* Photo: Dan Winters * Beware, Harvey Weinstein: There is a disturbance in the Force. A rebel alliance is forming online to protest changes to your upcoming release Fanboys.
The Weinstein Company earned major geek cred when it signed on to finance the film, a loving homage to the Star Wars films and the people who love them. The project has been closely followed by fans since 1998, when it was an unproduced script that Harry Knowles raved about on his movie gossip site Ain't It Cool News. Fans continued to follow the film as production deals were made and a director was hired. Some even pitched in with production, loaning out their memorabilia, designing props, and appearing as extras. By the time shooting wrapped in the summer of 2006, the project had attained an aura similar to that of the 1994 release Clerks, distributed by Weinstein's company Miramax — the story of how writer/director Kevin Smith got that film made attracted almost as much interest as the film itself.
But the behind-the-scenes story of Fanboys is going to be a little more convoluted, and not quite as inspiring. The Weinstein Company, which funded the film, had second thoughts about a key element of the film's story, which was written by tech support drone and poetry slam champion Ernie Cline. The story is set in 1998 and centers on a road trip by a group of friends who literally can't wait until Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace hits theaters. They head to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch intent on sneaking a peek at a rough cut. They can't wait because one of the friends is dying of cancer and may not live to see the release of Episode I. Their road trip is like a geeky, illegal version of the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Fanboys was shot with the cancer story intact and screened at a convention in near-finished form. But a new version was recently screened for test audiences in which there is no mention of cancer — the impetus for the cross-country journey is now merely an impatience to see the film and a chance for the friends to bond.
Why the changes? The studio was skittish about a comedy that centers on a terminally ill person. It's hard to get audiences to laugh after a mention of cancer.
Steven Brill, director of Little Nicky and Drillbit Taylor was brought in to do several days of reshoots to erase any reference to terminal illness. The new scenes were shot during the writers' strike, and the dialog was mostly improvised. The original director, Kyle Newman, and screenwriter Cline were not involved in the reshoots or re-editing. "Have you seen the cancer version of this movie?" writes Brill in an email to an angry fan. "I have. It is unreleaseable. It would be irresponsible to release it."
Buzz on the film from the few who've seen it is mixed. The "cancer version" received several standing ovations at a sci-fi convention in the UK. The reviewer Moriarty of Ain't It Cool News preferred the recut version but still didn't much care for the film. But many geeks who haven't seen the film in either form are convinced that the original is the "true" version, and therefore better.
Harry Knowles, a longtime champion of the film, is opposed to the changes. "I saw the original version of Fanboys," he writes. "The movie was about the friendship and the possible loss of a friend that made the boys stand up and take on the impossible. It'll be sad if we lose the soul of this movie."
Some disgruntled fans have gathered under the banner of the Stop Darth Weinstein! They have advocated spamming the email address of Weinstein employees with their grievances and are staging protests in NYC and LA on March 28 outside theaters where the Weinstein Company's new film Superhero Movie is premiering. "The Weinstein Company has tens of millions of dollars invested in this film -- far more than they have invested in Fanboys," a protestor, who goes by the name Jek Porkins, speculated on the Stop Darth Weinstein site. "If Star Wars fans worldwide stage a public boycott of this film and make sure that it bombs on its opening weekend, Darth Weinstein will have to acknowledge that we are a force to be reckoned with!"
The release date of the new version of Fanboys is still up in the air. Meanwhile, Ernie Cline is working on a Wolfman Jack biopic and a script about game addicts. He reflects on what he's learned about the film industry. "Unless you're putting up all the money yourself, making a movie seems to be an endless series of compromises," he says. "It's hard to know what that means until you actually go through it. The Weinstein Company can do whatever they want. They put up the money. But it is against our wishes and it's done purely for monetary reasons. The cancer version had heart. It's now a forgettable road comedy with no heart and no soul."
*James Lee *(wileywriter@gmail.com) wrote about speed bicyclists in issue 14.10.
Online Extras 
It's a Wrap! Ernie Cline Has Written the Ultimate Star Wars Fan Movie 
Behind the Scenes of Fanboys 
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