Has “Fanboys” Killed Its Own Buzz?

Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Staff Journalist)

Have too many cooks spoiled the stew? That would appear to be the case for the much-delayed release of “Fanboys,” once considered one of the most intriguing films of 2007. The movie has been delayed, retooled and re-shot to the point that its lost a lot of its geek street cred and may be one of the biggest disappointments of 2008.

According to Dark Horizons, the Weinstein Company has had extensive re-shoots of the film done. The story, which was set to follow a group of friends on their journey to break into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and steal a copy of “Star Wars: Episode I” for a dying friend to see, has been significantly altered according to reports. The entire plotline about one of the friends having cancer, leading to the need to steal the print of the film so he can see it before he passes away has been dropped entirely.

Weinstein Company is reported to have spent over $2 million to re-shoot and re-edit the film because the cancer plotline wasn’t going over well with test audiences. The studio took away control of the project from director Kyle Newman and brought in “Without a Paddle” director Steve Brill to re-shoot and re-edit the film. Newman has been removed from the project entirely according to reports.

Both versions of the film have been shown to test audiences, according to Cinematical, with the new version not scoring much higher with test audiences than the original. But reports have it that Weinstein is determined to release its new version in the theaters to justify the extra expense for the film.

The news has not set well with the fans who were anticipating this film. And, to make matters worse, there is still no official word out yet on if or when “Fanboys” will make it to the big-screen.

Now it would appear that those of us wanting to see the original version will have to wait and hope that it will be seen as a part of any special edition on DVD.