Last week,fandom was all abuzz, as LucasFilm had confirmed rumors that members of the N'Sync boys' band would be playing cameo roles in the next prequel movie,. In one scene, several of the singers had been Jedi warriors, clad in robes and armed with lightsabers. In another sequence, they were extras in a Naboo crowd scene.

The online response from the hugefan community was immediate and condemnatory; many felt that the independent, fly-in-the-face-of-convention sci-fi franchise was become just another pop culture marketing gimmic, and that N'Sync's involvement was another nail in its coffin.This week, however, LucasFilm proved that it does listen to its fans. Because of the outcry and dismay expressed on various fan websites (notably TheForce.net ), they made the decision to cut N'Sync's parts from the film. The decision was made public by an N'Sync member himself, Joey Fatone, who rang up a Florida radio station to say that his scenes had been scrapped. According to Ananova Fatone called up 93.3 FLZ's Carson Radio show and said, "I'm going to make it officially known [LucasFilm] dropped [the scenes] because people made a big deal about it. We're not going to be in it and I'm not going to comment on it any more."In othernews, the first lineup has already formed for next May's release! The Seattle Star Wars Society, led by president John Guth, already has a short lineup in place at an area cinema. Participants plan to carry out work, correspondence, and pass the time with laptops and mobile Internet connections. For the full story, check out the Seattle Times