'Star Wars' Fans Undaunted by Reviews
- Thread starter AmShak
- Start date
'Star Wars' Fans Undaunted by Reviews
By Anthony Breznican
AP Entertainment Writer
Tuesday, May 14, 2002; 9:25 AM
LOS ANGELES –– Call it a Jedi jones, a Force fixation, a Yoda yearning, a Clone compulsion.
"Star Wars" fans are in a prequel-induced frenzy undiminished by some negative reviews and competition from the box-office smash "Spider-Man."
"Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" opens Thursday, the fifth film in the sci-fi series and the second follow-up to the original "Star Wars" trilogy. The first prequel, "The Phantom Menace," came out in 1999.
"I've waited three years and, my gosh, it's finally here," said Lorela Mendoza, 25, of Glendale, Calif., who bought tickets to see the new film four times on opening day. "Each time you see the movie, it's always going to be different, and you wouldn't believe how many times I've seen the original trilogy."
Advance-ticket sales have been brisk, but the movie comes on the heels of "Spider-Man," which grossed an estimated $223.6 million in a record-shattering 10 days.
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas said he doesn't expect his movie's first weekend to match "Spider-Man's," but he does believe "Clones" will do well in the long run.
"It's not a contest," Lucas said. "It's an art form ... In the end, I think we'll do fine. And whether we beat 'Spider-Man' or not beat 'Spider-Man' is irrelevant."
"Clones" is being distributed more narrowly: "Spider-Man" debuted on about 7,500 screens while the "Star Wars" film will be on about 5,800 because Lucas would exhibit it only in state-of-the-art theaters.
While "Spider-Man" won generally favorable reviews, early reviews for "Clones" from top critics have been on the Dark Side.
The New York Times' A.O. Scott panned it as "a chance for gifted actors to be handsomely paid for delivering the worst line-readings of their careers." Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert ranked "Clones" as a two-star film whose characters talk so flatly "they seem more like lawyers than the heroes of a romantic fantasy." And The Associated Press' Christy Lemire said Lucas "still fails to recapture the fun and adventure that infused the original trilogy."
But negative reviews aren't expected to dissuade moviegoers much.
Some fans plan to show up in costume carrying light sabers, while others are busy collecting "Attack of the Clones" merchandise. A handful of devotees have waited for weeks outside theaters to be the first to get tickets and seats.
Early ticket sales last week were split about evenly between "Clones" and "Spider-Man," officials at Fandango.com said. The company does not disclose sales figures.
AOL Moviephone reported selling nearly 100,000 "Clones" tickets in less than a week, and many of its showtimes in major cities have already sold out.
One employment agency, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., estimated that 2.6 million people would skip work to attend the film's debut.
© 2002 The Associated Press
By Anthony Breznican
AP Entertainment Writer
Tuesday, May 14, 2002; 9:25 AM
LOS ANGELES –– Call it a Jedi jones, a Force fixation, a Yoda yearning, a Clone compulsion.
"Star Wars" fans are in a prequel-induced frenzy undiminished by some negative reviews and competition from the box-office smash "Spider-Man."
"Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones" opens Thursday, the fifth film in the sci-fi series and the second follow-up to the original "Star Wars" trilogy. The first prequel, "The Phantom Menace," came out in 1999.
"I've waited three years and, my gosh, it's finally here," said Lorela Mendoza, 25, of Glendale, Calif., who bought tickets to see the new film four times on opening day. "Each time you see the movie, it's always going to be different, and you wouldn't believe how many times I've seen the original trilogy."
Advance-ticket sales have been brisk, but the movie comes on the heels of "Spider-Man," which grossed an estimated $223.6 million in a record-shattering 10 days.
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas said he doesn't expect his movie's first weekend to match "Spider-Man's," but he does believe "Clones" will do well in the long run.
"It's not a contest," Lucas said. "It's an art form ... In the end, I think we'll do fine. And whether we beat 'Spider-Man' or not beat 'Spider-Man' is irrelevant."
"Clones" is being distributed more narrowly: "Spider-Man" debuted on about 7,500 screens while the "Star Wars" film will be on about 5,800 because Lucas would exhibit it only in state-of-the-art theaters.
While "Spider-Man" won generally favorable reviews, early reviews for "Clones" from top critics have been on the Dark Side.
The New York Times' A.O. Scott panned it as "a chance for gifted actors to be handsomely paid for delivering the worst line-readings of their careers." Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert ranked "Clones" as a two-star film whose characters talk so flatly "they seem more like lawyers than the heroes of a romantic fantasy." And The Associated Press' Christy Lemire said Lucas "still fails to recapture the fun and adventure that infused the original trilogy."
But negative reviews aren't expected to dissuade moviegoers much.
Some fans plan to show up in costume carrying light sabers, while others are busy collecting "Attack of the Clones" merchandise. A handful of devotees have waited for weeks outside theaters to be the first to get tickets and seats.
Early ticket sales last week were split about evenly between "Clones" and "Spider-Man," officials at Fandango.com said. The company does not disclose sales figures.
AOL Moviephone reported selling nearly 100,000 "Clones" tickets in less than a week, and many of its showtimes in major cities have already sold out.
One employment agency, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., estimated that 2.6 million people would skip work to attend the film's debut.
© 2002 The Associated Press