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WoooooooHoooooooo!!!! The new Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace trailer long awaited by Star Wars fans has been released on the Internet one day before it hits the theaters, and it is in QuickTime format only. In a press release by Apple:
Lucasfilm and Apple have collaborated to launch the new film trailer for Lucasfilm's Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace on the Internet exclusively in QuickTime, Apple's industry-leading multimedia software. The trailer can be downloaded beginning today, March 11, 1999, a full day before the release of the trailer to U.S. and Canadian theaters this weekend, at a jointly-maintained web site reached through www.starwars.com or www.apple.com. Fans can also download a copy of the latest QuickTime software from the site. The prior Episode I trailer, also available on the site, resulted in over 10 million downloads.
"George Lucas wanted to create the highest quality Internet viewing experience for our new trailer, so we turned to QuickTime because it sets the standard for Internet video quality," said Lucasfilm's director of marketing, Jim Ward. "Our collaboration with Apple is enabling us to push Internet video to its limits, capturing the experience of Episode I for Star Wars fans everywhere."
"Where can you view the new Star Wars trailer? Not on Real Networks' Real Player. Not on Microsoft's Media Player. It's only available on Apple's QuickTime," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. "When you care about quality, there is only one digital media platform capable of delivering today, and that's QuickTime."
Apple has a web page for the trailer that has the look and feel of Star Wars. You can download the film there.
The Mac Observer Spin: A great marketing coup for Apple as it battles Microsoft, and to a much lesser extent, Real Networks, for control of Media standards on the Internet and desktop computing. The message to Star Wars fans is "if you want this trailer, you have to have QuickTime." Apple, which probably has a marketing swap with Lucasfilms for this deal judging by the Star Wars branded web page on Apple's web site, have made a smart deal!
Apple - Star Wars
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