Insider sources confirm that 20th Century Fox is in talks with both Andrew Lloyd Webber and George Lucas to purchase the rights to the pair's long overdue collaboration, the sci-fi rock opera Jesus Christ SuperStar Wars.
Said one of Fox's senior executives, "We believe that this project has the potential to be the biggest motion picture in cinematic history. We felt it only natural that the most financially successful auteur and the most financially successful playwright team up for the most colossal, fantabulistic entertainment event ever."
Lloyd Webber and Lucas held a joint conference last Wednesday to address questions about the upcoming film. Said Lucas, "I had always envisioned Star Wars as the ultimate spiritual quest. Now, with the addition of The Lord Himself, it truly will be the greatest story ever told."
"When I made 'Jesus Christ Superstar' back in the 70's," Weber enthused, "I lacked the technology to really bring the story to life. Now, however, with the powerhouse special-effects of Industrial Light and Magic behind me, I can finally tell the Christ story as it was meant to be told, complete with computer-generated throngs of morphing Ewoks and liquid-metal Judas."
Perhaps most excited of all, however, are the marketers and merchandisers of this fledgling franchise. Kenner has already announced an action figure line ("Battle-Damage Jesus with Kung-Fu Grip, Assault Chariot sold separately") and General Mills has unveiled its new cereal, "Almighty-O's", which features Eucharist-flavored shapes of all your Biblical and Star Wars favorites.
Pre-production has moved forward with casting already underway. In talks for various roles are: Ralph Fiennes for the role of young Moff Pontius Tarkin, Reese Witherspoon for Princess Mary Magdeline-Wanna-Leia, and Roberto Begnini as the Jar-Jar/Simon comic relief character. Lucas has declined to announce who will be cast as Jesus, preferring to first narrow the field from a list of 4,700 unknown actors and wait until two days before filming to actually cast the part.
