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·--'t/'6I~'1 rv.1P",:r .•• Secrets of 'SlarWars' spilled In 2-hour show
By MICHAEL GIL TZ
'STAR Wars" creator
George Lucas says he
almost landed Steven
Spielberg to direct "Re
turn of the JedL"
That's one of a number of
r~velations in a new two
hpur A&E special. "Star
Wars: Empire of Dreams,"
set to air Sunday night at 8
....:... part of the big run up to
the DVD release of one of
the most popular trilogies
of all time. The A&E special is, in
fact, an edited version of
the 156 minute documentary
on the "Star Wars Trilogy,"
due out September 2L
Why didn't the marriage
of Spielberg and "Star
Wars" ever happen? Seems
Lucas' famous fights with
the Directors Guild and
other Hollywood establish
ments killed it.
Lucas and countless oth
ers -including Carrie
Fisher, Harrison Ford and
Mark Hamill -are in-cluded in the program
about the travails of mak
ing "Star Wars" and its
classic sequels, "The Em
pire Strikes Back" and
"The Return of the JedL"
Among the highlights of
the show and the DVD:
• Hayden Christensen is
digitally inserted into the
celebratory final scene of
"Return of the Jedi,"
alongside a ghost-like Obi
Wan Kenobi and Yoda.
• Numerous tweaks be
yond the "special editions" released in 1997 have been
made to clean up the ef
fects, including the first
appearance of Jabba the
Hutt.
• Fans speculated Lucas
was jealous of "The Lord
of the Rings" and so
rushed his trilogy out on
DVD early. But Peter Jack
son appears in the extras,
praising the films, talking
about how they inspired
him and comparing Lu
cas's creation to that of
J.R.R. Tolkien. The TV special is the
latest step in a campaign
that is sure to turn the
"Star Wars Trilogy" boxed
set into one of the best
selling DVDs of all time.
Still, fans have flooded
websites with their grow
ing despair that Lucas re
fuses to release the origi
nal version of the three
films, rather than the doc
tored '97 special editions
that he has made even fur
ther changes to for the
DVD. Vader to haunt "Dreams."
By MICHAEL GIL TZ
'STAR Wars" creator
George Lucas says he
almost landed Steven
Spielberg to direct "Re
turn of the JedL"
That's one of a number of
r~velations in a new two
hpur A&E special. "Star
Wars: Empire of Dreams,"
set to air Sunday night at 8
....:... part of the big run up to
the DVD release of one of
the most popular trilogies
of all time. The A&E special is, in
fact, an edited version of
the 156 minute documentary
on the "Star Wars Trilogy,"
due out September 2L
Why didn't the marriage
of Spielberg and "Star
Wars" ever happen? Seems
Lucas' famous fights with
the Directors Guild and
other Hollywood establish
ments killed it.
Lucas and countless oth
ers -including Carrie
Fisher, Harrison Ford and
Mark Hamill -are in-cluded in the program
about the travails of mak
ing "Star Wars" and its
classic sequels, "The Em
pire Strikes Back" and
"The Return of the JedL"
Among the highlights of
the show and the DVD:
• Hayden Christensen is
digitally inserted into the
celebratory final scene of
"Return of the Jedi,"
alongside a ghost-like Obi
Wan Kenobi and Yoda.
• Numerous tweaks be
yond the "special editions" released in 1997 have been
made to clean up the ef
fects, including the first
appearance of Jabba the
Hutt.
• Fans speculated Lucas
was jealous of "The Lord
of the Rings" and so
rushed his trilogy out on
DVD early. But Peter Jack
son appears in the extras,
praising the films, talking
about how they inspired
him and comparing Lu
cas's creation to that of
J.R.R. Tolkien. The TV special is the
latest step in a campaign
that is sure to turn the
"Star Wars Trilogy" boxed
set into one of the best
selling DVDs of all time.
Still, fans have flooded
websites with their grow
ing despair that Lucas re
fuses to release the origi
nal version of the three
films, rather than the doc
tored '97 special editions
that he has made even fur
ther changes to for the
DVD. Vader to haunt "Dreams."