A movie trailer for "Star Wars: Episode II" created by an anonymous director and posted on the Internet is working fans into a frenzy well before the film's scheduled release in 2002.
Using footage from "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace" and blending it with scenes from other movies and television shows, including "Dune," "Braveheart" and "Stigmata," the anonymous artist designed a convincing preview that had some fans believing it's the real deal.
The trailer, posted on Theforce.net, begins with the standard teaser opening: "The following preview has been approved for all audiences." Then it switches to generic 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm Ltd. credits. The 1-minute, 52-second clip then fades to a nighttime shot (borrowed from the movie "Dark City") and then changes to a slow-moving camera shot over a desert.
The movie clip later explodes into sequences that include a horde of Jedi knights charging into battle, various space scenes and Hayden Christensen — who will play Anakin Skywalker in "Episode II" — activating a light saber and walking off screen.
The clip was an instant hit with "Star Wars" fans.
"It's been really positive," said the director in a telephone interview; he prefers to stay anonymous because he used the scenes without permission. "So many 'Star Wars' fans from all over the world have written me. They said they can't wait for the next film if it's anything like my trailer."
The trailer has been on the Net for about a month, and it's become more popular than its creator could have imagined.
So far, the teaser has been downloaded about 2 million times, said Scott Chitwood, an editor at Theforce.net.
The project took the 25-year-old director from Hollywood about two months to finish, crafting the footage so it blends seamlessly and adding sound effects. The director said he was disappointed with "Phantom Menace." The inspiration behind his trailer for "Episode II" was to show what he thought the next "Star Wars" film should look like.
"I am looking forward to better films in the future," he said.
He's not alone. Many longtime "Star Wars" fans felt let down by "Phantom Menace," saying it was too much of a kiddie movie, burdened by the idiotic antics of Jar Jar Binks.
Some of the fans who have seen the "Episode II" trailer, with its dark scenes and serious expressions on the actors' faces, say it has given them new hope.
Jeanne Cole, spokeswoman for Lucasfilm Ltd., said the company has no problem with the movie trailer as long as no one is making money from it. Lucasfilm has no plans to force Theforce.net to stop distributing the trailer, Cole said, because it's available for free, and it's in good taste.
"Where would 'Star Wars' be without the fans?" she asked. "It's a fan homage to 'Star Wars.' Everyone who has seen it has enjoyed it."
The movie trailer confused some fans when it first hit the Net because some thought it was legitimate. Others thought the director and Theforce.net were trying to deceive fans, but the director said that is not true.
"On a quick glance, it can fool you," he said. "It's all manipulation of the mind. You need to remember that this is just what one fan would love to see on the screen."
Other "Star Wars" fan sites are linking to the trailer, but Cole of Lucasfilm said there are no plans to make it available on the official "Star Wars" Web site.
"I don't mind if other fan sites pick it up and post it, but it's nice to know about," the anonymous director said. "This was made for the fans, so they can do whatever they want with it."
Users need Apple's QuickTime 4.0 media player to view the "Episode II" fan trailer, which can be downloaded at www.apple.com/quicktime. The trailer, which can be downloaded in either a five-megabyte file or a 13-megabyte file, is at www.theforce.net.
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