'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith' Pre-release Phenomenon
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Let’s go back in time; the Year is 2005. Family Guy is back on the air, Germany has a female chancellor, YouTube is now online, and Anakin Skywalker’s saga has come to a climatic end. Readers know the drill by now; Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was released alongside a ton of hype and merchandise. Since this is the end of the prequel trilogy, this is the end of our lookback series on them. Join us and our source one last time, as we remind older readers of this time of their lives and show it off to younger readers.
Speculation and rumors were unsurprisingly a part of this. This time, the main rumors focused on the destruction of the Jedi, the end of the Clone Wars, and how everything would establish the status quo of Episode IV. Many of these plot points were known, though none of the details were. What happened to Count Dooku and Mace Windu, for instance, was the target of such speculation. One rumor, Mace being killed by a young Boba Fett, was actually close to a planned plot point, but it was dropped and recycled for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
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Filming for Episode III was underway at Fox Studios Sydney (now Disney Studios Sydney) from summer 2003. As with Episode II, the official Star Wars website offered visitors a glimpse into production, but this time a Hyperspace membership was required in order to access it. Those who paid received access to the onset webcam, which updated every 20 seconds. This enabled them to see pre-effects shots of the movie. In addition, more webisodes were released about the making of the movie, showcasing the development of Anakin’s new look and General Grievous, the new villain who would be appearing in the movie.
During production, the Clone Wars multimedia project was also underway. It sought to tell the titular conflict through real time via books, comics and the micro-series. General Grievous would debut in Season 2 of the microseries, while the Episode III designs would be rolled out across the various interactions of the project. Star Wars: Battlefront would feature Kashyyyk as a map, giving players a glimpse at a scene from the movie. Around this time, the entire script for the film would leak online, giving some spoilers for the film (and we don’t mean, “Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader”).
Image Source: The Future of the Force
The first trailer for Revenge of the Sith launched on November 5, 2004. This sparked a tone of posters, many of which focused on Darth Vader, alongside a host of promotional stills. LucasArts, meanwhile, was continuing to produce video game tie-ins. Star Wars: Republic Commando would release in February 2005, with its final level on Kashyyyk tying into the events of the movie. LEGO Star Wars would launch next year, featuring LEGO-fied adaptations of the prequels that enabled players to experience Episode III before its release. In April, Lucasfilm would host the third Star Wars Celebration in Indianapolis, where Lucas announced Star Wars: The Clone Wars (not to be confused with the Clone Wars microseries) and Star Wars Underworld (which was never released).
Toys and merchandise for Episode III would go on sale shortly afterwards, causing “Midnight Madness”. After a lengthy media circuit, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith would see ten premieres on May 12, 2005 before the widespread release on May 19. Alongside this, the toy and merchandise continued. This included action figures, vehicles, play sets, the Galactic Heroes and Battlers figures, and of course a selection of LEGO sets, which actually moved away from the yellow skin and added more detail, alongside a tie-in animation: Revenge of the Brick.
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Of course, figures weren’t the only merchandise; we also had several other toys, including a voice changing Darth Vader helmet, Anakin’s color changing lightsaber, a build-your-own Ultimate Lightsaber, the Attacktix battle figure game, and Burger King Kids Meal toys. Burger King also had a longer tie-in campaign that included watches. Diet Pepsi, Cheetos and Kellogg’s also had their own tie-ins, including glow-in-the-dark spoons for the latter. M&M’s introduced a Dark Chocolate flavor for the movie, while Skittles had a tie-in web game, The Hunt for General Grievous, among other tie-ins.
Dark Horse comics would release a tie-in comic for Revenge of the Sith, while its other prequel era lines would take place during and after the movies, portraying the Dark Times and the Jedi Purge. A prequel novel, Labyrinth of Evil, would be published, alongside an adaptation of the movie, considered one of the best Star Wars novels in general. A third novel, Dark Lord: the Rise of Darth Vader, would serve as a sequel to the events of the movie. LucasArts published a Revenge of the Sith game two weeks before the movie, offering players another glimpse into the story, while Battlefront 2 would emphasize Episode III in its new maps and story.
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Episode III would be released on DVD in November 1, 2005, and on VHS the previous month exclusively in Europe. The DVD came with bonus features and deleted scenes, while the VHS was one of the last of its kind released.
With that, this saga is now complete. We shall return to the unknown regions of the internet.
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