Movie News
Are You Kidding Me?! Fanboys Release to Be Postponed Again?
Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 15, 2008
This is getting ridiculous. Just as Fanboys is due to make its debut onto our silver screens (the last known release date was 1/18/08, only a few days from now) , after countless months and even years of waiting around for the film to finally be finished, there’re rumors via Slashfilm that the Weinstein Co. are going to not only pull the release, but are recutting, reshooting and retelling the story… again! The original outline runs thusly: one of the group is dying with cancer, and his final wish is to see Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace before he dies, which he is due to do well before the film’s release date. So he and his friends plot to steal a copy from Skywalker Ranch. Sounds good, right?
The latest rumour? That Cancer-Boy isn’t good enough motivation for the motley crew to high-tail it over to Lucas’ estate, and instead they will undertake this for the sake of good old fashioned hi-jinks! Rather than making it for a dying friend, a nice and inspiring twist, instead the clever executives who hold the purse strings think that it should be a typical heist movie, where they go after it simply because they want it. It seems they’ve gotten a little spooked:
First of all, pulling the release this close to the date is just mean, not to mention bad business as all the fans who were previously interested in the movie just drift away (probably to the Cloverfield premiere, is it possible that this is all just a ploy to get out of going head to head with a monster smash?), and secondly removing the motivation of the characters would surely require massive quantities of reshoots, not to mention would be the equivilent of a failed heart transplant on a previously healthy patient. Lets hope that this is really just a rumor, or the fanbois of Fanboys are gonna be in for a rough ride.
Talking Points: Do you think that the Weinstein Company should re-cut Fanboys again?
Read more articles by Michelle Graham
11 Comments
January 15th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I don’t think they should. They’ve gotten so many people hyped up about this film (inclucding myself) to delay it even more would be bad at the box office if you ask me. Though if people won’t laugh at cancer and the film might bomb for it then in that case recut, reshoot whatever they need to do. (But please finish soon because if you make us wait another year chances are everyone may’ve lost interest)
January 15th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
uh… this isn’t the first time the Weinsteins pulled all the shenanigans of diddling with release dates and recutting. Anyone remember Shoalin Soccer? And when they released Operation Stormbreaker last year, my local publicist wasn’t even aware it was hitting theaters.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
At this point, who the hell really cares if this is good or not? Just release the bloody thing. This wasn’t going to appeal to anyone but SW fans to begin with and re-cutting it isn’t going to bring in any new viewers. They should simply count their losses and put the thing out already before people just give up and stop caring about it altogether.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
This just shows the disconnect between the studios and the general audience. While I’m sure some cancer patients won’t see the movie based on the cancer aspect (Oh wait, The Bucket List, anyone?) but people in the age range of 12-29 (The demographic of this film) laugh at anything and can differentiate fact from fiction. This is a generation that deals with everything from terrorism to sickness to politics with a sense of humor. The Weinsteins are a falling star, and those often burn up and go out in a violent death.
January 15th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
this is just ridiculous! i really didnt want to go and see cloverfield but it looks like i might have to. i would gladly laugh at cancer if it means that i dont have to wait any longer…i would have anyways but im the kind of person who giggles when AIDS is mentioned.
January 15th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Name one truly good movie that ever came out of the first month of the year…
January 18th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Bloody baffoons.
January 18th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
This better be a rumor because, I don’t see the problem in laughing about cancer, just as long as one is not laughing at someone who has cancer. There is already too much grim reality surrounding that disease. Just look at the way we talk about “battling” cancer. A lighthearted and optimistic attitude would go a long way to give people hope. They don’t call laughter the best medicine for no reason.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:54 am
I saw this movie in October of 2006, and they said it would come out in february. a year later its still not out. I will say this. the cut of the movie that i saw was fantastic. one of the funniest movies i have ever seen, and changing even a frame of it would be the dumbest thing they could do.
March 10th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Someone should make a movie about a guy dying of cancer who, along with his friends, steals “Fanboys” so he can watch it before he dies. .
March 14th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Good lord! Can’t they see with the recent release of the Bucket List, which was a hillarious movie. Cancer and death can still be funny. Think about death in general, parody movies such as “Shaun of the Dead” or “Hot Fuzz” were still hillarious and awesome, despite having alot of death. Star Wars, had an entire planet blow up on screen and yet was still humourous, awesome, and action packed. Fanboys would be no exception, and fear of cancer, just like a fear of death is something that any movie can have and not make it a box office failure.