boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (08/02/84)
From CINEFANTASTIQUE, Vol. 14 #4/5, September 1984 (reprinted w/o permission):
STAR WARS IV: ROCK & ROLL INSPIRED
After wrapping up work on INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, director
Steven Spielberg and producer Frank Marshall began scouting locations for the
next installment of George Lucas' STAR WARS saga, which Spielberg will direct.
Filming begins this September in Hollywood, a shift from the series' tradi-
tional production base at London's Pinewood Studios. Lucasfilm producer Howard
Kazanjian is said to have insisted on the move for the film, to be titled either
THE OLD REPUBLIC or THE CLONE WARS. Effects will feature ILM's version of the
kind of computer-animated spaceships developed first by rival expert John Whit-
ney, Jr., on view now in Universal's THE LAST STARFIGHTER.
Lucas was widely quoted when RETURN OF THE JEDI was released last year that
he would swear off involvement with the series to take a much-needed rest. Rock
star Linda Ronstadt is said to have rekindled Lucas' interest in STAR WARS. The
couple has been linked romantically in the press. Ronstadt starred in Univer-
sal's version of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE last year. When asked whether Ronstadt
would appear in the new STAR WARS film or provide songs, sources close to Lucas-
film smiled broadly, but kept mum.
********************
BTW, this issue of CINEFANTASTIQUE has 32 pages worth of material on the forth-
coming DUNE film. One might be dubious about the fact that it's a "diary" of the
production written by Paul Sammon, the publicist for the film (if any of you saw
a presentation of the film at an sf convention, it was most likely Sammon doing
it), but it's information presented is worthwhile, and it's chock full of nice
production photos. So, if you want to see the designs for the Guild Navigators,
or an H.R. Giger (ALIEN) painting of a sandworm for the aborted Jodorowsky DUNE
production, this is where to go. It's an expensive magazine (this double-sized
issue, 112 pages, costs $8.95), but if you're really interested in sf/fantasy
films, it's worth it.
--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA)
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ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPAmoriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (08/06/84)
Not being a standard reader of CINEFANTASTIQUE (in fact, I hear nasty
comments about them from a lot of filmakers), how reliable is this
information? The news itself is incredible, but hearing that Spielberg is
involved, and digital animation....
Never thought I'd ever have anything nice to say about Linda Rondstadt!
"This looks like a job for BICYCLE REPAIRMAN!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
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{allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAtd@alice.UUCP (Tom Duff) (08/08/84)
When I heard that this rumor had started at Cinefantastique, I discounted it immediately. This publication has an unaccountable grudge against Lucasfilm, and anything they say is suspect. Nevertheless, I checked the rumor out with two independent sources at Lucasfilm. While neither source is an ultimate authority (i.e. not George or Steven), both were people in positions where I would expect them to have definitive knowledge. Both sources denied any knowledge of any planned SW production. Neither could state certainly that a production would not be undertaken in the future, but for the moment it appears that nothing is in the works. (Note that neither source said that no SW movie was in the works, only that they knew of none. Presumably this doesn't include the already announced Ewok TV movie, due for broadcast in November.)