Club Jade

Mystery Man on Film devoted yesterday to a repost that I’m pretty sure I linked before… But it’s still worth a second look. The premise, if you will:

Let it be said, my friends, that the early drafts of Star Wars should be a rich source of encouragement to every aspiring screenwriter the world over – because they royally sucked.

And they do. One example: Annikin Starkiller punches the princess in the face. Sure, she’s a hell of a lot more Vespa than Leia at this point, but… In the face. Oh George, no.

Read on for a compare and contrast of the scripts from 1974 and 1977. The difference is nothing short of amazing.

If your trainwreck syndrome is strong, you can find many of the early drafts at the Jedi Bendu Script Site.

First up, nineteen pages of production notes, with lots of pictures and video clips from the belly of the beast. Then we have a look at the ‘One’ advertising campaign, and their ten favorite Phantom Menace posters. (I still say that teaser is one of the best posters for any of the movies.)

Over on Twitter, @starwars is soliciting fan memories.

Meanwhile, don’t forget our own TPM poll!

Entertainment Weekly‘s Popwatch points towards a new site co-founded by the actress, MakingOf. The site goes behind the scenes with a variety of filmmaking insiders and looks at upcoming films. It only launched last week, so there’s not much yet, but they do have interviews with Ron Howard and Portman herself.

I think I remember reading this back in 2005, but it’s worth a second look – Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz on another ending for Return of the Jedi – one that leads into another episode where Luke and Leia aren’t siblings.

This is airing tonight on MTV’s Spoilers program. (via)

You can watch all the Spoilers segments on MTV.com.

First The Force Unleashed, now The Holiday Special? How many fans does Vanity Fair have over there? (It is by the same writer, contributing editor Frank DiGiacomo. He even mentioned the Wookieepedia back in May.) That said, the article is a pretty interesting look at the special’s development and production.

 
The only video Adult Swim has on their site for Robot Chicken Star Wars II! Curses! Well, at least we can watch an Ackbar scene at StarWars.com.

So if last week StarWars.com was celebrating the Millennium Falcon, this week’s pet topic seems to be aliens: Cantina roll-call (originally published on the site back in 2003,) alien collectibles (Hyperspace,) and an old drunk driving PSA.

This morning, StarWars.com takes Hyperspace members back to the making of The Empire Strikes Back with The Last Corellian Shipyard, an article reprinted from the UK Star Wars magazine (at least if Wookieepedia is to be believed) on the the full sized Falcon set built for The Empire Strikes Back by actual shipbuilders in Wales.

For those without Hyperspace, your consolation prize is a look back at the Falcon in video games.

StarWars.com has interviews with voice actors Tom Kane (Yoda) and James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan and Plo Koon,) as well as new databank entries on King Katuunko, Rugosa and the Twilight.

You also might want to check out this look behind-the-scenes from Animation World, plus additional reviews from Wired and Slate. (UPDATE: io9)