The day many have waited for is approaching. Since the beginning of April queues have been forming outside Los Angeles’ famous Chinese Theatre for premiere tickets for Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones and in the UK, the movie has already made more than £100,000 in advance tickets sales.
On May 16, fans around the world will get their first chance to find out just how the young Anakin Skywalker became the malefic Darth Vader of the original trilogy. It might face stiff competition from Spider-Man two weeks before – and from Goldmember and the Tom Cruise/Steven Spielberg blockbuster Minority Report in the weeks after – Clones is the surest bet of the summer.
Although the first installment of the new trilogy, The Phantom Menace earned $431 million at the US box office alone – behind only Titanic, the original Star Wars, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in the lineup of all-time top grossers – it was attacked for a weak plot, stereotypical characters, and over-reliance on computer effects. Both Star Wars creator George Lucas and Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor recently admitted that it was a disappointment.
But George has promised to bounce back with a vengeance with the new film. Set prior to the original Star Wars film, which came out in 1977, this time the Anakin/Darth Vader fable gets to the middle, the meat, the real story. Now we get to see young Jedi Knight Anakin – played by Canadian dish Hayden Christiansen – as a young man with superior skills and even higher ambitions, chafing under the tutelage of his mighty mentor Obi-Wan, and falling into a reckless romance with Senator Padme Amidala, played by Natalie Portman. All this before his tragic fall to the dark side of the force and transformation into Darth Vader.
In a recent interview, 31-year-old Ewan said the new film was “much better”. “I think there’s more humor and there’s much more color,” he continued. “It’s more reminiscent of the original three Star Wars films than The Phantom Menace was.” And George, who will turn 58 two days before his creation premieres, said last week Clones would have a “darker feel, closer to the original saga” and “no silly characters or kids”.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Ewan MacGregor portrays the young Obi-Wan Kenobi - a role played by Sir Alec Guiness in the first trilogy - and said recently that Attack Of The Clones was "more remiscent of the original three Star Wars films than Episode I was"
Photo: © Alphapress.com
The new film depicts Anakin Skywalker's romance with Senator Padme Amidala and the beginnings of his fall as he is gradually seduced over to the dark side
Photo: © Alphapress.com
The first three Star Wars installments - Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return Of The Jedi (1983) - remain to this day in the top ten most successful films of all time
