On March 21, a top-secret team of people looking to break into George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch will meet at the Satellite Coffee shop.
The rendezvous at 2300 Central Ave. S.E. will shut down the shop for most of the day and turn away customers during one of its busiest times.
"We kind of wanted to bend over backward to make it happen," said Lindsay Lancaster, community relations and marketing manager for Satellite Coffee and Flying Star Cafe. "We really want to support film in Albuquerque."
From morning until afternoon, the coffee shop will host the production of "Fanboys," a film following a group of Star Wars fans who try to fulfill a dying friend's last wish. Their goal? Getting into George Lucas' production house for a peek at an unreleased Star Wars film.
The fans visit a coffee shop to meet with somebody who promises them access to Lucas' ranch.
"I've never worked on a show like this before," said William Coit, location manager for "Fanboys." "You've got people walking around in Darth Vader outfits. The other day, you've got Chewie in our production office."
Shooting for the $4 million film ends in early April, Coit said, and it could be in theaters as soon as a year after.
Lancaster noted that Satellite Coffee is being paid to turn its space into a fictional coffee shop known as "Java the Hutt," but she was bound to keep the amount under wraps.
"For us, quite frankly, it's being able to be a good community partners," she said. "Of course, it's the excitement of living a part of the arts."
By Mike Tumolillo
Tribune Reporter
The Albuquerque Tribune
