Hip hop stars Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J, Ciara, Egypt, Doug E. Fresh, Flo Rida, Russell Simmons, oh and filmmaker George Lucas, think you should register and vote in 2008.

VIDEO: George Lucas in Vote For It ‘08

More on the “Vote For It ‘08″ PSA:

VFI08 is a joint initiative between the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), and online ad network and marketing company, CPX Interactive. The overarching purpose of the joint initiative is to serve as a call-to-action to America’s youth vote, emphasizing the importance of connectivity to the growing national political spirit and the necessity of empowering one’s self thru the exercise of the most basic responsibility…that is the right to vote.

Get more info here:
VoteForIt08.org

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SOURCE: TheForce.net

As the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars gets closer (Aug. 15 to be exact), fans and the media alike are a buzz about the story, its characters and of course, George Lucas himself. The New York Times takes a closer look at Lucas’ growing empire and why he chose to revisit the Star Wars “sandbox” that he “loves to play in.”

On The Clone Wars:

“It didn’t fit any of the molds that everybody had,” Mr. Lucas said. “It’s not ‘SpongeBob SquarePants,’ but at the same time it’s also not ‘Family Guy.’ ”

“It’s much easier for me to just do the show I want, say, ‘Here it is, do you wish to license it or not?’ ” Mr. Lucas said. “That’s it. There’s no notes, no comments. I don’t care what your opinion is. You either put it on the air or you don’t.”

The profile also features a slideshow of some new Clone Wars concept art of Asajj Ventress.

Read the full article here:
“Free to Follow His Heart Right Back to Star Wars“
(The New York Times)

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SOURCES: io9.com

Yahoo News reports today that George Lucas, speaking from Japan on a promotional tour for Crystal Skull, called Democratic nominee Barack Obama “a hero in the making” following his delegate wins in the presidential primaries yesterday:

“We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama,” Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were.

Obama, “for all of us that have dreams and hope, is a hero,” Lucas said.

Check out the full story here and our posting about the fun “Empire Strikes Barack” video here.

Rebelscum recently updated with a fascinating look back at a little-known Star Wars ad campaign staged for Panasonic back in the late ‘80s, a campaign that endowed Threepio with a butterfly net, Yoda with ear buds, Chewie with daffodils, Ewoks with leafy produce, and the Maker himself with his own wood-cut sea-faring dragon.

A great, thoroughly-researched article that includes posters, TV ads, behind the scenes imagery and more, all of which have rarely been seen here in the US. Head on over to Rebelscum to check it out.

If you’re anywhere near the small town of Petaluma just north of San Francisco this weekend, be sure to stop in and take part in the 35th anniversary celebration of George Lucas’ iconic 1973 film American Graffiti.

Early birds have already witnessed a full re-enactment of the famous police car axle-yank in the small hours Thursday morning with several more events planned for Friday and Saturday, May 16th and 17th.

Admission is free, with cruisin’ parties, cast and crew events, and special collectibles available exclusively at the event. For more information, check the schedule of events here.

Empireonline.com just posted three new exclusive images that will be published in the upcoming issue of Empire Magazine. In addition to new Clone Wars imagery, Empire interviews Supervising Director Dave Filoni and the Maker himself, George Lucas.

Look for the latest issue of Empire on newsstands this Friday, and head over to their site for a sneak peek at some cool Clone Wars pics.

After almost 20 years, Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas team up for a new whip-cracking adventure. Entertainment Weekly magazine talks to the trio about why it took so long, what to expect, and what they think about living up to their own legends.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Another focus of chatroom buzz has been the baddies, a nasty group of Russian soldiers and operatives in search of the title object because of its reputed mind-controlling powers. (About time, says Ford, that Indy moved on from tangling with German SS officers, as he did in movies 1 and 3: ”We plum wore the Nazis out. Couldn’t go there again.”) The leader of the KGB-backed pack is Cate Blanchett, in a severe, straight-banged, ink black wig, as Agent Irina Spalko. She’s a born interrogator. Gimlet-eyed and handy with a sword, she crosses blades with Mutt. Asked if Agent Spalko gives off a vaguely dominatrix vibe, Lucas says, ”Not so vaguely,” and bursts out laughing. Could be the kinkiest thing he’s helped brainstorm since he put Princess Leia in a gold bikini and chains in Return of the Jedi.

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Legendary filmmakers and and lifelong friends George Lucas and Steven Spielberg give a rare interview together to chat about finding the perfect MacGuffin for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the supernatural, villainesses, greaser tips, CGI, and fan bloggers.

Here are a few quotes from the interview:

In developing the third movie, there was a Christopher Columbus script early on, Indiana Jones and the Monkey King, set partly in Africa. And that one had a preamble involving a haunted castle.

LUCAS: We wrote complete scripts on other MacGuffins [for the third film]. And finally I said, look, let’s just try the Holy Grail. [Adopting another voice] ”Ohhh, it’s too cerebral, we’ll never make it work….” So we turned it into a tangible magic cup with healing powers, instead of an intellectual thing. It wasn’t until the idea of introducing the father came along that we kind of pulled [the third movie] out of the fire. Because it then shifted from being about the MacGuffin. But ultimately, these are supernatural mysteries. They aren’t action adventures. Everybody thinks they’re action-adventure films, but that’s just the genre we hang them on.
SPIELBERG: There’s not one that hasn’t been supernatural.
LUCAS: The supernatural part has to be real. [He taps the table] Which is why they’re very hard, and you run out [of options] very fast. You have to have a supernatural object that people actually believe in. People believe that there was an Ark of the Covenant, and it has these powers. Same thing with the Sankara stones, same thing with the Holy Grail. We may have exaggerated some of its powers, but basically there are people who believe there is a Holy Grail, brought back by the Knights Templar.
SPIELBERG: Of course, I was worried that people would hear ”Holy Grail,” and they would immediately think about a white rabbit attacking Monty Python. My first reaction was to say, ”Everybody run away! Run away!”

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Wired magazine interviews George Lucas, Whitley Streiber, Harlan Ellison, Cory Doctorow and others about how Arthur C. Clarke influenced their own sci-fi books, comics and films.

Here’s what George Lucas had to say:

George Lucas, filmmaker
Arthur C. Clarke was a great inspiration to me. The breadth of his imagination has yet to be equaled. He will be missed, but I’m grateful that his legacy will live on through his visionary novels and his groundbreaking work on 2001.

Read the rest here:
Arthur C. Clarke: Artists Elegize an Icon

(Photo by Bonnie Burton)

Our Starwars.com ShoWest coverage of the Warner Bros. “Big Picture” presentation ended on an exciting note as filmmaker George Lucas took to the stage escorted by six Clone troopers from the 501st Legion.

Before airing a clip from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Lucas addressed the audience comprised of motion picture distributors and marketers, fellow directors, producers and actors about his decision to make another feature and TV series that takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

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