credit Photo: Dan Winters
Ernie Cline, who gained fame on the poetry slam scene for his http://www.ernestcline.com/spokenword/ incredibly geeky spoken word monologues, poses with members of the 501st Legion and Stormtroopers. Cline wrote the script for the ultimate Star Wars fan film, and members of the 501st helped Cline get his vision filmed.
credit Photo: Susan Somers-Willett
Cline poses in front of the van used in his upcoming movie, Fanboys, which follows geeks on a road trip from Ohio to Skywalker Ranch in California who want to get a sneak peek at Star Wars: Episode One — Phantom Menace before it appears in theaters. The car’s dashboard is covered in fur in honor of Chewbacca.
credit Photo: Susan Somers-Willett
The interior walls of the van have been decorated with the first four series of Topps Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope cards from 1977 and 1978, and the sides have been painted with Aurebesh text, the Mandalorian symbol, and a mural reminiscent of the classic movie poster of Luke with Leia at his feet.
credit Photo: John Estes
From left to right, the lead characters in Fanboys: Windows (Jay Baruchel), Zoe (Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars), Hutch (Dan Fogler), and Linus (Chris Marquette).
credit Photo: Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
In a park in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Cline and Shappy Seasholtz, a freind of his from the National Poetry Slam scene, battle to the death with weapons known as lirpas. They play quintessential Trekkies in Fanboys.
credit Photo: John Estes
The movie’s production designer, Cory Lorenzen, was working on a shoestring budget but still managed to perfectly re-create the Death Star trash compactor set from Star Wars, matching the original in scale and details, including the symbols next to the exit sign.
credit Photo: John Estes
The fanboys Linus (Chris Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler), and Eric (Sam Huntington from Superman Returns) bang on the window of a coffee shop called Java the Hutt.
This copyright-infringing Photoshop job is a call to arms from the rebel alliance movement known as Stop Darth Weinstein. Some Fanboys fans are up in arms about proposed changes to Cline’s script. The Weinstein Company, which produced the film, brought in another director to reshoot various scenes. A new version of the film with a different impetus for the cross-country trip has been screened for test audiences. In a protest of the changes, some fans are calling on geeks everywhere to boycott other Weinstein Company films.
