According to Variety magazine, George Lucas has decided to shoot the second and third
prequels in his “Star Wars” franchise at Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Studios in
Australia. This had been long rumored and is now officially confirmed. In a
press conference earlier this week in Sidney, George Lucas also mentioned that negotiations
with a director are under way for those prequels, although he will most likely
do them himself. Shotting of the highly anticipated films will start in 2000 with an
anticipated theatrical release of Episode 2 in 2002.

On a different note, there is also a strong rumor floating around the industry that
the first trailers to the upcoming “Star Wars – Phantom Menace” will be running
in front of “The Waterboy” and “Meet Joe Black” on November 17 in selected
cities here in the US. No exact information which cities are part of this
selection has been announced, but Chicago seems to be one of them.