"Happy or sad will you feel after Ep. III?" reads one thread at TheForce.net's message board. For devout Star Wars fans, it's not an easy question to answer (and not because of the mangled grammar).
The May 19 premiere of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which is less than 100 days away, will be for many a bittersweet event.
On the one hand, Episode III is the film that fans have been waiting for -- it is supposed to tie together the original Star Wars trilogy, released between 1977 and 1983, and the three new prequels. Questions will be answered, narrative gaps closed.
But Episode III also marks the end of the most influential movie franchise of all time. For many, Star Wars is more than just a staple of American pop culture -- it's an object of religious fervor.
Take the fan who posted the following note on TheForce.net's message board: "When (Revenge of the Sith) comes out, I can die peacefully.... No life after Star Wars.... I waited 28 years for this movie and I will only be at the theater for 2 hours. It doesn't add up."
According to Steve Sansweet, devoted fans like that have been essential to the success of the Star Wars franchise.
"The fans are really the core and the heart of the franchise and have been since the beginning," said Sansweet, Lucasfilm's head of fan relations. "They are the early adopters, have stayed with us for all of these years and have turned on a new generation to Star Wars."
Over the next three months, Lucasfilm hopes to fire up the fans with an onslaught of activities and merchandise. There will be frequent updates of the official Star Wars website; the Star Wars Celebration III convention, which takes place April 21 to 25 in Indianapolis; a fan film competition and several rounds of new comics, books and toys. (Star Wars fans have a seemingly bottomless thirst for Lucasfilm's products -- they've bought an estimated $9 billion worth since 1977.)
Though Sansweet said Lucasfilm has from the beginning been responsive to the Star Wars fans, some fan-site operators resent Lucasfilm's treatment of them.
"I can't help but get the feeling that they don't really appreciate the fan sites -- they just tolerate them and want to control them in a way," said T'Bone, who has run Starwarz.com since 1996. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, as they say."
Philip Wise, who runs the venerable TheForce.net, said his relationship with Lucasfilm also has survived some tense moments. He admits to sometimes wondering if he should have thrown his energy into Lord of the Rings, whose producers offered fan sites an enviable amount of access.
"We chose the wrong franchise, without a doubt," he said. "(OneRing.net) patterned their site after TheForce.net, but they've had the kind of relationship with the filmmakers we could only dream about.
"I'm also a big Harry Potter fan, and some of the key Harry Potter sites were invited to London to visit the set of the next movie. Lucasfilm never figured the benefits of doing that out -- I think they've really missed the boat by not embracing us."
Still, few fans or fan sites seem all that discouraged at having ridden the Star Wars wave. Even though Episode I and Episode II met with mixed reviews and relatively lukewarm audience response, there may be more Star Wars fan sites than ever. Sansweet said Lucasfilm has identified more than 1,000.
Several are dedicated to the art of waiting in line for a Star Wars premiere. Jeff Tweiten is blogging his 20-week urban camping experience outside a theater on the sidewalks in Seattle, and the website LiningUp.net is organizing a six-week line outside of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
This will be the third time Alyse Pozzo, LiningUp.net's webmaster, has braved the elements for a Star Wars film.
"The lines have changed my life," she said. "I met my fiancé who I'm soon to marry in the 1999 line. I have made lifelong friendships. I will be sad it's all over because we're not going to be lining up for so long again."
Excitement about Episode III isn't limited to the United States. The fan club Fan Force has chapters in 12 countries, and fan sites have popped up from Brazil to China.
Matt Glasgow runs Star Wars New Zealand, which provides the usual fan info but also celebrates local heroes like Temuera Morrison, Daniel Logan, Rena Owen and Keisha Castle-Hughes, all of whom appeared in one or more of the prequels.
Still, it's a bit tougher for fans living half a globe away from Skywalker Ranch. One blog on Glasgow's site documented the quest for a recent issue of Vanity Fair featuring the cast of Episode III.
"New Zealand fans and the promotion of Star Wars-related hobbies here are a lot lower-key than in other countries," he said. "There are currently negligible amounts of Star Wars product of any sort in any regular retail store ... (and) overt hobbies such as Star Wars costuming (at conventions and other events) is only recently starting to catch on."
And not a minute too late. After Episode III disappears from theaters, probably sometime this summer, fans will be left with memories (and, perhaps, a television series, though Lucasfilm's Sansweet would neither confirm nor deny those rumors).
Whatever George Lucas and company come up with next, it's a good bet that fans will line up -- Lucasfilm has an unmatched talent for building loyal consumers.
"I'm not sure what the magic formula is, but I'm sure it's hidden deep in Lucas' basement at the ranch," T'Bone said. "Break in there and the world is yours."
