'Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones' Pre-release Phenomenon
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Let’s go back in time; the year is 2002. The Xbox is challenging the PlayStation 2, Family Guy has just ended its first run, and the next Star Wars movie is on its way. Much like its predecessor, the hype for Episode II: Attack of the Clones was massive, spawning merchandise and tie-ins. As a follow-up to our article about The Phantom Menace, it's time to take a look back at what it would have been like to live through this phenomenon by going over all the hype at once. With our source, we’re hoping to give our readers a glimpse into this time and place.
In the wake of the release of Episode I, fan sites began spreading rumors about Episode II. Typically heard from a friend or someone on the playground, these rumors often had little basis in what the true Episode II would become, with most typically speculating about the Clone Wars, which was still just a briefly mentioned background element from Episode IV. Of course, we can’t help but bring how ‘NSync was almost in the movie as cameos (for real), but they got cut. This inspired a Saturday Night Live sketch, and you can probably guess the initial reaction to that wasn’t very good.
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Image Source: Star Wars.com
Principal photography for Episode II would begin in the summer of 2000, at Fox Studios Sydney (now Disney Studios Sydney). The Star Wars website would begin uploading behind the stills from the filming, under the title “Star Wars Selects”. This offered a glimpse into characters and scenes before they appeared on the big screen. This would soon be followed by a series of web shorts starring Ahmed Best, giving interviews with the cast and crew of Episode II. The series, running from August to February, would offer viewers another insight into production.
After that, the official website would release more webisodes about the production in 2001. Compared to Best’s interviews, these videos were more professional, focusing more on various aspects like filming, props, casting, and special effects. It is here that viewers could see Temuera Morrison in the Jango suit and Samuel L. Jackson asking for his purple lightsaber. This would quickly be followed by the official reveal of the official title, Attack of the Clones, alongside the teaser trailer that played in front of the Disney/Pixar film Monster Inc in November of that year. With that, the hype machine entered its next phase, with promotional posters.
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Of course, with the hype comes the merchandise. Several toys were once again released to tie into Episode II. These included board and card games, a lightsaber game built into a lightsaber shape, a water maze, star fighters and beasts, and of course the action figures. Unlike the previous movie, there was no dedicated line for Episode II action figures; instead, most were released as part of the Star Wars: Sagas line, which also included figures from the original trilogy. LEGO also released several sets based on scenes, characters and vehicles from the upcoming movie, continuing that long running partnership. And of course, there were other merchandise and brand partnerships as well.
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones was released on May 16, 2002, a week after Spider-Man. This release was supplemented by various books such as the prequel The Approaching Storm, the Boba Fett trilogy, and junior and adult novelizations of the film. Dark Horse released comic tie-ins, including the movie adaptation Jango Fett: Open Seasons and Jedi. LucasArts also had several tie-in games, including Star Wars Bounty Hunter, Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns, the GBA Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, Jedi Starfighter and The New Droid Army.
Image Source: Barnes and Noble
November of that year would see the release of Episode II on home video. The DVD came back with bonus features like the aforementioned behind-the-scenes videos, and the VHS came with the Star Wars connections featurette, which summarized the story up to Episode II (with an obvious gap where Episode III would be). As 2002 gave way to 2003, the Clone Wars multimedia project launched, seeking to bridge the gap in movies by telling the Clone Wars stories in real time, with comics, novels and, of course, the Clone Wars microseries on Cartoon Network. Clone Wars would also have its action figures, one in a realistic style, and another in the style of the microseries.
The Clone Wars would continue for another two years, but every saga has its end, and that’s where we’re going next.
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