KyleNewman Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Okay, whatever, so the Fanboys premiere is, like, soooo last week, but a friend just pointed me toward this pretty cool video from the evening and I thought you folks might want to check it out. Very rarely do I wish to be in Los Angeles (as someone who grew up in NYC, I'm afraid I'd literally melt if I spent too much time over there), but this premiere -- with its stormtroopers, Jedi knights and good vibes -- looked like a whole lotta fun. And as someone who's followed the uncomfortable three-or-so-year journey this film has taken on its way to the big screen, watching video of the actual premiere was pretty neat.

Our peeps over at Gen Art hosted the premiere, post-screening Q&A and after party, and you'll be able to check out brief snippets of it all below. On hand were Fanboys director Kyle Newman, his lovely wife Jaime King, Sam Huntington, Dan Fogler, Kristen Bell and Chris Marquette. And since you're probably wondering when Fanboys will be arriving in a city near you (it's currently screening in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Austin), then I'm happy to say that on February 20 the film will be expanding to Boston, Washington DC, Detroit, Atlanta, Denver, New Haven, Orlando, Phoenix, Columbus, OH and Raleigh , NC. So keep and eye out, fanboys (and girls).


Fanboys premiere hosted by Gen Art & The Weinstein Company from Gen Art Film on Vimeo.

(We're reposting our SDCC review of Fanboys to coincide with the film's theatrical release this weekend)

By: Scott Weinberg

Considering how much trouble Kyle Newman's Fanboys has withstood in its travels to the multiplexes, I pretty much expected the flick to be an amiable mess. It's been widely reported that the comedy was plagued by multiple reshoots, numerous release date changes, and a producer who (at least temporarily) wanted to suck the heart and soul right out of the flick. So as I walked into an early preview of Fanboys at San Diego Comic-Con, I was hopeful -- but frankly I wasn't expecting a big winner. But hey, aside from a few flat stretches here and there, Fanboys actually has a lot to offer: Strong chemistry among four funny young actors, a "road trip" conceit that flows along quite smoothly, and more Star Wars references than you hardcore geeks will know what to do with. So what I expected to be a big fat mess of a movie turned out to be pretty dang fun -- quadruply so if you happen to be a Star Wars fanatic.

Today is a day for celebration, since it seems director Kyle Newman has finally washed the Weinstein stench off him and landed another gig! The Hollywood Reporter tells us Newman will direct an adaptation of the cult comic book Emo Boy, which is described (in tone) as being like Napoleon Dynamite, Harold and Maude and Zoolander. From the Amazon description: "Poor Emo Boy- he's unpopular. Unloved. He has no family. Not only does he need to deal with things like pondering suicide and questioning his sexual identity, but on top of that he's got these emo super powers that only seem to bring destruction and disaster, causing everyone to hate him more than they already do. His first love suffers a head explosion, the football team wants him dead, and he got an F in English. No wonder he's so depressed!'

Sounds perfect for Newman, who previously helmed the geek-tastic comedy Fanboys (which is finally set to arrive in theaters on February 6), and almost directed a Revenge of the Nerds remake before that sucker was shut down. I had the pleasure of hanging with Newman and his totally hottie wife Jaime King at Comic Con this past July, and they're both incredibly geeky and very much dedicated to churning out fun flicks. King plays a pretty funny part in Fanboys, and I'm sure she'll show up in some capacity for Emo Boy. No word on production or release date, though hopefully we won't have to wait five years to see it.

Considering how much trouble Kyle Newman's Fanboys has withstood in its travels to the multiplexes, I pretty much expected the flick to be an amiable mess. It's been widely reported that the comedy was plagued by multiple reshoots, numerous release date changes, and a producer who (at least temporarily) wanted to suck the heart and soul right out of the flick. So as I walked into an early preview of Fanboys at San Diego Comic-Con, I was hopeful -- but frankly I wasn't expecting a big winner. But hey, aside from a few flat stretches here and there, Fanboys actually has a lot to offer: Strong chemistry among four funny young actors, a "road trip" conceit that flows along quite smoothly, and more Star Wars references than you hardcore geeks will know what to do with. So what I expected to be a big fat mess of a movie turned out to be pretty dang fun -- quadruply so if you happen to be a Star Wars fanatic.

The story is as simple as a road movie needs: Inspired by the unfortunate news that one of their pals is dying of cancer, three hardcore Star Wars geeks decide to travel from Ohio to California, break into Skywalker Ranch, and steal an early print of The Phantom Menace, which isn't due to hit theaters for another six months. (Yes, Fanboys is a period piece: It takes place in 1998.) Sure, that's a pretty broad and silly idea on which to hang a whole movie -- but Fanboys isn't really about logical actions and realistic adventures: It's about four Lucas disciples who get into a series of odd misadventures as they trek* across the country to steal themselves some Star Wars.

(* One of the movie's funniest subplots involves an ongoing war between our Star Wars fanboys, and a nasty group of mega-Trekkies -- the most obnoxious one played by a nearly unrecognizable Seth Rogen. As usual, Rogen steals a handful of scenes without breaking a sweat.)

... and, ya know, it's pretty darn adorable.

Last night a special screening of Fanboys was held here in San Diego, and Cinematical was on hand to witness what producer Kevin Spacey (in attendance) called "the third annual screening of Fanboys -- next year, we're going to series!" Director Kyle Newman and writer Adam Goldberg were there -- as well as an assorted number of suits, one imagines -- and they were met by a packed house of nutty Star Wars fans. The theater had absolutely no air conditioning and it was standing room only, so you can understand these weren't ideal screening conditions. Nevertheless, the first words started scrolling up ... and the folks in attendance ate up every minute of the film from then on out.

Opening in theaters (either wide or in limited release -- Weinstein hasn't decided yet) on September 19 (a date announced by Newman last night), this is apparently the final cut of Fanboys. I won't go into the whole two-year-labor-of-love thing because Scott still needs to swing by here and throw out his review. I will say, though, that this is not just a film for Star Wars fans -- it's a film for any geeky dude or dudette who's ever horsed around with their friends, gone on a nutty adventure and inserted random movie quotes into every other line of dialogue. This flick has so many friggin' Star Wars references -- and movie references in general -- that it's just a ball to watch them all hit the screen at warp speed. And the cameos! All I'll say is that when Judd Apatow came on to help things move along, he brought with him a bunch of friends.

Oh, and one more thing: Out of all the dude sweat in this film, Kristen Bell totally steals the show. What a cutie.

Fanboys. September 19.

It has been deathly quiet on the Fanboys front, which suggests that no one would see this movie if the Weinstein Co. paid them to. Well, that's probably an overstatement, but it certainly is a dead horse.

Then again, there might be a flutter of life. According to the New York Times, the Weinstein Co. have brought original director Kyle Newman back to create a final cut of the film. "I have been brought back into the editing room to work on a final version," Newman told the Times. "All the key people are back. That's all good."

Of course, there is still no news on a release date, nor whether it will ever be put into theatres or merely relegated to direct-to-DVD. (We also don't know which storyline will be kept in; the cancer one, or the non-cancer one.) It's rather interesting that the Weinstein Co. conceded to the fan backlash -- the backlash they said didn't really exist. If they can appease those petition signers and protest stagers, could they actually turn a profit on this film?

I shouldn't need to go through this whole thing again, so if you have no idea what's currently going on with the film Fanboys, read this, this and this -- and then come back. A little while ago I received the craziest email from a good pal, and that email contained three other email exchanges between director Steve Brill (aka the dude who took over for Kyle Newman during reshoots) and fans of the original cut of Fanboys. A couple of notes before I post these emails:

• No matter how cruddy the director is, I do not support attacking the man's cut when you haven't even seen it yet. I've made that clear before, and I'll say it again now. However, his other films are definitely fair game.
• I've confirmed with a source "in the know" that this is indeed Steve Brill behind these emails; that, originally, he confessed to them, but then tried to say someone hacked his email account when he realized how much of a complete idiot he came off as. But note that I have not talked to Brill myself (though I'm totally willing to do so, Steve, so email me), so I'm not 100% certain this was him. More like 96.5%.
• Also, I've tried to clean up the foul language as best I can, but do keep in mind that these email exchanges aren't exactly safe for work.

That said, head after the jump to read these hysterical exchanges ...