The Force was not with Bay Ridge this week.
Sci-fi lovers were ready to open up a can of Jedi all over “Star Wars” creator George Lucas after the film legend demanded the cancelation of a modest movie marathon honoring his double trilogy set for July 3 at a Fifth Avenue bar.
Organizers had planned to screen all six “Star Wars” movies — in succession, of course — at the Wicked Monk between 84th and 85th Streets. And there would also be a costume contest and drink specials specific to each movie in the saga.
But when Lucas found out, he surrendered to the Dark Side of the Force, firing off a cease-and-desist letter that compelled organizers to scrub the event.
Insiders said that the resulting depression felt as if dozens of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
“God forbid a few people in Brooklyn want to get together and watch the movies — that we paid for!” said self-described “movie geek” Mike DeVito, 32, who was both enraged and saddened that his movie-making hero had apparently abandoned the teachings of Yoda, the Jedi master.
“[Lucas] has become worse than Darth Vader — Vader is at least redeemable,” said DeVito, referring to the anti-hero of Lucas’s first three “Star Wars” films (which are actually the fourth through sixth films in the series — but you knew that).
The cease-and-desist request argued that organizers were not allowed to show the films because they were charging admission. But fliers advertising the marathon indicate that the only cost was for drinks at the bar.
The letter also claimed that DeVito’s rebel alliance failed to get permission to use the “Star Wars” logo on its promotional material.
That’s no Jedi mind trick, DeVito admitted, but he added that he and his pals have lost money over the last two months of promoting the now non-event.
“They should have known it was a local, free event,” said DeVito. “Depriving George Lucas of his cut wasn’t the intended goal of it.”
Lucas’s company did not respond to a request for comment, but DeVito said that the entire incident has left him feeling like most of Lucas’s fans felt the first time they saw Jar Jar Binks.
“I always tried to be the one voice saying, ‘Oh, Lucas is not that bad,’” DeVito said. “I’ve always had such blind loyalty. That’s over.”
