(Source: Fay)

Sat., Jan 17, 1998

Could OB-1 be Job, a wealthy man who had everything taken away by Satan, as a test of his devotion to God? Or, in OB-1's case he had everything taken away by the Emperor, as a test of his devotion to the higher ideals of the Jedi and the Force?

Job wandered the desert for years, covered with boils and slowly going mad. The original script described Obi-wan as "an old desert rat"? When he saw that, Alec Guinness asked himself, "Do they expect me to play some wild, eccentric, half-dotty old man appearing out of a hole in the sand dunes?" Lucas went back and re-wrote Obi-wan as a more sympathetic character, but it was Guinness who really created the role. Just as Job stayed faithful to God, OB-1 stayed faithful to the Force and the Jedi Code and eventually Palpatine and Vader were destroyed. (Source: Fallen Creek)

Palpatine's miscalculation in ROTJ is that he mistakenly believes that Luke is trained to be a Jedi Knight by Ben and not Yoda. He believes that since Ben trained Luke, then he will be able to easily turn Luke just like he did Anakin because Ben is not great enough to train Jedi. Palpatine believes Yoda is dead (assuming that he knows about Yoda at all). This mistake proves to be fatal for Palpatine. Because by being trained by the great Jedi Master Yoda, Palpatine has a 0% chance of turning Luke to the dark side. Ben gets the last laugh with Palpatine in the end. (Source: Gren Hassle)

Just a quick note about the MPAA rating for the prequels. I remember reading that the films would be released in a PG or PG-13 format. Then a "special director's cut" with edited footage of some of the more violent scenes would be released on video or laserdisc. (Source: Greg Mansur)(Ed. Note: Scenes that the MPAA consider to be rated "R" will not be included in any of the theatrical releases of the prequels. George wants a "PG" rating for all three prequels if at all possible, but he will not release an "R"-rated Star Wars film in the theaters. If George feels the "omitted" scenes are necessary for the story to be as compelling as he envisioned, then these scenes will be inserted into a "director's cut" of the prequels. So George may release two versions of the prequels on videocassette the "PG" version and the more realistic "R" version)

We feel that the entire Star Wars theme is of biblical proportions. For instance just as Jesus sent Peter and Paul to prepare the way, Luke sends Artoo and C3PO to Jabba to prepare his way. Just as Jesus is the deliverer of the world, so is Luke the deliverer of worlds (in essence that Luke is the messiah of the Star Wars trilogy) In revelations it is told that Jesus will come down from heaven and lay hands upon the great serpent. In ROTJ, Luke's father Vader is forced to choose between the light and the dark and lays hold of the great evil and casts him into the pit. Also if you noticed that all Jedi are robed as though were the apostles. If you think of Palpatine as the great evil (note: the devil, Lucifer) and the way he is so concerned actually fearing Luke as the only one with the power to overthrow his empire. Consider this, Palpatine hunted down and destroyed the Jedi Knights, but in the scene in ESB when Vader communicates with the Emperor, the Emperor basically tells Vader that Luke has the power to destroy them. This revelation is of great importance considering Luke is only one man who should be of no concern to someone of such great power. Also, Palpatine is robed in black representing the dark side (hence Lucifer). Just as Jesus as a baby was hid from King Herod so was Luke hid from Palpatine and Vader. If you think about why the emperor went to great lengths to turn Luke towards the dark side. So did the devil tempt Jesus as if Palpatine like the devil knew that the messiah was of great importance, and with him on his side his empire would never fall. Just Really give this some thought we could go into this futher but we won't. We are not saying this is all that Star Wars is based on that would be absurd for you can see there are elements from all types of stories. We are saying that a big inspiration of the films comes from the bible. (Source: Jeff and Rick)

I remember it was either Lucas himself or another official source that said that the fact that Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader was *not* going to be revealed during the prequels, in order not to "spoil the fun" for someone who would watch all six movies without any knowledge (if anyone like this existed in the known universe). I am quite sure having read that, because it struck me as being very logical. The only problem is that I can't pin down the article or the circumstances. (Source: Starkiller)