At long last, Episode 2 tickets have gone on sale in various theatres this morning, particularly AMC theatres. Unfortunately, not everyone is participating in making these tickets available at the same time, preventing camping trips to the theatres and leaving fans in a panicked state of anxiety.
Meanwhile, media screenings of the movie have commenced, and all reviews so far have been positive, such as this one from Countingdown. More info on tickets as it becomes available...
Let's Go To London
Good things are happening in London. May 9th, the official souvenir guide will become available only in the UK. This magazine is packed with pictures and info: 400+ pictures from Episode 2, behind the scenes stories, in-depth bios on all characters whether minor or major, introductions to people behind the scenes who worked on the movie, stories on how George Lucas's dream began, a 20-page synopsis on Attack of the Clones, articles on special effects in the movies, and so much more. If you have a friend in England, make sure they get you this AOTC Souvenir Guide from Titan Magazines.
Also only in London, the local IMAX theatre will be airing an all-night screening of all five Star Wars films during June.
Celebration 2 Coverage - Day One
Celebration 2 is underway, and StarWars.com is keeping all of us unfortunates who couldn't attend the event in Indianapolis with summaries, info, and nearly a hundred pictures of events on the first day. Head over to the official Celebration 2 coverage page.
Celebration 2 Coverage
Celebration 2, a huge Star Wars extravaganza in Indianapolis, is kicking off this weekend. Among the highlight events will be a costume contest, fanfilm contest, and appearances by many Star Wars personalities. The official Star Wars site has been previewing the Celebration for the past week now, and today they have added additional insider information as well as twenty photos. And very exciting to me is that for the Celebration Insider logo they used a picture of yours truly, my namesake Garindan. You can see that pic below; just click on it to go to the official site's coverage of Celebration 2.
Harry Knowles on FOX
After watching The Return of the Jedi on FOX this evening, I stayed tuned to the 10:00 news because it was advertised that there would be a brief interview with Harry Knowles of Ain'tItCoolNews.com, who of course is just about the only man to have seen Episode 2 way ahead of time. The segment was very brief, with the usual shots from the Clone War trailer, and was basically just a very brief summary of Harry Knowles' positive impression of the new film. He said that he thinks Lucas and company really paid attention to criticisms of Episode One and addressed them in Attack of the Clones.
If you happened to miss Harry Knowles's lengthy, spoiler-laden review, you can still check it out.
Advance Tickets Friday
Reports have appeared via various webmasters and tipsters that AMC theatres have confirmed that Epsisode 2 advance tickets will be available in AMC theatres starting 10AM EST Friday, May 3rd. I have not confirmed this myself, but am simply passing on word-of-mouth reports.
Toy Report - A Week Later
The toys have been out for a week, and sadly I've discovered how weak the Star Wars fan base seems to be in this part of the country (Raleigh and eastern North Carolina). In some Wal-Marts, toys hit the stores late and with no fanfare. At the Super Wal-Mart in Goldsboro, the largest on the east coast, there was no crowd in the small Star Wars toy half-aisle, nor was the trailer being played on the Wal-Mart television network. The lack of enthusiasm is very disappointing, and I hope area Star Wars fans unite and show up in force when Episode II comes out.
Star Wars on FOX Recap
As most of you probably know, FOX aired The Empire Strikes Back this evening, as they celebrate twenty-five years of Star Wars. But if you didn't tune in at 7PM EST, you missed the briefest of previews for Episode 2. I just learned of this preview two nights ago in a commercial, and didn't know what to exect. As it turned out, it was mainly a brief run-through of original trilogy history courtesy of See-Threepio and Artoo-Detoo, interuppted by scenes of Jango and Boba Fett fighting Obi-Wan in the upcoming Attack of the Clones. Each week they are doing a little character-themed preview as part of something called Star Wars: Connections, and what I saw today was exciting, though brief.
More AOTC Pictures
Sam Davatchi has placed eight excellent, never before seen Episode II stills on his Star Wars site. These pictures are mostly of Yoda in warrior-mode, as well as some of Count Dooku, and of Anakin on Tatooine.
Official Site Launches Cargo Bay
The official SW site has done Star Wars fans a further surface by launching a collector's database called the Cargo Bay. In the Cargo Bay, you can get previews of and view all Star Wars toys and collectibles relating to AOTC that will be released. All in time for the wave of new Star Wars toys hitting retail stores!
Collector's Checklist
The movie is only a little more than three weeks away, and today the Attack of the Clones line of Star Wars toys and collectibles hit the stores, and Rebelscum.com, the ultimate Star Wars collecting site, has provided a checklist of all the toys you can expect to find in these first few days of collecting mayhem.
New AOTC Pics From Germany
The German Star Wars site Starwars-union.de has put up several excellent scans from the German version of the Star Wars Insider. Hurry over to check them out.
Official Soundtrack Site
The official website for the AOTC soundtrack is now up and running, and features sample clips from the cd as well as photos from its production.
Episode 2 Toys
RebelScum.com has created a list of all the toys scheduled for release April 23 during midnight madness. Follow the link to view the list and beginning making your shopping list (as if you haven't already). Also in toy-related news, Toys R Us will be giving out a free promotional Star Wars book - a guide to Star Wars figures - with qualifying purchases of $50 or more of Hasbro Episode 2 products, only during midnight madness.
AOTC Countdown Clock
ClockDown has created a free countdown clock download that can perform on Windows 98,2000,NT, and XP platforms. It's interface can display up to 14 different skins currently, with the pictures changing at intervals as determined by you the user. In addition, you can have it display scrolling Star Wars quotes. Download yours now!
Entertainment Weekly Photos
The April 12th issue of Entertainment Weekly feature Attack of the Clones as its cover story. You can view exclusive photos from the magazine online.
Episode II Cereal
Now you will almost be able to literally eat, drink, and sleep Star Wars. Because General Mills is making an Episode II cereal called "Clone Crunch". The cereal will consist of crunchy corn puffs, amongst which will be scattered marshmallows in the shape of clonetroopers, Yoda, the Slave One, Artoo, the Jedi Starfighter, and a red and a blue lightsaber. Yummy. The cereal will become available on April 23, and like all good cereals, there will be plenty of games and trivia on the side to keep you occupied when the novelty of Star Wars-shaped marshmallows wears off.
The Obi-Wan/Jango box cover
The Padme/Anakin/Dooku cover
Concerning Harry Knowles
CNN has an article concerning internet movie reviewer Harry Knowles' viewing of Attack of the Clones, and his enthusiastic, positive review. His review can be found at his site: AintItCoolNews. Be warned of spoilers!
New Starfighter Revealed On HoloNetNews
HoloNetNews.com has been updated with the latest issue, including the unveiling of a new starfighter: the Delta-7 Aethersprite interceptor.
Celebration II guest: R.A. Salvatore
Another reason to attend Celebration II in Indianapolis: writer R.A. Salvatore will be there. Mr. Salvatore authored Vector Prime to initiate the New Jedi Order series, and will be authoring the novelization of Episode II. More news on Celebration II to come as the date approaches.
AOTC Posters Now For Sale
The official AOTC Star Wars poster is available for purchase for $19.99 apiece at the official Star Wars fanclub store. Designed by Drew Struzan, the poster features Padme and Anakin prominently and "places the two lovers in the larger framework of the galactic turmoil tearing the Republic apart".
Timothy Zahn Writes Again
Here's something for all those fans of Timothy Zahn who think that he is the best Star Wars novelist. Finally, after his long absence from the Star Wars literary scene, he will be writing a short story on Mara Jade, presumably a tale about her earlier years before meeting Luke Skywalker. The story will be in an issue of the Star Wars Gamer magazine. Maybe there will be a full-length novel to follow? Keep your fingers crossed, and your ears open.
New Officially Endorsed Star Wars Site
A Star Wars site endorsed by Lucasfilm? Apparently so, as there was a link at the end of the online Clone War trailer for HoloNetNews.com. This is an amazing site for true Star Wars fanatics. It is a site with news from around the Star Wars galaxy... something very unique and entertaining. Holonetnews.com pretends to be a real news site from Coruscant relating news on events, Jedi, sports, politics, and more. There are a lot of interesting tidbits of knowledge hidden throughout the site for readers to pick out. Read and learn, it's amazing. This site is definitely one to keep an eye on.
If you missed the spectacular airing of the new Clone War trailer on FOX this past Sunday, you can download and view the trailer on the official Star Wars site. And if you never had the chance to see the Mystery trailer, that can be downloaded from the same location as well. As a reminder, the full-length Episode II trailer can first be seen in theatres on March 15th attached to the animated movie Ice Age.
The new, full-length, two-and-a-half minute theatrical trailer of Attack of the Clones will be released this weekend! The trailer can be seen on FOX between original episodes of Malcolm in the Middle (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) and The X-Files (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), or can be viewed online at StarWars.com, starting Sunday March 10th. Then the trailer can be seen on the big screen attached to the animated movie Ice Age on March 15th. Yes, the movie is fast approaching!
As somewhat of a departure from the previous three teasers, this trailer will focus more on the Clone Wars, cluing us in a little bit on what is going on in that point of history. The trailer will be sure to show plenty of action sequences (as opposed to the Padme-Anakin love story), with a lot of views of the clonetroopers and hundreds of Jedi battling.
Here is what Jim Ward, Lucasfilms' VP of marketing, had to say about the trailer:
"With this trailer, we start to look at the story and the state of the galaxy in Episode II. It sets the stage for what’s about to happen and how the characters are involved. We find out that the Republic is on the brink of war, and the Jedi are overburdened in trying to hold everything together... In Episode II, we’re going to see the Jedi in action like we’ve never seen them before. We’re going to see hundreds of Jedi, hundreds of lightsabers, thousands of clones, in a huge battle. The trailer gives just a hint of what’s to come."
The following are a few choice stills from the newest Episode 2 trailer, Forbidden Love, attached to the Harry Potter film.
Anakin and Obi-Wan are reunited with Padme
Padme recognizes Anakin for the first time
Obi-Wan and Anakin on a balcony in Coruscant
Padme
Padme
Padme
Obi-Wan and Anakin
Anakin and Padme
Anakin
Padme
Coruscant spaceport
Anakin and Padme walk on a sunlit balcony
Anakin and Padme on a porch overlooking a lake
Anakin looks at Padme
Padme looks at Anakin
Anakin and Padme kiss
Anakin and Padme have a picnic in the grass
Padme in a dark room
Obi-Wan gives Anakin that lesson again
A sulky and angry Anakin
Jango Fett
Jango Fett fights Obi-Wan
A sandcrawler on Tatooine
Two N-1 Fighters escort Padme's ship to Coruscant
Kamino City and a flying whale
Tapico City and a flying whale
Padme on Tatooine
Count Dooku
Count Dooku with lightsaber
Obi-Wan hangs onto the assassin droid
Obi-Wan and Jango Fett fight
A Jedi Fighter
A hologram of Mace Windu
Jango Fett fires his rifle
Anakin and Padme are carted into the arena
Palpatine on Coruscant
Slave One chases Jedi Fighter
Slave One chases Jedi Fighter
Obi-Wan flying the Jedi Fighter
