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Anderson Cooper: Cloning 'Star Wars' magic

CNN's Anderson Cooper
CNN's Anderson Cooper  


(CNN) -- "Spider-Man" broke box office records over the weekend, grossing an estimated $114 million. But on May 16, it gets some stiff competition. "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" hits theaters, and it may have an even bigger opening, not to mention a bigger summer.

CNN "American Morning" anchor Anderson Cooper received a sneak peek at the new film at the comfortable surroundings of George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. He talked Monday morning with Jack Cafferty about his experience.

CAFFERTY: George Lucas [is] about to unleash his eagerly anticipated next installment of the "Star Wars" saga, "Episode II -- Attack of the Kleins, Clones."

CNN's Jedi warrior Anderson Cooper ... joins us now from a galaxy not all that far away after all. Is this thing any good?

COOPER: It is. The buzz on this movie, I've got to tell you, is just extraordinary. "Attack of the Kleins" is actually a whole different film involving ...

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'Live From Skywalker Ranch -- Countdown to the Clones': Connie Chung looks at the latest in the epic 'Star Wars' saga. Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET 
 

CAFFERTY: Oh, I was confused. Yes.

COOPER: ... Calvin Klein, but ...

CAFFERTY: They have all of these sequels and stuff, you know, those series of movies, I got them mixed up -- sorry about that.

COOPER: That's right.

CAFFERTY: You were at George Lucas' ranch?

COOPER: Yes, well you know, I like to hobnob with the in crowd.

CAFFERTY: Man!

COOPER: I don't know what I was doing there. I was invited on this press junket. I got to see the movie Saturday night. I was at the "Star Wars" convention on Friday. And I've got to tell you, this movie is going to be huge. The buzz on this thing is just great, both from the TV industry people who were there, which was a pretty jaded crowd, if I might say.

And die-hard fans are really buzzed about this. They are really excited. You know, they have been following the story on the Internet. They know everything that's in this move, and they really are excited that it sort of recaptures the magic of the "Star Wars" trilogy.

"Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," the latest in George Lucas' "Star Wars" saga, opens in theaters May 16.  

CAFFERTY: You know, Anderson, there is a piece on the front page of The Wall Street Journal [on Monday] morning talking about "Spider-Man," for example, grossing $114 million. But what they don't tell you upfront is the studio [Sony Corp.'s Columbia Pictures] also spent some $50 million to market this thing. So the investment in marketing and selling the thing ahead of release is almost as big as the budget for the movie itself.

COOPER: Yes. And I've got to tell you, in two weeks when "Star Wars: Episode II" opens up, it's going to be "Spider-Man," schmider-man.

CAFFERTY: Really?

COOPER: The money they are pouring into marketing "Star Wars" is just going to be huge. It's opening worldwide. And I think it's going to blow "Spider-Man" out of the galaxy, if you will.

CAFFERTY: Is anybody talking about what the ceiling on a three-day weekend gross might be? How high is up?

COOPER: I don't think anyone knows. I mean, at this point, you know, the sky is the limit, and no one could have predicted, you know, a "Spider-Man" opening so big. And "Star Wars," you know, it's a franchise which is beloved by millions of people around the world, and I think the sky is the limit.

CAFFERTY: Now, what have they done with Yoda? I read where he is fully computer animated for the first time.

COOPER: Yes. It's pretty remarkable. I was actually kind of wary about this. Yoda before was a puppet operated by a man by the name of Frank Oz. It still [is] using Frank Oz's voice, so you still get the same, you know, Yoda voice.

Hayden Christensen stars as Anakin Skywalker in the latest
Hayden Christensen stars as Anakin Skywalker in the latest "Stars Wars" film.  

But Yoda is fully digitally animated. So you actually see a whole new kind of Yoda. It's a little younger Yoda, and it's a Yoda that is quite a sword fighter. I don't know if we actually have video of that. I don't think they are releasing that stuff yet because that is definitely the highlight of the film. Seeing Yoda without the little mini light saver he has ... is without a doubt the highlight of the film. People are laughing, cheering in the crowd I saw.

CAFFERTY: And Yoda is definitely cool. One of the possible reasons, I suppose, for the success of these "Star Wars" movies, is they have resisted until now that ever-present Hollywood temptation to go for the love story. I understand they have one in this one, right?

COOPER: There is a love story on this, and I think it will be a huge part of the appeal. You know, it's kind of almost like "Titanic." It's -- you know, I think "Star Wars" has traditionally appealed to, you know, young boys. It's got, you know, amazing action sequences. This episode, "Episode II: Attack of the Clones," has action sequences, which, you know, surpass anything any of the other "Star Wars" movies has.

But a love story is key, and the story is key. The characters are really developed in this. And the main part is that we really -- a lot of the loose ends -- you know, George Lucas has always spun a very intricate web with this story. He is really tying up a lot of the loose strands of the web. This story is really the No. 1 thing in this episode.



 
 
 
 



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