Driven by passion, friendship and the power of the Force, four buddies hit the road in search of a galaxy far, far away in Fanboys. This raucous road trip comedy fueled by heart and an untainted love of the greatest movie saga of all time, Fanboys follows a group of Star Wars fans as they hilariously attempt the impossible. Their mad plan: to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch to see The Phantom Menace a full six months before its worldwide release.
The Fanboys DVD -- which is available on StarwarsShop.com with a special edition Fanboys comic -- comes loaded with special features including:
- Deleted Scenes
- Commentary with the Cast and Crew
- The Truth about Fanboys
- Star Wars Parallel
- Four Fanboys and One Fangirl
- The Choreography
- Disturbances in the Force: A Series of Webisodes
Commentary is always a great outlet for filmmakers to discuss their process and have some fun recalling stories on the set. For the Fanboys DVD, what kind of commentary can fans expect?
The commentary includes myself, the writers Ernie Cline and Adam F. Goldberg, and the actors Dan Fogler, Sam Huntington and Kristen Bell. It's a really fun commentary. It's a good mix of facts, behind the scene stories and Easter eggs. It's a good glimpse of what it was like to make the film just by hearing everyone's camaraderie and the joking around. It's very anecdotal as well with a really good Billie Dee Williams story on there, as well as Carrie Fisher stuff. It's a little bit of everything. It's not your traditional commentary, which is what makes it fun.
We also recorded an alternate commentary with the Force-Cast. It has myself, Ernie and the Force-Cast hosts Jason and Jimmy. This downloadable commentary includes commentary for the deleted scenes as well.
What is "The Truth about Fanboys" special feature on the DVD? Does that cover the controversy with the Weinstein Company re-cutting the film?
That feature explains what a fanboy is. We don't get into the Weinstein stuff in the DVD. I am putting together a making of Fanboys book with Ernie though. There was so much that had to be cut out of the movie, and so many things that people never got to see like the detail and design of the sets, and how much fan involvement there was in the film. That will visually document comments from myself, the cast, the writers and the producers.
When are you hoping to get your Fanboys book done?
We're working on it now with our production designer Cory Lorenzen, so he has a wealth of all the stuff he designed that you never really saw or was in the background, like the Wookiee pelt bed and Hutch's carriage house, so it's really involved.
In the "Four Fanboys and One Fangirl" feature, does the cast have a chance to really talk about their characters?
Yeah, the main cast talks about who they're playing, as well as some of the other actors talking about their relationships with each other in the movie.
What does the "Star Wars Parallel" feature cover?
That explains how some of the scenes in Fanboys mirror scenes in the classic Star Wars films, like the trash compactor scene.
What are some of the deleted scenes included on the DVD?
There's an alternate scene with William Katt as the security head. There's also a Big Chuck commercial; and a 6-fingered man scene. There's a deleted scene with me dressed as Yoda standing in the line for The Phantom Menace at the end of the movie. I'm an angry fan in the scene because everyone keeps cutting in front of me as the main characters join each other in line. There's also a great scene that was intended to be for the end credits so you could leave the theater on a positive note. All the guys are in the van playing "Would You Rather?" and definitely pushes the boundaries of PG-13. And then the scene ends with them all singing their version of the Ewok song.
Out of all the special features on the DVD, which one is your favorite?
I think the commentary is really great. It shows how much fun we had making the movie, and how much people cared about the movie. It's fun to get everyone together again after a few years and talk about it.
Since a lot of fans didn't get the chance to see Fanboys in the theater, being on DVD could end up making it a cult classic like Office Space or Donnie Darko which also didn't do well in theaters but gained recognition by word of mouth later.
Well, Fanboys was the most illegally downloaded movie for the past week and a half -- which beat out Wolverine and Star Trek. (laughs) At this point, I just want people to see this movie. Just from the fan reaction I've seen, people are really enjoying it. And that's exciting to me.
Fanboys DVD is available on StarwarsShop.com with a special edition Fanboys comic.
