The Force Approaches

Posted Thursday, May 2, 2002 at 9:35 AM Central

by John Couture

While it's certainly not enjoying the "once in a lifetime" event status that Phantom Menace had, the buzz is starting to pick up for Star Wars: Episode II-Attack Of The Clones. Clones won't hit theaters until May 16th, but the airwaves are already being hit hard in an ambush campaign designed to downplay the opening of this Summer's other big movie Spider-Man, set to debut in theaters tomorrow.

George Lucas isn't going for overkill this time, staying away from fast food and soft drink tie-ins, preferring instead to tease the eye with quick TV spots. There are 12 TV spots altogether. Seven of these spots revolve around the main characters (Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala, Jango Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Artoo Detoo, and Clone Troopers), while the other five focus on the many storylines in the movie.

It was announced that only 19 cinemas in the United States will project Attack Of The Clones in its original digital format. Lucas shot the entire movie with a special, enhanced digital camera with the hopes that theaters would upgrade their theaters. Lucas has repeatedly declared that only those theaters with digital projectors will be allowed to show Episode III. Theaters without digital projectors will get reel-to-reel copies of Episode II on May 16th.