10:00 pm CST

Many of you noted the following quote from the Vanity Fair article. It discusses how exactly Ahmed Best and the Jar Jar suit played into things. Ernie Tai typed out the quote for this:

The article acually states in Vanity Fair's February 1999 issue on p.129 "... Jar Jar Binks, one of several alien characters who, except for their voices, are entirely digital generated. Jar Jar's voice is supplied by Ahmed Best ... who also spent time on the set "playing" Jar Jar for the benefit of the animators at Industrial Light & Magic. Fitted in a specially designed Jar Jar suit, Best was put through Jar Jar's paces, interacting with Neeson and the other actors while Lucas's cameras rolled. Lucas then reshot the same scenes without Best, with the actors only pretending to interact with the lanky Gungan ... Both versions were sent back to I.L.M. The first was used purely for reference, so the animators could get a sense of what Jar Jar's movements should look like. The second version is what shows up in the finished film—with Jar Jar dropped in as an animated but utterly realistic creature, far more convincing than he'd be as a tall actor in a lizard suit."

3:45 pm CST

Sorry the site has been down this morning. Technical difficulties. Anyway, on to the news.

Some of you may have noticed a story today on Ain't It Cool News that Lucas recently screened Episode I for his friends. We recently got confirmation of this from an informant. The screening did take place some time last week. Steven Spielberg, Larry Kasdan, and others friends of Mr. Lucas' were in attendance. Spielberg actually suggested a couple of changes, but it's not known if Lucas will attempt to implement them.

Next up, we noticed in the Vanity Fair article something interesting in the background of one of the pictures. On page 128 of the American version in the shot with the Jawas, look way in the back right. Under the umbrellas, you can see Ahmed Best in his Jar Jar costume! He's wearing the clothes and the arms of Jar Jar, but his face is fully exposed and he has a Jar Jar head on top of his head (without the large floppy ears). I suppose ILM blocks out his face, then adds in the neck and ears of Jar Jar. Ian Foster found an even better shot of Best wearing the Jar Jar head. On page 28 of the American version (and page 14 of the UK version) there's a shot of Annie Leibovitz in Mos Espa. To her left behind someone with a white hat, you can clearly see him (facing away from the camera). Cool stuff! We'd post the parts of the picture we're talking about, but after Vanity Fair ordered us to remove the shots, we can't. Sorry about that.

Finally, RFlagg1997 sent us some new pictures from today's LA Times:

C-3PO
Qui-Gon
Yoda

Boba Fett sent the following:

Just wanted to drop you a note about some convention news I've found. You may already know this, but the web page for the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum posted that convention tickets will go on sale 1-25-99 on www.starwars.com. I e-mailed the site to see if they could give out anymore info but I got a very nice e-mail saying something like--due to the confidential realationship we have with the convention's sponsor we are unable to let you know what few details we have, but I guarentee that you will not be disappointed. This will be the sci-fi convention event of the decade-- this is not word for word but pretty close to what was in there. I hope I can get tickets since I have already boughtairline tickets, rented a hotel rooms and booked a rental car. Thats all for now.

8:30 pm PST

Reader "Mordeen" let us know that yesterday's Los Angeles Daily News had a front-page article on The Phantom Menace. Nothing new was mentioned, but it's interesting to keep track of the news the new movie is generating.

Master Jinn also informs us that the Long Island-based newspaper New York Newsday will be running a big feature tomorrow.

One final item I thought I'd mention is that Lycos recently informed us of a special Countdown to Star Wars feature they now have. You can check it out here.

8:30 pm PST

Reader Aaron-Wan Kenobi sent us this strange report, from something he saw in a Chinese exhibit during a visit to the Denver Museum of Natural History.

I was walking through a museum feature dedicated to China when I saw this half man-sized statuette. It was supposed to be a "Phantom" who was a menace(!) to the living and brought the souls of the living to Hell in Chinese mythology. This was June, however, and though it looked cool, I didn't give it a second thought.

Then when I started frequenting this page, something started nagging at my mind, but I couldn't remember what.

Then I saw an episode of "Charmed," in which he [the Phantom] was in it, and I saw the similarities to Darth Maul all to clearly, even though the "Charmed" rendition was only fair.

The demon rides a black horse, carries a double bladed-sword(!), has the same horn shape as Darth Maul, and has a design on his face. He is said to have special magic powers. However, three bull-like horns sprout from his head, and he has no mouth.

So what we've got here is a "phantom menace," who rides a black mode of transportation (Sith Speeder), with a double-bladed sword, with short, bladelike horns, magic powers, and a design on his face. (I did a concept drawing, but I can't find a scanner.) Sound like anyone you know?

8:30 pm PST

One of our readers, who works for Frito-Lay, wrote in to let us know that recent reports of Frito-Lay's promotional plans are accurate. This employee attended an important kick-off meeting for Episode I marketing, and had some details to add.

We will have figures (Darth Maul, Ben Kenobi) displayed on ALL of our products bags, etc. I believe this will all start at the end of April, but I'm not completely sure on that. There will also be a game where people can gain points towards prizes by choosing the 'Dark Side' or the 'Light Side' of the force. They were not clear on how this worked but said it would be easier to gain points with the Dark Side, but you had greater prize potential with the Light Side.

3:30 pm CST

Before we get to speculation, I want to thank everyone out there for sending us the latest news, images, information, and rumors. We really appreciate it. This site wouldn't be nearly as up-to-date and content filled if it were not for you guys. We thank you for taking time to send it to us. That being said, we want to let people know that we already have the MAD magazine Starr Wars image and the "Top 10 Samuel L. Jackson lines in Episode 1". We've got the Starr Wars image in our political humor section. However, we don't plan on posting the Top 10 lines due to the language in it. We thank you for thinking of sending them to us, but we've got plenty of copies. Thanks!

Now on to some random speculation. Is it overanalyzing? Yes. Is it fanboyish? But of course! But it generates discussion that we enjoy, so here ya go. Here's a few topics that we've been discussing and that we've seen discussed:

WHILLS? - As you saw in the ANH novelization and the early drafts of the script, there's reference to the "Journal of the Whills". So what's a Whill? Who are they? What do they keep in their Journal? Will we see them in the prequels? Could Yoda's race be the mysterious "Whills"?

MACE WINDU'S AGE - One of our old spy reports claimed that Mace Windu was the oldest of the Jedi Council. However, he looks pretty good for someone older than Yoda, right? Is he really that old? Maybe, maybe not. On the back of the Mace Windu figure, it says he's a "senior member" of the Jedi Council. Could our informant have mistaken that for senior in age rather then rank? Maybe he simply outranks the other Jedi Council members? On the other hand, we know that the Dark Side of the Force destroys a human body. If someone was really strong in the light side of the Force, could they live extra long? Remember in ROTJ when Yoda was dying, he said, "Strong in the Force am I, but not that strong." (or something close to that) If someone WAS that strong, could they live longer?

C-3PO & R2 / VADER - Anakin obviously knows C-3PO and R2. Why didn't they recognize each other in the Empire Strikes Back? The first answer might be that the droids had a memory wipe or a partial memory wipe. However, Lucas has said (I believe) that that hasn't happened to the droids. Could Ben or Yoda have blocked those portions of their memory to be opened later? Or could they have been ordered not to remember to protect the twins? But what about Darth? Well, admittedly, C-3PO looks different and R2 looks like every other R2 unit. But that's kind of weak. Maybe the Dark Side clouds Anakin's memories of the good times of his life? His past? Is that why there's no recognition (assuming he DIDN'T recognize them. Maybe he really DID but simply didn't care.). That doesn't even get into why Ben didn't know who they were. :)

WHY TATOOINE AGAIN? - Some people I've talked to think that going back to Tatooine yet AGAIN in a third film is simply too much. Why not go somewhere else more original? Possibly Tatooine is a focal point in the Force? (like the cave in ESB) Maybe it is "holy ground"? A place where you would least expect the most important events in the universe to take place. Kind of like a Bethlehem manger or Mt. Sinai where both the Burning Bush and the Ten Commandments took place. Like these backwater places, maybe Tatooine has the same role?

1:00 pm CST

Hugh Fleming is one of my favorite Star Wars artists, and he contacted us to let us know that he has just kicked off his new website, Hugh Fleming Illustration. (Some of his work is pictured above.) As you may or may not know, he is currently painting the covers to the Episode 1 comic due out from Dark Horse. Anyway, there's only one item for sale right now: a Babylon 5 poster. I'm not a big Babylon 5 fan, but this art looks really great. Hugh hopes to sell prints of his Star Wars artwork online possibly in the future, but that will depend on how well the Babylon 5 print sells. If you're inclined to buy one, please do so! :) I want to buy a poster of his Episode 1 artwork, so help him out! There's not much there right now, but more will come as Hugh begins coding his own personal page.

9:55 am CST

Here are two letters that were sent out to theatres from Twentieth Century Fox. Both letters are dated January 12, 1999:

Dear Theatre Manager:

As you know the first trailer for STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE was shipped to you in mid-November 1998, along with a letter from Branden Miller, Vice-President Exhibitor Services/ In-Theatre Marketing. Mr. Miller's letter asked you to "return all copies of this version of the STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE trailer to RightSide Up...." A pre-paid UPS shipping label addressed to RightSide Up was also included. The letter clearly stated: "If we do not receive your returned quantity, we will not ship the next version of the STAR WARS: EPISODE I trailer to your theatre."

We are disappointed to learn that numerous STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE trailers have shown up in the collector's marketplace and, in particular, that they are being actively sold over the Internet. These sales are being made despite our request that all trailers sent to each of you be returned and despite the legal notice on the trailer package which states: "Property of Lucasfilm Ltd. Promotional use only. No sale, duplication or other transfer allowed." Some of the trailers offered for sale have never been used, still contain the legal notice, and are being "authenticated " by sellers with a copy of Mr. Miller's letter. As you certainly know, the sale and/or copying of the trailer (or of any portion of the trailer, including individual frames of film) is a copyright violation. The fact that trailers are being sold is of great concern to us as it can only mean that not all trailers will be returned as requested.

Please remember that (1) all copies of the initial trailers must be taken off-screen by January 14, 1999, and (2) all such copies must be returned to Fox or you will not receive the next trailer version for STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE. If you cannot account for all of the trailers which were initially sent to you and, therefore, will not be able to return all of them as requested, please correspond with Exhibitor Services (by either sending an e-mail to XXXXXXXXX@XXX.XXX or faxing a letter to XXX-XXX-XXX) and explain the circumstances under which you are unable to do so.

If you have not already done so, it is imperative that you implement now, and for the future, a procedure in your theatre to monitor and return all trailers sent to you by Fox, including STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE. In addition, we would appreciate your reminding your employees of Fox's policy prohibiting the sale, copying, or other transfer of trailers.

Thank you for your continued efforts in ensuring that our films are properly handled.

Very truly yours,

Bruce Snyder
President, Domestic Distribution

UPDATED 8:50 am CST, 1:50 am EST

Chillic sent in this group shot from USA Today.

You can read the article here.

Ed Bain sent us Day 6, Day 7, and Day 8 of his comic strip about standing in line for Episode 1.

7:50 pm CST

Entertainment Tonight briefly displayed the new pictures from next week's Entertainment Weekly set for stores on Monday. Most of the story concentrated on the other films of 1999.

2:30 pm CST

Earlier today we posted what appeared to be a Pepsi bottle graphic. At the request of the contributor, we have removed the graphic. Sorry for the inconvenience!

We also had a crossed wire in updating last night, so two fan art links were broken. Apologies to the artists! John Shackleford sent a nice poster concept for Episode 1. Timothy Wilson sent a nice pencil drawing of Anakin.

10:10 am CST

ET Online has posted a preview of tonight's show, which includes a brief glimpse of the Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon picture that will appear on the cover of Entertainment Weekly along with a promise of more new Star Wars pictures. We've heard that the Star Wars pic will not be the main cover graphic, but a smaller picture in the corner.

10:00 am CST

I'm a HUGE John Williams fan, so I love hearing about the new soundtrack. A source sent this update in:

Apparently, some of the music around Darth Maul is very low and dark in texture (which seems logical) with some cool low percussion, like steel drums. There is also music for a scene involving a Sith Fighter. I haven't read many spoilers so I don't know if that jibes or not. The music for the Pod Race appears to be very brassy, much like the chariot race in BEN HUR. One piece of music mentions "Darth Sidious" in it's title, which was sort of a spoiler until the Vanity Fair article. Finally, a big battle happens around reel 4, which is about 30-40 minutes into the movie.

9:09 am CST

There's an interesting article from Canada, eh! It's on, appropriately enough to go with the above graphic, the merchandising of Episode 1. You can view it at Ottowa Citizen.

1:09 am CST

There was an on-line chat held tonight with SW author, Dan Wallace. The chat was hosted by LucasFan.com and you should check out the transcript here. Dan was more forthcoming than many others during these chats and shares some great wisdom in preparing for Episode 1.

Dan now knows a lot about Episode 1 having read the entire movie script and Brooks novelization and viewed a multimedia presentation (including storyboards, concept art, CGI animatics and tidbits of finished footage not seen in the trailer) in preparation for his authoring duties. He describes the script as "great, the story is well-written and solid".

His book, "What's What in The Phantom Menace" is a palm-sized mini-hardcover about 100 pages long. The book will cover 50 items divided into five categories: Vehicles, Droids, Equipment, Locations and Creatures. It will be released, along with it's companion "Who's Who in TPM" by Ryder Windham, along with the film at the end of May.

On an encouraging note, Dan says that "many of the interesting bits of Episode One have NEVER appeared in any online form, not that I've seen. There are still secrets."

11:14 pm CST

Somehow, I just had a gut feeling that I should be taping Letterman tonight. I should have "trusted my feelings". Anyhow, Dave was interviewing Conan O'Brien who introduced a clip he'd brought along. A low-budget SW-like opening crawl came on the screen saying something like, "Long ago, Conan wanted to bring David a clip that would really impress everyone... so he brought the Star Wars trailer." This was followed by the action sequences from the trailer, then the TPM logo with Conan appearing over top giving the audience his goofy grin and a "thumbs up!" Very funny!! (Hopefully this clip will appear on Letterman's site tomorrow. If not, if anyone taped it and can digitize the clip, please let me know.)

10:40 pm EST

Amy Pronovost finally finished that painting of several of the Jedi Council members that she started before Christmas. She wanted to get it online before the sketches hit the net, but procrastination and real life got the better of her. You can view the painting here. The colours (Except for the obvious) are speculative only, and if they are close to the real thing, it is a ko-inky-dink. You can also send Amy e-mail.

9:30 pm CST

Ed Bain sent us part two of his comic strip of standing in line for Episode 1. The ever present Steve Sansweet makes another guest appearance. :) You can view it here. To see more of Ed's work, visit our Humor Section. You'll also find a link to his site.

John Shackleford sent a nice poster concept for Episode 1.

JediZarak sent in a concept poster.

Timothy Wilson sent a nice pencil drawing of Anakin.

We've got tons more fan art to post, and it's piling up faster than we can get to it. But never fear, we'll do our best to show off your work. If you'd like to see more, visit our Museum Section.

8:12 pm CST

Readers HOTT and Mark Windu let us know that Entertainment Tonight is advertising that tomorrow's show will reveal new pictures from Episode 1 for the cover of Entertainment Weekly featuring Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Set your VCRs once again... We'll have more on this story later.

1:40 pm CST

NetJedi sent the following:

I was flipping through the channels this morning when I happened to stop at what I believed was the Episode One trailer. The commercial started with the "Every generation has a legend" thing, but with slightly different wording. After a scenes, "You know how it ends" showed up, followed by pictures of what I thought shots of buildings in Theed and Mos Espa. I knew this was different wording from trailer A, so I thought by some miraculous event I was watching trailer B. Then it said something like "Now read how it begins." I was in absolute shock. Could this be a commercial for the Episode One novel by Terry Brooks? Have I somehow time warped to May? The commercial turned out to be an ad for "The Book", a special version of "The Bible." I couldn't believe that this religious commercial was using the Episode One trailer to sell Bibles. The commercial even ended by showing a logo similar to the Episode One logo with the gold letters and the words that flash in. I think it said something like coming April 1999. It turned out that I was watching the 700 Club. Did anybody else see this? Has anybody ever heard of this? I thought I should share this with you because this is a great example of how "The Phantom Menace" will influence everything this year.

UPDATED 11:40 am CST - 10:30 am CST

The February 1999 issue of PREMIERE has an article written by George Lucas in it. No, I'm not kidding. I don't recall Lucas ever writing an article before, but I'm reading it now. The people at PREMIERE were kind enough to fax me a copy, and it's pretty good. It discusses digital effects in film, how it has freed Lucas' imagination, how it will change the industry, and it's limitations. While short on The Phantom Menace news, it does have a great photo of Watto, plain as day. Well, I'm assuming it's good because it's only a black blob in this fax. :) However, the magazine is apparently on shelves now or will be soon. Thanks to PREMIERE for pointing this out. It's a good article straight from the man himself, so you'll want to pick it up.

UPDATE - Sam Davatchi has posted the Watto picture from the article. Worth checking out!

8:30 am CST

Lee Brown from Newsdroid and Sebulba99 both let us know that Decipher has pulled their page which announced information on the Insider's convention in May. Apparently someone jumped the gun in posting the info. As best as I can recall, it noted the following:

Decipher would unveil new Episode 1 products.
Decipher would conduct a gaming tournament.
There would be a full size Naboo Starfighter and X-Wing.
There would be props from both of the films from the Archives.
There would be a Timeline display and a video display.
There would be a special Star Wars Celebration store there that would be the first in the world to sell Episode 1 products.
Rick McCallum, Anthony Daniels, and others would be in attendance.
Decipher creators would also be there.

That's about all I recall. The page was gone from my cache. I'm sure we'll hear more details when they finally figure out what they are doing. It would have been nice to know what was going on a little more than 2 and a half months before it is due to take place. I can't tell you how many people are planning on flying there, and they are simply waiting on ANY info from the organizers before they make reservations.

11:47 pm CST

Dark Horse will be printing four original one-issue Episode 1 tie-ins entitled Anakin, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn and Young Queen for release before and around the film debut. See our comics section for further details.

5:28 pm CST

Naturally, the amount of media coverage is simply going to increase exponentially over the next few months. For now, while it's manageable, we'll try to let you know about some of the better and/or interesting articles that appear.

The Daily Yomiuri, one of Japan's largest English newspapers, has an incredible interview with George Lucas on many topics from his thoughts on entertainment mediums, to morality in films to the late Kurosawa. On Episode 1, George says he's "in the postproduction process. We are going animation, rating the digital characters to be in the movie, and then early next year we start recording the music, and next will be the soundtrack in February and March... I'm involved in everything from the very beginning of creating the story to the very end. I go over every single part of the movie... I usually get into the office around 9:30 a.m. because I take my children to school first, and after I take them to school, I come in to work. I usually work until about 6:30 p.m., then I go home and have dinner with my children, help them with their homework and put them to bed. Then, I have a few minutes for myself and I go to sleep and start all over again." Be sure to check it out! (Thanks for Rick for pointing it out.)

The Calgary Herald picked up on the merchandising summit news, posting an article summarizing the info previously seen here and adding that LFL's Lynne Hale denied the memo came from her company. While that's no surprise, we were impressed with the author's taste in web sites. ;)

Of lesser note, a Belfast Telegraph article was written by someone just discovering Neeson will be appearing in a Star Wars film. (Thanks Nigel.)

8:50 am CST

Matthew Hatton has created an incredible drawing of the battle in the Naboo hangar. It's really cool and you may want to use it for a wallpaper. You can view it on the link below:

He's also done a really impressive painting of Darth Maul. We also want to report his Sydney 2000 picture with appropriate copyrights. Turns out the platypus is the official mascot of the Sydney 2000 Olympics! Very cool!

Michael Hirsch pointed out that Decipher has put up official details about the convention in Denver. Yup, Rick McCallum and Anthony Daniels will be there along with an N-1 fighter, props, and more. Check it out.

8:50 am CST

We got a cover shot of Vanity Fair, but this time the picture doesn't have the words covering it. It's not very big, but it's nice. We're not sure on the origin of it. You can view it here.

David Sundwall pointed us to a good article on CNN discussing the 6 or 9 films business. Worth checking out!

Finally, Ed Bain sent us a hilarious comic strip depicting life in line for Episode 1 with a distinct tip o the hat to Steve Sansweet. You can view it here. For more of Ed's work and a link to his site, visit our Humor Section.

One final note: if you have contributed any fan art to us that we've posted, please contact us once more so we have your e-mail address on record! We've had several convention people, movie poster creators, and magazine publishers interested in some of your work. They want to contact you guys, but boneheadedly, when we post your art we clear out our mail files to make more room. From now on when we post art we'll add addresses, but if you've sent some in the past, please drop us a quick line. (Many addresses are still available in the Museum section, but it's still in need of updating.)

10:10 pm CST

Lincoln of countingdown.com sent us a few tidbits. First, a source from deep inside a bunker at the ranch let him know "there is at least one game planned for the PC and at least one for the N64. The N64 game will have a Pod race to play as well as a cool N-1 fighter to play against the Trade federation. The PC one will also include the Pod race game but the details on it are very tight lipped. Supposedely, the game will allow you to play as Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Qui-Gonn throughout the game."

Second, Lincoln's inside source at the Chinese Mann Theater relayed a direct quote coming from George Lucas to the management of Mann Corporate, "I opened my first Star Wars movie there in 1977 and I feel it would be proper for my new Star Wars movie to open up in the theater that started it all: THE MANN's Chinese Theater." The premiere is set to take place in the first week in May by invitation only. Obviously this was virtually a given, but here is some confirmation.

7:25 pm CST

Some might consider this spoiler material, so highlight the space below to read the text:

Despite their primitive technology, the Gungans have a variety of effective weaponry. These include the previously mentioned "energizer shields" that are powered by generators. The generators shoot red rays into dishes on top of the Faamba's backs, and the shields spread like an umbrella over the troops. Other weapons are power poles that are thrown and slingshots that shoot small balls of energy. Won't kids have fun going home and making their own energy slingshots and shooting small dogs and their little sisters? :) They also have mortars that shoot large energy balls. The balls are dumped into the mortars, they heat up, and fire "energy goo" onto their targets.

That's all for now. More to come!