What is the Deal with the Weinsteins and Fanboys?

So I’ve been reading about this brouhaha between fanboys and the Weinsteins over the movie “Fanboys”, and which version the Weinsteins plan on releasing into theaters. It is, not surprisingly, a heavily edited version (including $2 million bucks in reshoots) that, many believe, ruins the entire premise of the original: friends and Star Wars geeks embark on a cross-country trip to take a friend dying of cancer to see George Lucas’ “The Phantom Menace” before its official release. The Weinsteins, on the other hand, thought the movie would work better without, you know, that whole cancer stuff to bring the kids down. Makes you wonder why they bought the movie in the first place, huh?

The (Hollywood Reporter sums up the dispute:

Insiders said the root of the problem was Weinstein’s issue with the underlying story in “Fanboys.” The cross-country adventure is put in motion because one of the characters is facing cancer. Late last year, the company decided it would do reshoots, hiring Judd Apatow’s producing partner Shauna Robertson to oversee a $2 million reshoot of four scenes done by director Steve Brill (”Drillbit Taylor”). That, combined with re-editing, created a version that excised the cancer subplot.

“Harvey feels it’s hard to market, especially with this cast,” an insider said. “He wants to market to a more teen audience. The filmmakers wanted a dramedy along the vein of ‘Stand by Me.’ ”

The Weinstein Co. this year began testing both versions. Unprompted by the filmmakers, “Star Wars” fans began uniting to oppose the noncancer version, led by the 501st, a “Star Wars” fan group named after a fictional battalion. The group created a Web site that provided updates on developments while also lampooning Harvey Weinstein by Photoshopping him in Darth Vader drag.

In response to the Weinsteins’ move, the fanboys planned on staging protests at the opening of the company’s other film, “Superhero Movie”. That, plus the bad press the company is getting, and even if “Fanboys” made it into theaters, who is actually going to go see this thing if not the fanboys?

Exactly.

So earlier this week, the Weinsteins attempted to appease the masses by announcing that two versions of the movie (theirs, and the producers) would be released on DVD. As if that was going to do it. Two (or three or four) versions of a movie are always released on DVD, and the fanboys weren’t idiots. If they were, they wouldn’t have been able to orchestrate 300,000 emails being sent to the Weinsteins in protest.

So where does the issue now stand? According to a suit at the Weinstein’s company, they are now “exploring” the possibility of releasing both versions into theaters.

Oh my. Who knew a movie about Star Wars geeks would get such headlines?

If you want more info on the ongoing dispute, visit the fanboys’ webpage here.

Whatever happens, though, we get the feeling the below scene will stay in the finished cut of the film (call it a hunch):