TF.N has revealed what they claim to be the marketing timeline LucasFilm will follow prior to the release of Star Wars: Episode III.

The marketing campaign starts officially in September, with the Classic Trilogy Saga DVDs and the Ep. III documentary included (which is very important because they no doubt plan to draw new fans to the saga with this). Then November with the release of the teaser poster, the trailer in March and the Movie in May 2005.

The latest edition of the Homing Beacon has arrived, and in this issue we read about the Pro's of joining the Offical Star Wars Fan Club. By now Star Wars fans know that the Official Star Wars Fan Club and starwars.com Hyperspace have merged into one, offering the greatest Star Wars experience ever for subscribers. A year's subscription includes a unique membership kit, six issues of the new-and-improved Star Wars Insider, as well as all the exclusive online content that current subscribers have been enjoying since the launch of Hyperspace in June of 2003. (Click here for more details!)

"Hyperspace subscribers have had a great year of unprecedented inside access and the response has been great," says Director of Lucas Online, Paul Ens. "Now that Hyperspace is the online component of a larger Fan Club experience, we're looking forward to new opportunities to make that fan experience even better this year."

Episode III is what fans are most interested in, and the final Star Wars film will continue to be the focus for both Insider and starwars.com Hyperspace in 2004-2005. "Right now, we're planning on webcam coverage of the additional round of shooting in August, as well as bringing back the Set Diaries direct from London," says Ens.

In the meantime, subscribers can look forward to an inside look at a big Lucasfilm event planned for this summer. "Hyperspace really became ‘the-next-best-thing-to-being-there' during Sydney, and we want to continue that during the convention season," says Ens. "That's why we're working on letting subscribers in on some of the surprises that will be unveiled this summer at Lucasfilm's big Comic-Con presence. If you can't make it to San Diego, then tuning into starwars.com Hyperspace is the next best thing."

One of the new features for 2004 is a brand new Episode III photo series unlike any previously run on the site. "It's quite different as it's very interactive, and it will allow users to explore some of the Episode III production environments in a new way," says Ens.

"A key element to Star Wars' success has always been the collective experience, be it waiting in line, watching the movie in a packed theater, creating new adventures with action figures, gathering at a Star Wars Celebration or knowing you're reading the same Star Wars novel as thousands of other fans at the same time," says Ens.

"The internet has redefined what the concept of a community can be, and it only makes sense for the Official Fan Club to embrace and facilitate this important aspect of being a fan. This fall, look for new ways for fans to reach out to other fans, spotlight their fan groups, or share their creativity or opinions with their local and global communities.

"Naturally, look for Hyperspace to tie-in closely with this fall's Episode III teaser trailer and Star Wars Trilogy release on DVD," says Ens, "and making those landmark events even better for our members. Plenty of other surprises are also in store... stay tuned."

Click here to join the new Hyperspace: The Official Star Wars Fan Club.

The Official Star Wars Site has announced another Hyperspace chat for tomorrow! Continuing the series of popular online chats, starwars.com Hyperspace welcomes Phil Tippett, an ILM alumnus from the original Star Wars trilogy, and now a leading force in the visual effects industry.

In the original Star Wars, Tippett was responsible for breathing life into virtual characters -- at the time, through puppetry and stop motion animation. His specialty was the latter, a painstaking process wherein articulated models were moved by hand a frame at a time, 24 times to capture a single second of motion. Tippett used this technique to animate the holographic chess characters in Star Wars, and the AT-AT walkers in The Empire Strikes Back.

Tippett helped engineer advancements of this age-old technique; stop-motion and go-motion animation reached its peak with his work on Dragonslayer and Return of the Jedi. For Jedi, Tippett also oversaw the Makeup and Creature design crew, developing the look for such classic Star Wars creatures as Jabba the Hutt and the rancor.

In 1983, Tippett formed his own company, Tippett Studio, which would provide the vivid animation seen in such films as Robocop. In 1991, he was on the forefront of the developing digital realm of computer-generated animation when work began on Jurassic Park. The ?Dinosaur-Input-Device? crafted by Tippett and his team bridged the transition of both stop-motion and digital animation by providing computer animators a hands-on method of animating living creatures.

Since then, Tippett Studio has provided digital character animation in such films as Hollow Man, Starship Troopers, Evolution and Hellboy.

Phil Tippett has worked on 34 feature films, and won Academy Awards for Return of the Jedi and Jurassic Park. His other nominated works include Willow, Dragonheart, Starship Troopers and Hollow Man. Tippett makes his directorial debut with Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, a video release coming this June.

Phil Tippett is scheduled to be online on Friday, April 30 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time (1:00 p.m. Eastern time). Please note that last-minute scheduling changes may happen, and because hundreds of questions are submitted, not all can be answered.

Hasbro.com has provided a couple of answers to some questions you may have.

Q: Hasbro announced in Star Wars Insider that they are releasing the Sandcrawler this year at Target (in the US).  However, an International retailer has announced that the item is cancelled.  What is the story with this item?

Q: What is the plan for the "vintage" 3-¾ inch line of figures?

The Official Star Wars Site has announced that Hyperspace members will be able to participate in an online chat this week with Paul Ens (aka Ghent), Director of Lucas Online. Like the previous chats, these events are held in the Celebrity Talks and Schedule forum only visible to Hyperspace members. Please note that past chats have produced literally hundreds of questions from enthusiastic participants, so not all can be answered.

It's been almost a year since the launch of Hyperspace -- a year packed with premium content like the Set Diaries, production webcam, pictures, articles, celebrity chats and more. Most recently, starwars.com has added ShopStarWars.com, the official Lucasfilm online store.

What does the future hold for Hyperspace? What new and exciting products can we expect from the store? There are big plans in the works, and you'll soon find out more.

To answer your questions about what the next year has to offer, Paul Ens (aka Ghent), Director of Lucas Online will be here to answer questions on Thursday, April 29, starting at 11 am, Pacific time. So be thinking about your questions!