Donald Trump Celebrates Star Wars with Special Apprentice Nov. 10 on NBC; Revenge of the Sith DVD and Battlefront II Video Game at Heart of Challenge for Candidates

Business Wire, Nov 2, 2005

NEW YORK -- Donald Trump will journey to a galaxy far, far away when NBC's The Apprentice visits the Star Wars universe for an unprecedented joining of forces between two of the most well-known pop culture icons. The special "Apprentice" featuring Lucasfilm's Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith airs on NBC, Nov. 10, 9-10 p.m. ET/PT.

Coinciding with the simultaneous release of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith on DVD and the Star Wars: Battlefront II video game from LucasArts, the Apprentice candidates find themselves challenged to create compelling, unique marketing materials for the massive launch of both home-entertainment titles. Judging the results are Jim Ward, Senior Vice President of Lucasfilm and President of LucasArts; and Gary Arnold, Senior Vice President of Entertainment for Best Buy.

"Star Wars: Episode III is the biggest movie of the year and broke box-office records. It's the DVD event of the year, and the candidates really have their work cut out for them making sure they please the creators of the most successful entertainment franchise of all time," Trump said. "When someone gets fired in this episode, it's for very good reason."

Ward said, "We needed to create a massive retail event for the combined release of Episode III and Battlefront II, so we wanted to work with someone who really understands how to create excitement and generate interest -- and who could be better than Donald Trump and some of the best young business minds in America?"

The winning team's special Revenge of the Sith-Battlefront II display will be seen at Best Buy stores across the country, with a full-size version appearing in New York City and Los Angeles, and in Marin County, Calif., the home of George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch.

"The Apprentice" is produced by Mark Burnett Productions. Mark Burnett, Jay Bienstock and Donald J. Trump are executive producers. Conrad Riggs and Kevin Harris are co-executive producers.