With Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of The Sith just months away (opening in most countries on 19 May, to be exact), the February edition of British Vanity Fair magazine has a terrific 4-panel panorama foldout cover photo spread of the main stars, current and original trilogy, with photos taken by Annie Leibovitz.
Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman teamed up with other stars of all six Star Wars movies for the photo spread. The magazine grouped together 22 major performers from the legendary franchise, including Samuel L. Jackson and Liam Neeson, also inviting Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, stars from the original 1977 film, Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope. Mastermind George Lucas, who directed four of the intergalactic movies, joined the stars together with robots R2-D2 and C3PO for the reunion cover shoot.
Inside the magazine are many more superb behind-the-scenes pictures of Episode III as part of a 15-page feature about the new film:
If the return of Darth Vader doesn’t make StarWars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith irresistible, an army of Wookiees should do the trick. Jim Windolf gets a preview of the epic’s final instalment from an unusually candid George Lucas, who reveals the true nature of his helmet-headed villain.
And, there’s now a teaser trailer.
As you may tell, I’m a big Star Wars fan. Not as big, though, as Jeff Tweiten who I wrote about last month and who’s been camped out since the beginning of the year in front of the Cinerama Theater in downtown Seattle (he’s now moved to the IMAX), waiting for Episode III to open. You can follow Jeff’s quest in his blog, Waiting for Star Wars.
Sorry, Neville, I can’t agree that it’s an interesting cover, much less “terrific.” As a sometimes photographer, I find nothing visually interesting about the Vanity Fair cover. It’s a re-creation of the last two VF Star Wars covers, and before that an equally boring Rolling Stone cover for Return of the Jedi.
Fan interest, maybe. Celebrity interest, maybe. Artistic merit, not at all.
Considering the time and attention that goes into arranging cover shoots, this one is extremely disappointing, as have been most Vanity Fair covers in recent years.
Eric, it could be then that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I thought the cover photo spread was simply great. Inside pics as well, just great.
I’m not looking at the pics with a photographer’s viewpoint, just as a magazine reader and Star Wars fan. From these points of view, I very much like the VF pics!