Why film Episode 2 (The Jedi Knights Victorious) and Episode 3 (Revenge of the Dark Lords) in Australia?

The decision came down to economics and the fact that Fox' production facilities in Australia are superb. We expect to film Ep 2 and 3 simultaneously and back-to-back. We are budgeting about $ 100 million each for the next two films. The American dollar is worth more in Australia than in England, which means we'll get a lot more bang for our buck by filming the next two Episodes of the prequels down under.

So you are going to be the producer for all three films of the prequel trilogy?

Yes.

What directors are being considered for Episodes 2 and 3?

We have a short list of directors that we would love to sign to direct the next films, but we can't release those names at this time.

Is there anyone at Lucasfilm with the guts to challenge George if they think he is doing something that is "too wacky"?

While The Phantom Menace will represent George's definitive vision of what a Star Wars film should be that does not mean that he is the only one contributing to this film. Everything that appears in the film will be the result of a combined team effort. No one at Lucasfilm is afraid to speak up and add their two-cents worth to George. George relies heavily on the opinions and contributions of his employees. This film is going to be amazing.

Will you change the security measures that you used on TPM in order to improve the secrecy of Ep 2 and 3?

You need to have a little faith in us. We know what we're doing. While we can't keep 100% of this film a secret from the public, we have done an excellant job of keeping secret those aspects of TPM that we don't want revealed to the public.

How is the CG work at ILM progressing?

We knew that this film would push ILM to its limits and some at ILM have complained that George is asking them to do the impossible. While the work is grueling and non-stop, the film should be complete sometime in April 1999. The May 1999 release date is for certain and will not be pushed back.

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