Digital distribution of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

From iTunes to streaming video and exclusive, online content, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS not only premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network, but also paves the way for the most extensive digital distribution effort in the history of Lucasfilm Ltd..

Beginning Saturday, Oct. 4, each week’s new episode will be available at the iTunes Store (www.iTunes.com) for $1.99 an episode, or $39.99 for a season pass to all 22 episodes. Both “Ambush” and “Rising Malevolence,” which air tonight, will be available starting Saturday. This pattern will continue throughout the season, with each new episode available at the iTunes Store the day after its Cartoon Network premiere.

Additionally, a half-hour, behind-the-scenes special about the making of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS will be available on the iTunes store as a free download, beginning today.

At the official Star Wars site, www.starwars.com, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS will be available for online, streamed viewing beginning Friday, Oct. 10. The episodes will also be seen at www.cartoonnetwork.com. Streaming episodes will be available exactly one week after airing on Cartoon Network. At any given time, two episodes will be available for free, online viewing.

And there’s even more original, digital content for CLONE WARS viewers.

Starting with “Rising Malevolence,” the series’ second episode, StarWars.com will offer a regular podcast – one that combines news and information with the creativity of Lucasfilm. It will be available both at StarWars.com and at iTunes. At both locations, the podcast will be free for fans who want to learn more about the secrets of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS.

Moreover, StarWars.com will offer an exclusive, entirely new online graphic novel, with new insights into the CLONE WARS galaxy. Written by Star Wars expert Pablo Hidalgo, its weekly installments will feature four different artists, each of whom illustrates a new “chapter.” Each of the 23 “chapters” will serve as an introduction to that week’s episode of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS.