| Sith Apprentice | |
| Director: | John E. Hudgens |
| Producer: | John E. Hudgens |
| Starring: | Robert Alley Robert E. Bean Kristen Caron Patrick McCray |
| Distributor: | Z-Team Productions Atomfilms |
| Runtime: | 12 min |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $1000 |
Sith Apprentice is a Star Wars fan film that made its debut on the internet on March 29, 2005, directed by John E. Hudgens and co-written by Hudgens, Denny Humbard, and Men in Black creator Lowell Cunningham. Made for around $1000,[1] it is a spoof of Star Wars and The Apprentice, with Emperor Palpatine filling the Donald Trump role in his search for a new apprentice. The final candidates in the film are Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and Jar Jar Binks.
While the film primarily spoofs the Star Wars universe in the format of The Apprentice, there are several other notable targets, including swipes at The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Dracula, and The Lord of the Rings. In the film's standout sequence, Darth Vader takes to the stage, dancing Riverdance-style with a squad of stormtroopers.[2]
At one point in the film, Vader cuts off Dooku's head and hands in a scene staged similarly to one in Revenge of the Sith where Anakin, not yet Vader, cuts off Dooku's hands and then proceeds to cut off his head. However, Sith Apprentice was written and filmed months before Revenge of the Sith premiered.[3]
The film has proven popular with Star Wars fans, and won the Audience Choice Award in the Lucasfilm-sponsored 2005 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards.[4] In August 2010, Time magazine listed it as one of the Top 10 Star Wars fanfilms.