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This week we're celebrating (just about) 100 weeks of the Wing Commander movie club… and to mark that event, we're watching a movie that had a pretty huge impact on the Wing Commander movie just by its existing alongside it: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Whether you hated Jar Jar or believe that George Lucas did no wrong, The Phantom Menace was an event that marked a significant before and after in the history of science fiction film. So join us on Friday at 10 PM Eastern to watch with the club!
The Phantom Menace came out after most existing Wing Commander continuity, so it didn't have a direct creative influence… or did it? Much as GTAVI is impacting Star Citizen today, the bogeyman of the long-awaited new Star Wars movie heavily impacted Chris Roberts' mindset while making Wing Commander. Where the Wing Commander games were so successful for embracing their Star Wars roots, the movie specifically sought out other influences like submarine movies. The end result confused audiences and caused some regret for Chris Roberts. He would later say:
I took the look of the world too far away from the game look. I had my reasons, partly because I was paranoid of being accused of being too much a Star Wars clone. On the game front that was always good that Wing Commander had a bit of a Star Wars vibe, but when you're making a film that is meant to be released before the next installment from the granddaddy of all sci-fi films you get a little worried. In retrospect considering how Star Wars episode I turned out (and looked) it was the wrong decision, but at the time I was picturing the next Star Wars to have the awesomeness of the first three films not the disappointing mess that Episode I was.And then there's the famous story of the Phantom Menace trailer! The first teaser for the movie was released in late 1998 and it seems to have had a positive impact on the box office numbers for the movies playing at the time. For the full trailer, FOX decided to use Wing Commander as the vehicle for delivery. The book XBox: How Video Games Invaded Hollywood explains how producer Todd Moyer had to cancel a deal to sell Wing Commander to Sony because FOX had decided to use it to reveal the Star Wars trailer:
Convinced Wing Commander could make money if handled properly, Moyer made a deal where he could sell the movie to another studio as long as Fox got a $2 million profit on their initial investment. Much to Fox's surprise, the producer secured an agreement from Sony who were willing to put the film out on 2,500 screens with a big P&A commitment. They were also willing to invest in the movie and push back its release date, giving Roberts the chance to fix the Kilrathi. Everybody, even Fox with a guaranteed $2 million profit, would be happy. But then all hell broke loos. While Moyer was in the middle of finishing off negotiations with Sony, his cell-phone rang. It was Tom Sherack, then head of distribution for Fox. He had bad news.
"Todd, I'm not giving you the picture."
"But we had a deal. I'm here closing the sale."
"Good fucking luck, I'll never sign the papers. I don't give a shit, I'm not doing it. If you want to have a huge lawsuit, go ahead."
"Tom, I've got to tell you..."
"No, it's coming out in six weeks and it's going to have Star Wars: The Phantom Menace trailer on it.
He hung up.
Six weeks was barely enough time to market Wing Commander properly even if Fox had wanted to. But apparently they didn't. There was no theatrical trailer, no press build up, no TV campaign. The movie was dumped in cinemas in mid-March, an expensive hook to hang the second trailer for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace on.There's another half to this story that no one remembers, though: Lucasfilm discovered FOX's plan and was furious. They insisted that FOX put out messaging to theaters telling them that they were free to show the trailer with any movie they wanted rather than just Wing Commander. They even put out a press release to that extent on the official Star Wars site which is preserved on TheForce.net (kind of the CIC for Star Wars at the time).
The new trailer will be placed into general release, running on a wide variety of films over the coming weeks. Contrary to speculation, it will not be attached to any particular film, including Wing Commander, and in fact may not even play with Wing Commander. There is no assurance the trailer will play with any particular movie and you will need to contact your local theater for information on where the trailer will run in your area.Most theaters didn't bother splicing the trailer off of Wing Commander, so memories of seeing it that way are accurate. They ultimately allowed the trailer to be shown that morning on Good Morning America and then repeated throughout the day on news programs. It was streaming in RealMedia format well before anyone saw Wing Commander. Despite endless claims from people that say they went to see Wing Commander for the trailer, there's no evidence that it impacted the box office (which was very small).
Because The Phantom Menace was coordinated from the United Kingdom, it ended up sharing a fair amount of credits with the Wing Commander crew–editors, musicians, sound effects staff and so on. There were also two shared actors! Hugh Quarshie plays Mr. Obutu in Wing Commander and Captain Panaka in Star Wars while Graham Riddell played the Kilrathi captain in Wing Commander and worked as an SFX technician on Star Wars.
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
The Phantom Menace is available for rent or purchase on all of the standard streaming services. It is currently playing on Disney+ in the United States If you would like a physical copy, it was released on UHD BluRay in the US in 2020 and remains in print around the world. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.
How do we watch the movie together?
It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!
How can I help pick future movie club movies?
The movie club movies are voted on each week by the Wing Commander Discord. The poll is typically posted 24 hours before each week's screening and the next movie is announced at the end. The choices for the poll come from a master pool of Wing Commander-related movies. If you would like to suggest a film for inclusion in that pool you can post it to this thread.
