Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)

The movie commences with a narrator setting the stage regarding the circumstances of the Clone Wars. The Separatists have control over the majority of the hyperlanes, which results in Republic forces being marooned in various regions of the Outer Rim. An octopus-like craft is en route to Tatooine with the objective of capturing Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta. This is part of a larger scheme to persuade the Hutts to participate in the Clone Wars. Concurrently, a fierce engagement is unfolding on the crystalline planet of Christophsis. The Republic's clone army, which is limited in size, is battling the forces of the Retail Caucus.

With the combined efforts of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Rex, and Cody, the clone troopers make consistent progress against the Separatist forces, securing an initial triumph for the Republic. However, this victory is short-lived, as General Loathsom and his droid army quickly return to resume the conflict. The remaining clone soldiers' fate rests on Obi-Wan and Anakin, as they lack communication and the means to summon reinforcements. A shuttle soon arrives carrying a significant delivery. Assuming it contains reinforcements, the Jedi investigate, only to discover a young Padawan named Ahsoka Tano, who insists that Master Yoda dispatched her to serve as Anakin's Padawan. The battle resumes, with Separatist forces advancing behind an expanding shield that the Republic's artillery cannot breach. Anakin and Ahsoka are assigned the task of dismantling the deflector shield. They successfully infiltrate enemy lines, employing their stealth, cunning, and improvisation skills, while Obi-Wan stalls for time by feigning surrender negotiations with Loathsom.

Following the Republic's final victory on Christophsis, Master Yoda arrives with the urgent news that a mysterious group of renegades has abducted Jabba's son. Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, and the clones are tasked with rescuing him and ensuring his safe return. Obi-Wan travels to Tatooine to reassure Jabba that Rotta will be safely returned and to secure the Hutts' commitment to allowing safe passage through their trading routes within the Outer Rim.

After a briefing on a Republic flagship, Anakin's forces descend through the clouds of the jungle planet Teth, targeting one of the numerous natural stone pillars that dot the landscape. Under intense fire, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex storm the monastery atop the pillar and discover Rotta, who has fallen ill. However, they find themselves caught in an elaborate trap: Count Dooku orchestrated the kidnapping himself to discredit the Jedi in the eyes of the Hutts. Dooku's plan involves having the Jedi retrieve the young Hutt to create false evidence. Then, Asajj Ventress, overseeing the operation, is tasked with either retrieving or eliminating the young Huttlet.

Despite their constant bickering about procedure, Anakin and Ahsoka gradually develop respect for each other. They manage to escape the trap, along with R2-D2, and commandeer a derelict transport to travel to Tatooine. Ahsoka uses the onboard medicine to treat the ailing Huttlet. Alerted by Anakin, Obi-Wan arrives just in time to relieve Rex and his forces and engages Ventress in combat, ultimately defeating her. However, Ventress evades capture by fleeing.

Meanwhile, Senator Amidala learns of Anakin's mission and, concerned for his safety, decides to contact Jabba's uncle, Ziro the Hutt, who resides in a seedy district of Coruscant. Ziro strangely refuses to cooperate, and Padmé soon discovers the reason: Ziro conspired with Dooku to bring about his nephew's downfall and seize control of the Hutt clans. Padmé is discovered and detained, but a timely call from C-3PO allows her to summon assistance, leading to Ziro's arrest by the Coruscant Guard.

Upon arriving on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are ambushed by MagnaGuards and their ship is shot down. Faced with a long journey across the desert and relentless adversaries, Anakin devises a plan. When Dooku confronts Anakin, he discovers that the pack Anakin is carrying contains only rocks. Ahsoka and R2 transport Rotta to Jabba's palace without incident, but as they approach, Ahsoka is ambushed by three MagnaGuards, whom she narrowly defeats. As Anakin and Ahsoka enter the palace, they are threatened with execution by Jabba's men, despite having safely returned Rotta. Padmé intervenes with a timely call, convincing Jabba of his uncle's treachery. Anakin and Ahsoka are triumphantly rescued by Obi-Wan, Yoda, Cody, and the clones.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars was conceived as both an independent narrative and a precursor to the weekly animated TV series bearing the same name. The concept for a film arose when George Lucas viewed some of the completed footage on a large screen. Warner Bros. had been monitoring the series' progress from the beginning, and after reviewing some footage, Lucas resolved to pursue a theatrical release, stating, "This is so beautiful, why don't we just go and use the crew and make a feature?" Lucas described the film as "almost an afterthought." Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing, commented on the decision, "Sometimes George works in strange ways." Producer Catherine Winder noted that the sudden decision added to the existing challenge of establishing a show "of this sophistication and complexity," but she believed it was an effective way to launch the series. She also felt that budgetary constraints prompted the production team to think creatively. One of the film's central plot elements—the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt's son—was inspired by the film Shogun's Shadow.

The main portion of the film was assembled from three episodes with similar titles, originally intended to form a trilogy: "Castle of Deception," "Castle of Doom," and "Castle of Salvation." A standalone episode, "The New Padawan," which was developed later as a flashback episode for the series, became the movie's opening sequence, ultimately introducing Ahsoka Tano.

Lucasfilm Animation employed Autodesk software for the film's animation. The Maya 3D modeling program was utilized to construct highly detailed environments, characters, and creatures. The film's animation style was deliberately designed to pay homage to the stylized aesthetics of both Japanese anime and manga, as well as the supermarionation technique employed in the British 1960s series Thunderbirds. During a discussion hosted by Cartoon Network, Lucas stated that he did not want the Clone Wars film or television series to resemble movies like Beowulf because he preferred a stylized look over a realistic one. He also wanted to avoid emulating popular Pixar films, such as The Incredibles, to ensure that the film and its characters possessed a unique style. Lucas also chose to create the animated film and series from a live-action perspective, which Winder said distinguished it from other CGI films because it "meant using long camera shots, aggressive lighting techniques, and relying on editing instead of storyboards." Animators also consulted designs from the original 2003 Clone Wars series when establishing the animation style for the film and the new series.

Kevin Kiner composed the film's musical score. Steward Lee served as a storyboard artist. When the decision was made to produce the film, Lucasfilm contacted all the major Star Wars actors to gauge their interest in voicing their respective characters for The Clone Wars. Ultimately, Anthony Daniels, Matthew Wood, Christopher Lee, and Samuel L. Jackson reprised their roles. Several voice actors also returned from the 2003 series.

Warner Bros. Animation, Industrial Light & Magic, Production I.G, Polygon Pictures, Inc., and CGCG all contributed animation to the film.

At Hasbro's analyst event in the fall of 2007, it was announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would have a "theatrical launch" on August 8, 2008, with its television broadcast scheduled for the fall. While Lucasfilm had previously announced plans for an animated feature film in 2008, an LFL representative initially responded to confirmation requests by stating, "It's one of the many things being discussed but we have no decisions yet. For us it's all about finding a creative way to launch a creative TV series."

During ToyFare 2008, a LEGO official revealed that an animated feature film would be released in the UK in September 2008. This film would consist of the first three episodes of the series, with regular episodes airing later on television on a channel that was yet to be announced. The official announcement that the feature film would be released in theaters on August 15, 2008, with the TV series debuting in the fall, came on February 12, 2008. Warner Bros. presented a preview of the film in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 13, 2008. Lucas attended the event and participated in a question and answer session. The first theatrical trailer was unveiled on May 8, 2008, across five different Turner Network channels. A second trailer followed in June 2008.

The film premiered at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on August 10, 2008, and was later screened on August 14, 2008, at Los Angeles's Nokia Theater in conjunction with a Lucasfilm VIP party featuring special guests John Knoll and Dave Filoni. SpikeTV producer Terry Minogue speculated that his channel might debut the film on television at some point after its theatrical release. The film made its US broadcast premiere on Cartoon Network on November 20, 2010.

The initial release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars merchandise occurred on July 26, 2008. Hasbro Inc. introduced a range of Clone Wars products, including 3 3/4-inch action figures, an electronic clone trooper helmet, a customizable lightsaber, and an electronic AT-TE. Toys "R" Us installed digital clocks in all 585 of its stores, counting down to the release of the Clone Wars toys. Over 225 of these stores opened at midnight to debut the Star Wars products. The Toys "R" Us flagship outlets in Mission Bay, San Diego, California and Times Square in Manhattan, New York City hosted costume and trivia contests on July 26 and gave away limited-edition Star Wars toys with each purchase. A section of the Toys "R" Us website was also dedicated to The Clone Wars.

Due to Lucas's last-minute decision to produce a Clone Wars film after reviewing footage from the television show, Lucas Licensing lacked the time to establish agreements with previous Star Wars marketing partners, such as Pepsi, Burger King, and Kellogg's. Lucasfilm had a 10-year marketing plan with these companies for the other films. When questioned by The New York Times about a Star Wars merchandising in July 2006, a Pepsi spokesperson was unaware that a new Star Wars film was even being released. Target and KB Toys also allocated shelf space for Clone Wars toys but did not host midnight releases or pursue the branding opportunities that Toys "R" Us did. The McDonald's fast food restaurant chain launched its inaugural Happy Meal promotion for a Star Wars movie, commencing on August 15. Over a four-week period, 18 exclusive toys were included in specially designed Happy Meal boxes.

DK Publishing and Penguin Group released tie-in books, activities, and other merchandise, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide (published by DK) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (published by Puffin in the UK and by Grosset & Dunlap in the U.S). The publishers also released storybooks, picture books, and an activity book. At the American International Toy Fair, LEGO announced a product line for the film and the TV series, scheduled for release in July 2008 in the United States and August 2008 in the United Kingdom. LucasArts adapted the movie into Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance for the Nintendo DS and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels for Wii. A reviewer from PocketGamer.co.uk noted that his expectations for Jedi Alliance were low due to negative Clone Wars movie reviews but found the game to be "a varied and well-paced experience."

Dark Horse Comics published a six-issue digest-sized comic book mini-series. Randy Stradley, vice president of publishing for Dark Horse, explained that the sudden decision to release the Clone Wars film necessitated the temporary postponement of plans for two other Star Wars comic book series, Dark Times and Rebellion. The Clone Wars comics did not receive the promotional campaign they would have otherwise due to the abruptness of the theatrical and comic book releases. Topps, the trading cards company, released a series of 90 Clone Wars cards on July 26, which included foil cards, motion cards, animation cel cards, and rare sketch cards by prominent Star Wars artists and Lucasfilm animators.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by Sony Classical on August 12, 2008. The disc opens with the main theme by John Williams, followed by over 30 individual music cues composed by Kevin Kiner. Kiner is recognized for his work on television series such as Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Enterprise, Superboy, and CSI: Miami. The soundtrack incorporates numerous instruments that had not been previously featured in a Star Wars score, including synthesizers, electric guitars, erhus, duduks, ouds, and taikos.

A Star Wars: The Clone Wars open wheel car for the IndyCar Series was unveiled at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International. The #26 car, which also featured Blockbuster Inc. decals and was driven by Andretti Green Racing driver Marco Andretti, participated on August 24 at the Infineon Raceway in the Sonoma Mountains in California. Andretti commented, "I'm hoping that my upcoming battle at Infineon will be as exciting as anything in a Star Wars movie so I can win it for both Blockbuster and Lucasfilm." The car finished 14th at Infineon, which Andretti attributed to a slow pit stop early in the race, adding, "I just don't think it was a very good performance for us today." The Clone Wars car marked the second collaboration between Lucasfilm, Blockbuster, and Andretti Green Racing, following the premiere of an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull car in the Indianapolis 500 in May 2008.

A Star Wars: The Clone Wars MP3 player was released in August 2008 for $59.99. The player includes one gigabyte of memory, capable of holding 1,630 songs or 64 hours of music. It comes with three interchangeable faceplates: a green one featuring Yoda and a lightsaber, a silver one with Captain Rex and a Galactic Empire logo, and one depicting two clone troopers on Coruscant. One review noted that it improved upon a Darth Vader MP3 player released in July 2008, which had only 512 megabytes of memory and a dated visual display. A Star Wars iPod iSpeaker (a speaker/dock for iPods, iPhones, and MP3 players) was also released for $19. The speaker includes an image of Captain Rex and three other Clone Troopers.

The single-disc DVD edition offers only an audio commentary track featuring Director Dave Filoni, Producer Catherine Winder, Writer Henry Gilroy, and Editor Jason Tucker as a special feature.

The two-disc editions include the aforementioned commentary, along with:

• The Clone Wars: The Untold Stories: Previews of stories, vehicles, planets, and battles from Season One of The Clone Wars television series.
• The Voices of The Clone Wars: Split-screen performances featuring voiceover actors and animated characters.
• A New Score: Composer Kevin Kiner discussing the establishment of a new musical identity for the series.
• A gallery of concept and production art.
• Webisodes: Six "making-of" featurettes, originally featured on StarWars.com.
• Deleted Scenes: Cargo Bay, Platform Droid Fight, Rancor Pit, and Through the Tanks.
• Theatrical and video game trailers.
• A digital copy of the film on the second disc.

The Blu-ray editions include all of the above features in 1080p high definition (although deleted scenes and certain trailers are not in HD) on a single 50GB disc. Audio commentary is not included.

• A Creative Conversation Video Commentary: Director Dave Filoni, Producer Catherine Winder, Writer Henry Gilroy, and Editor Jason Tucker discuss bringing the Star Wars legend back to the big screen.
• Take the Hologram Memory Challenge: A test of skill and memory that unlocks three high-definition TV series sneak peeks.
• A digital copy of the film on a second disc.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is also accessible on the Disney+ streaming platform, which was launched on November 12, 2019.

The Clone Wars generated $68.28 million worldwide, including $35.16 million in domestic box office earnings and $33.12 million in foreign revenue. The film earned $14.6 million across 3,590 screens during its opening weekend, including $6.23 million on its opening day, August 15. It ranked as the third-highest-grossing film of the weekend, trailing the action comedy Tropic Thunder and the Batman sequel The Dark Knight, which earned $26 million and $16.8 million, respectively. Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures, stated that the box office performance aligned with expectations, given that two-thirds of the audience consisted of families and that the film was intended to introduce the animated series. Fellman commented, "It was targeted to a specific audience for specific reasons. We accomplished that mission, and it will continue in another medium." When The Clone Wars experienced a drop to $5.7 million in its second week, ContactMusic.com labeled it "the first bona fide Star Wars flop."