Fans And The Flap

Delay after delay has caused frustration for those of us waiting to see Fanboys The last release date for the flick was supposed to be in the the middle of January...Still nothing...

The film's distributor The Weinstein Company has been battling the filmmakers over creative issues

Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons:

...Finishing production two years ago, the filmmakers and Harvey Weinstein have been in a fierce struggle over competing versions of the film. The fight came down to intent - the original point of the break-in is because one of the characters is facing cancer and would not live to see 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' in theatres.

The filmmakers wanted that 'comedy with heart', whereas Weinstein wanted more of a teen comedy. So, Harvey hired Producer Shauna Robertson to oversee a $2 million reshoot of four scenes by director Steven Brill ("Drillbit Taylor") which, combined with re-editing, created a version that excised the cancer subplot.Test screenings yielded a minuscule win for the non cancer version, but the producers and real life fanboys were only emboldened by that response. Since then an estimated 300,000 e-mails have pured into the Weinstein Company's offices.

Now the Weinstein's have partially conceded, the company telling The Hollywood Reporter that it will release the two versions on DVD and is "exploring two theatrical versions". The film still has no release date, only a promise that both versions will be available on disc.

Producer Kevin Mann puts the back down due to "avoiding picket lines at 'Superhero ' [Movie] than it was about making a decision about the release of our movie. "Star Wars" fanboy groups remain similarly sceptical and unmoved."

As longtime readers of this blog know, I have been following the release date angle of the film forever but had no idea about the cancer subplot until now...I would say that since there was only a slight preference for the non-cancer version. It's a wash as to having the re-shoots and delays. If Weinstien thought Fanboys should be your typical teen romp then why buy the script in the first place...?

I'm glad the issue been settled for the most part and both versions will be made available...