http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/eo/20010806/en/_quot_star_wars_quot_episode_ii_gets_a_name_1.html

Monday August 06 11:04 PM EDT

"Star Wars" Episode II Gets a Name

Well, it could've been worse--like, say, Episode II--Attack of the 50-Foot Jar Jar.

Instead, Lucasfilm has announced that the next installment in director George Lucas' sci-fi saga will be titled (drum roll, please) Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones.

The big news was made public Monday on Lucasfilm's official Website, www.starwars.com, and it finally puts a moniker on what was up to this point referred to only as Star Wars: Episode II.

Attack of the Clones is due in theaters next year. And if you think the new title sounds more like the sequel to Mars Attacks! or some Saturday matinee, Lucas apparently wanted it that way.

"It harkens back to the sense of pure fun, imagination and excitement that characterized the classic movie serials and pulp space fantasy adventures that inspired the Star Wars saga," Lucasfilm says in its announcement.

Lucas's latest prequel, which was shot using digital cameras, fast-forwards 10 years after the events in 1999's Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This time around, 20-year-old Hayden Christensen stars as Anakin Skywalker, who's turning into an accomplished Jedi (but not yet Darth Vader) as an apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi, played once again by Ewan McGregor. Natalie Portman also returns to her role as Queen Padmé Amidala.

Shooting on Attack of the Clones began last June in Australia and wrapped last September--ahead of schedule--in London.

Naturally, Monday's announcement was greeted with the same fanfare that comes with every other shred of detail concerning Star Wars--plenty of Web chatter and geek-like analysis about Lucas's decision.

"It's a great title. Fun, short and sweet," wrote one anonymous moviegoer, replying on one of Star Wars' many fan sites. Others weren't so pleased. "I'm hoping it's an official hoax," one posting read. "He's got to be screwing with us."

Stars Wars fans have always kept a close eye on the films' titles, starting with 1977's A New Hope (although the original Star Wars didn't get that additional title until later) on through The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi (which stirred its own name-game debate when Lucas originally planned to call it Revenge of the Jedi) and The Phantom Menace.

-- (in@entertainment.news), August 07, 2001