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Author
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Topic: Stolen Phantom Menace
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Stephen Winner
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:09 AM
I caught a news story on the local NBC station that the film was stolen
right off the projector. I didn't catch the name of the theater, but the
picture of the outside, I think the marquee said "STATE", looked like an
older house, but they were running a platter system. Did anybody hear of this? The reporter said that it was definitely the work
of two people since the entire reel weighted in at over 60 lbs. I would
have thought somebody would have noticed two people carrying out a
platter full of film out of the theatre!!!!!
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Joe Redifer
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:09 AM
I read this myself. It was stolen off of the platter between Friday night but
before Saturday morning showtime. I think that somebody would have
noticed it as well. I think that one person could carry a print, though. I
once moved Pulp Fiction by myself without clamps and it was fine. The print was stolen from Menomonie Wisconson and the theatre is
simply called the "State Theatre". The theatre owner is Nick LeGros and
his response was akin to "Gee, this has never happened to me before!"
The print is valued at about $60,000
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Brad Miller
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:10 AM
Print is valued at $60,000??? Must be one of those fabulous overpriced Kodak Vision Premiere prints.
haha $60,000...let's be realistic now. It is bad enough that studios charge
$3000 a print for replacement purposes when they cost about $1200.
For Lucas to charge $60,000 is absurd.
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Ross Burton
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:10 AM
I read the thieves were cuaght. Two young men in their 20's. Part of the
print was found in a field near the theater while the rest was in a jumbled
mess in garbage bags.
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Brad Miller
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:11 AM
Good! From the sounds of it, they were of the bootlegging variety and
NOT film collectors. All the film collectors I know of are honest and patient enough for the
studios to finish with their use of the film and junk them. I highly doubt real
collectors would've stolen a one week old print of one of the biggest
movies this decade. How stupid would THAT be?
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Ross Burton
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:11 AM
There are several idiots already peddling bootlegged copies of Episode
One on CD-Rom and VHS on E-bay. Location of sellers is Malaysia,
Hong Kong etc.
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Christopher Seo
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:12 AM
From the description of it, it doesn't sound as if they were planning to do
anything with the print... half in a field near the theater? Half in a tangled
mess in garbage bags? Not a very good place to hide stolen merchandise! It also escapes me how these people were going to bootleg this print.
Once they had stolen it they would either need their own projector/video
camera or a telecine, because obviously they couldn't just bring it to a lab.
Or were they just planning to put a hundred thousand "RARE
PHANTOM MENACE FILM CELS!!!!!" on ebay?
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Brad Miller
unregistered
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posted 05-30-1999 04:12 AM
A friend emailed me this from the AP wire... Three unidentified men were arrested Wednesday on charges of stealing a
copy of Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace from a theater in
Menomonie, WI over the weekend. The men, all in their twenties,
reportedly turned themselves in voluntarily. Police did not indicate why
they had elected to do so. They also said that it was unlikely that the film
had been copied. A five-foot piece of the film, barely more than two
seconds long, was reportedly found in a field near the Menomonie theater
on Tuesday. The film itself, stashed in three garbage bags, was recovered
on Wednesday.
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