Natalie Portman fired?
Hi if this is real I am boycotting the next Star Wars movies Neve Campell can never fucking replace Natalie Portman. Die die die Lucas Films if this is true.
"In today’s issue of Variety, a surprise press-release issued by George Lucas - the creator of the popular Star Wars franchise, has once again shocked the entire film industry, along with many thousands of Star Wars fans across the nation - as he announced his sudden dismissal of actress Natalie Portman from the cast of Episode III, which is currently in pre-production...
Mr. Lucas, who seemed quite candid over this development, had sufficient cause, and legitimate reasons for this surprising last-minute casting change, according to him statements...
"It is my unpleasant duty, to announce today the termination of Natalie Portman from her role as Queen Amidala, in the remaining episode of Star Wars... For legal reasons, I cannot go into much detail in this disclosure - except to say that some of the main reasons for this action are due to conflicting opinions of the Queen Amidala role between Natalie and myself, as well as apparent 'indifferences' from her, to the work ethics that are required in any Lucasfilm venture... It's this basic conflict-of-interest that has led me to this decision..."
The announcement concerning Ms. Portman, who portrayed the young Princess Amidala, in Episode I of the Star Wars saga "The Phantom Menace", and the older more mature Senator in Episode II, has caught analysts of the film industry and many of the Star Wars fan community completely off-guard, as there have been no prior reports of tensions or problems between Lucas and Portman on the set.
When questioned about the now unfilled role of Princess Amidala, Lucas calmly revealed that a replacement for Ms. Portman, has already been selected and signed for Episode III.
"It is my great pleasure to announce that the part of Princess Amidala, will now be portrayed by actress Neve Campbell, whose dynamic presence shall emblazon the image of the Amidala character, into the mental image of the audience, as I had originally conceived, the fans should find her performance to be very exciting, to say the least..."
"As soon as Neve read the part for me, I knew in my heart, that she would be the PERFECT Amidala..." Said Lucas - "Her very 'presence' as royalty is very pronounced and extremely obvious, from the moment she assumes the character, and I feel that the fans will see this from the very moment she appears on screen..."
Campell, formerly of the popular "Party of Five" TV series, Scream franchise, and several movies such as the adult-ish "Wild Things" - declined to give comment on this shakeup with Star Wars and Lucasfilm, claiming that a non-disclosure agreement is part of her contract with Lucasfilm...
Hoping to get more details about this surprising casting change, Variety columnists contacted Ms. Portman's agent to arrange for an interview, which was declined for the time being, until the decision to pursue this on a legal front has been made, further attempts to get a statement from Ms. Portman went unanswered...
Variety hoped to obtain statements from other cast members, such as Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor, however interviews from those asked, were also declined because of similar non-disclosure clauses included within their contracts as well, however, one unidentified source from the production group, on the condition of anonymity, told us that the sudden change was the result of an 'explosive' tiff between Lucas and Ms. Portman which began on the Lucasfilm Ranch, the evening before, which was embellished with a loud exchange of verbal insults, as well as some name-calling - that kept going back-and-forth between the two for the better part of an hour.
However, this remains unsubstantiated as of this writing - due to the tremendous efforts of Lucasfilm to maintain secrecy over the entire project...
In closing, Lucas adds "I'm sure that the movie-goers will find this change to be for the better, providing that they are as open minded as they were prior to The Phantom Menace..."
This reporter, however shall wait and see, whether or not this was a prudent action on Lucas' part, with the hope that this is all just a bad dream."
"In today’s issue of Variety, a surprise press-release issued by George Lucas - the creator of the popular Star Wars franchise, has once again shocked the entire film industry, along with many thousands of Star Wars fans across the nation - as he announced his sudden dismissal of actress Natalie Portman from the cast of Episode III, which is currently in pre-production...
Mr. Lucas, who seemed quite candid over this development, had sufficient cause, and legitimate reasons for this surprising last-minute casting change, according to him statements...
"It is my unpleasant duty, to announce today the termination of Natalie Portman from her role as Queen Amidala, in the remaining episode of Star Wars... For legal reasons, I cannot go into much detail in this disclosure - except to say that some of the main reasons for this action are due to conflicting opinions of the Queen Amidala role between Natalie and myself, as well as apparent 'indifferences' from her, to the work ethics that are required in any Lucasfilm venture... It's this basic conflict-of-interest that has led me to this decision..."
The announcement concerning Ms. Portman, who portrayed the young Princess Amidala, in Episode I of the Star Wars saga "The Phantom Menace", and the older more mature Senator in Episode II, has caught analysts of the film industry and many of the Star Wars fan community completely off-guard, as there have been no prior reports of tensions or problems between Lucas and Portman on the set.
When questioned about the now unfilled role of Princess Amidala, Lucas calmly revealed that a replacement for Ms. Portman, has already been selected and signed for Episode III.
"It is my great pleasure to announce that the part of Princess Amidala, will now be portrayed by actress Neve Campbell, whose dynamic presence shall emblazon the image of the Amidala character, into the mental image of the audience, as I had originally conceived, the fans should find her performance to be very exciting, to say the least..."
"As soon as Neve read the part for me, I knew in my heart, that she would be the PERFECT Amidala..." Said Lucas - "Her very 'presence' as royalty is very pronounced and extremely obvious, from the moment she assumes the character, and I feel that the fans will see this from the very moment she appears on screen..."
Campell, formerly of the popular "Party of Five" TV series, Scream franchise, and several movies such as the adult-ish "Wild Things" - declined to give comment on this shakeup with Star Wars and Lucasfilm, claiming that a non-disclosure agreement is part of her contract with Lucasfilm...
Hoping to get more details about this surprising casting change, Variety columnists contacted Ms. Portman's agent to arrange for an interview, which was declined for the time being, until the decision to pursue this on a legal front has been made, further attempts to get a statement from Ms. Portman went unanswered...
Variety hoped to obtain statements from other cast members, such as Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor, however interviews from those asked, were also declined because of similar non-disclosure clauses included within their contracts as well, however, one unidentified source from the production group, on the condition of anonymity, told us that the sudden change was the result of an 'explosive' tiff between Lucas and Ms. Portman which began on the Lucasfilm Ranch, the evening before, which was embellished with a loud exchange of verbal insults, as well as some name-calling - that kept going back-and-forth between the two for the better part of an hour.
However, this remains unsubstantiated as of this writing - due to the tremendous efforts of Lucasfilm to maintain secrecy over the entire project...
In closing, Lucas adds "I'm sure that the movie-goers will find this change to be for the better, providing that they are as open minded as they were prior to The Phantom Menace..."
This reporter, however shall wait and see, whether or not this was a prudent action on Lucas' part, with the hope that this is all just a bad dream."