Supressed "Fanboys" Movie May Get a Release After All

Graeme McMillan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:30:48 PDT

Apparently, fan karma is in full swing right now. Following the second cancellation of Jericho despite attempts by fans to sway CBS, the nerds win one with the news that the original version of Fanboys, complete with dying-nerd subplot, will see the light of day after all as a result of fan activity, boycotts and... well, name-calling.

Despite news that the movie - originally completed two years ago, but subject to controversial re-shoots last year - will now be released in two different versions on DVD (with nerd dying of cancer) and theatrically (without the cancer), the (original) filmmakers aren't convinced of the studio's good intent. Producer Kevin Mann says that the studio is just trying to persuade fans not to boycott their other geek-friendly movie in protest:

This is more about avoiding picket lines at 'Superhero [Movie]' than it was about making a decision about the release of our movie.

If the opposite is true, however, and the Weinstein Co. really has been forced to change its mind due to the fans' efforts, then maybe we should all take a leaf from their book and see what kind of protest can change the world. Says Hollywood Reporter:

Faced with a grass-roots boycott of its films, bicoastal protests at screenings of its Friday opener "Superhero Movie" and a campaign calling its co-chairman "Darth Weinstein," the Weinstein Co. said Monday that it now plans to release two versions of "Fanboys."

You just know that whole Darth thing was the tipping point, don't you? Movie moguls hate it when you don't say that they're The Emperor.

Fans press Weinstein on 'Fanboys' [Hollywood Reporter]

Judd Apatow Thinks Fanboys Can't Handle Cancer

grae — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:40:02 PST

Will long-awaited feelgood nerd movie Fanboys find itself swallowed by the Judd Apatow comedy juggernaut? That's the rumor doing the rounds right now, according to Ain't It Cool. The movie - which stars Heroes' Kristen Bell and features cameos from a slumming-it Carrie Fisher and a grateful for the paycheck Billy Dee Williams - centers around five friends in the nineties breaking into Skywalker Ranch to steal a pre-release print of The Phantom Menace for a dying friend... or, at least, it did before test audiences decided that they didn't like that whole "dying friend" thing.

Enter Shauna Robertson, Judd Apatow's producing partner, who's been brought in by studio boss Harvey Weinstein to make the movie more palatable to audiences. And according to the AIC post, that makes it less palatable to those closest to its heart:

Apparently the Apatow people have done research which says most people won't laugh for 5 or 10 minutes after cancer is mentioned so they want to do away with the entire cancer subplot and I've heard they have a version which edited out the entire cancer plot. This means it's just a group of punk kids breaking into Skywalker Ranch to steal a movie to see it before it comes out. Why would I root for these kids to steal the film, if the noble reason for doing it is gone?

Considering Andy's action figure collection in The 40 Year Old Virgin, it's not as if sympathy for the geek is an unknown quality to Robertson, but time and more test audiences will tell whether this ends up more Walk Hard than Knocked Up.

The Weinsteins effing the f out of FANBOYS?!? [Aint It Cool.com]

io9: Fanboys

Supressed "Fanboys" Movie May Get a Release After All

Judd Apatow Thinks Fanboys Can't Handle Cancer