'Star Wars' saga set for 3D release starting 2012
 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...92835d50e86a3a



Big news on the 3D front.

Sources indicate that George Lucas is set on rereleasing the "Star Wars" franchise in new 3D conversions beginning in 2012. Although 3D versions have been rumored for some time, Lucas purportedly was waiting until there were enough screens available to make the release a sizable event.

Fox, which released all six original "Star Wars" films, also would release the 3D versions.

Episode I, "The Phantom Menace," would be first out of star-dock during early 2012. After that, each film would be released in order at the same time in consecutive years, depending on how well the first rerelease does.

Each conversion takes at least a year to complete, with Lucas overseeing the process to make sure each is as perfect as possible. He has said that the "Avatar" experience convinced him that "Star Wars" is ready for the state-of-the-art 3D treatment.

Starting with "Phantom Menace," Lucasfilm would use several higher-end conversion houses to work on the project. By late winter or early spring in 2012, the exhibition industry should have all the 3D screens anyone could want for such a release.

At present, pics are limited to 2,000-2,500 3D locations owing to an insufficient installed base of projectors and screens. Movie theaters are adding 3D screens at a clip of 500 a month in the U.S. Foreign exhibitors also are pushing into 3D as quickly as possible now that financing for the installations is flowing.

Also pushing the timetable is a potential breakthrough in 3D TV technology. With Samsung penetrating the market with 50,000-plus 3D-equipped sets and Sony recently sending its version to market, the home-viewing experience could be primed for 3D DVD versions of the films by the time the new 3D theatrical releases have run their course.

Lucas purportedly is lining up the theatrical rereleases as a lead-in to the ultimate home-viewing experience. Beyond that, the property would launch to other 3D media.

In the meantime, Lucas plans a comprehensive Blu-ray Disc set of the six films next year, which would include upgraded picture and sound quality, new deleted scenes and special features.

So sick of 3-D....

FYP

That works too.

This is going to kick ****ing ass. This is what 3D should be for.

SEE IT AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME NERFHERDERS

Just what I always wanted to see - JarJar Binks in 3D. :#

I suppose I'll buy the blu rays when they come out, since the original three will be worth having. I might even go see them in the theater. The last three, though? **** you, Lucas.

Im sure they will look great in 3D but..............Ive Seen all the movies on the big screen multiple times...owned all them on VHS multiple versions...owned them on Laserdisc.....now own them all on DVD. Im about done giving Lucas any more of my money for anything Star Wars.

I hear you - I've said the same thing more than once.

But I've got to have the originals on blu ray. And if it means buying those last three overblown shitfests along with it, I guess.... I guess... ****.

**** YOU LUCAS

:cuss:

I believe all the movies have been shown in HD on pay cable a few times? Get a DVR. : )

I've got three of the goddamn things, but no way (that I know of) to transfer things stored on them elsewhere.

Here's an idea - instead of re-mastering these movies (ep. 4-6 AGAIN), how about we get some NEW ****ING MOVIES? God forbid we get anything new and fresh in the Star Wars universe from Lucas not named the Clone Wars. Yeah, yeah....the Skywalker story ended with the ****ing chinchillas on Endor. Whatever, blow it out your ass. Give me the Thrawn story; give me some Jedi Academy stories; give me ANYTHING but you sucking off the same dried up cash cow tit, Lucas. Just because James Cameron hits it big in 3D with Avatar does NOT mean I need to have Jar Jar and Ewoks in 3D. ****!

Blow me, George.

Have you ever watched the Red Letter Media reviews of the newer movies? They're long, but funny as hell and spot on. And they definitely identify Lucas's main problem - he has some great ideas that need to be tempered by people who are actually SANE. In the first movie his creative control was limited (and thank God for that, or else we'd have had a midget Luke Skywalker and a reptilian Han Solo). For the second and third movies, he wisely deferred directing responsibilities to more skilled directors and stayed behind the scenes.

But fast forward 15-20 years, and now Lucas is alone on top of a mountain of money, power and ego, surrounded by sycophants who don't dare tell him that his new ideas not only SUCK, but SUCK HARD. The steady hand of Gary Kurtz is long gone. The funny thing is, the RLM reviews show footage of his staff meetings, and you can see the WTF???!!!??? looks on the faces of his underlings as he describes the awful things he wants to do. But again, his opinions can no longer be challenged.

What this all boils down to is that there's about a 99% chance that anything he does in the future will suck, and I simply don't want him to do any further damage. I wish he'd just release IV, V and VI on blu ray as-is and then go away, but that won't happen. God only knows how many more "Greedo shoots first" moments he has in store for us in his next round of mindless tinkering.

This!!!!!!!!!

Seriously.....I'm tired of Star Wars.

Go **** yourself Lucas.

Enough already.

I never thought I would say this...

Star Wars sucks.

Crappy 3D just for the sake of jumping on the 3D wagon to make a buck. No thanks!

Tell you what, make new KotOR movies using the same graphics and animation from the KotR MMO trailers, and then I will be interested.

Shit I rather see a live action movie about The force unleashed "Starkiller" cause I love the storyline in the game

The Episode I lightsaber duel will look incredible in 3D.

This is going to kick ass.

I don't know how anyone can complain about not getting new material while the Clone Wars is running new episodes. Clone Wars is easily - easily the best sci fi cartoon series ever created and is well worth the time of any Star Wars fan.

I wish 3D would just die in a fire.

3-D isn't all that to me but I'll bet this is pretty F N cool.

I'll be happy seeing slavegirl leia in 3D.

Reports are that even in 3D Hayden Christensen's performance remains flat.

I agree with you about Clone Wars (hell, Anakin is a way more interesting character in the animated series than he was in the movies), but that's not the point. Personally, I couldn't give a shit less about seeing the movies redone into 3D. It's nothing more than a money grab for him. Star Wars has so much potential on the big screen with all the material that is out there post episode VI that it's ridiculous. But Lucas' ego apparently won't allow him to continue the storyline, especially if he didn't think it up.

Siberian summed it up perfectly - Enough. Enough with tinkiering with these classics from my youth. Give me something new to excited for.

LMAO

This.

And this.

:shake:

No it's not.

Movies that are not shot in 3D but then revamped to 3D look lame. This is going to suck out loud, and by now, isn't eveyrone tired of the same old story over and over and over again.

I've mentioned it before but it is still amazing to me how much of a kick ass character Anakin is in the Clone Wars, especially when you consider that the character goes back to being a whiny putz in Revenge Of The Sith. :spock:

I hate to say it, but from an artistic point of view, I agree with Lucas. Anything after ROTJ would ruin the artistic theme of the saga. This said, I would love to see a prequel to the prequels highlighting the rise of Palpatine. I don't believe that this would compromise the artistic theme the same way, say, a Thrawn trilogy would.

He has his whiny moments in Clone Wars. That's the character. And what's more, he's got to lose his padawan learner between now and ROTS.

Thats mainly because Hayden Christianson cant act.

Well, there's that.

what is the point of buying a 3D movie on DVD? Do you have a 70-inch 3D television on you wall at home?

don't care ... Must ... have ... Natalie ... Portman!!!!!1111

I thought it was because you would be able to get the originals on blu-ray, not because they are 3-D. :shrug:

The article says he'll release blu rays next year, before the 3D crap.

ok ... my drug addled brain didn't catch that

No, I think I've already seen those movies. In fact, I know I have. I'm willing to bet a great deal of money that I've seen the movies that are coming out AGAIN in theaters.

No problem. I realize you're also somewhat hamstrung by that whole Kansas thing..... :)

This is friggin' ridiculous. He's looking more and more pitiful every damn day. He's just sitting around, trying to think of ways that his old 1970's idea can still be relevant and lucrative today. It's embarrassing.

...and yeah, I might give Episodes 4-6 a try in 3-D...I suck...

heh ... dam MU bastige :cuss:

Red letter media ****ing rules!

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Best Palpatine EVAAAR!

The annoying part is.... we... still.... FALL FOR IT :cuss:

No, George Lucas can't direct his way out of a paper bag. Christianson is not that bad. Consider that Portman is a damn fine actress, Liam Neeson is a incredible, and BOTH turned in sub-par performances.

George Luca$$ needs to shutup for a DECADE and leave movies alone.

Sick of him, midgets in ewok suits , star sores and 3d.

You basically need to be an actor on the level of Alec Guinness to survive Darth Lucas' directing.

Completely this. There is a reason ESB and RotJ were the best of all the movies.

I don't even think it's just the directing. I think a great deal of the dialogue is corny and clunky and lame, mostly Episodes 1-3. The way Obi Wan has to keep referring to Anakin as, "my young apprentice". It's just dumb. People who supposedly have spent that much time together would speak more naturally to one another. The script itself is just crummy, in my opinion.

:Lin:

ROTJ was awful in 1983 and awful to this day.

I was at Glenwood Theaters in 1983 on opening day and couldn't believe the shit I just witnessed onscreen.

TESB was by far the best Star Wars film, mainly due to the script. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher were still clunky actors and Mark Hamill might as well have been Hayden Christensen's uncle.

Vader and the story owned the film.

I really enjoyed RotJ but it was second by a mile to TESB. I do agree with everyone that they NEVER should have brought in those damn ewoks.

I disagree....i saw it at Bannister Mall opening day and everyone loved it. I was only 12 or 13 though....i agree it hasnt aged very well, but the Vader/Emperor/Luke stuff is still great and still being copied to this day. Toy Story 3 ripped it off at the end.

Return of the Jedi had the best parts. The interplay between Luke, Vader and the Emperor was as good as it ever got. I hate the ****ing teddy bear things :# as much as anybody, but the rest of the film made up for it.

I saw this movie opening night at the Kennedy Theater in Kirksville when I was 17. I'll never forget the roar of the audience when Vader chucked the Emperor down the shaft. I've never experienced a crowd reaction that strong since (except, perhaps, the booing at the end of Batman and Robin).

The Jabba stuff at the beginning was extremely solid too, both the stuff in the palace and the sailbarge fight.

Dane (I think) has said that there have been murmurs of possible movies involving Yoda as a Padawan. Your idea or that one would be fine - IT'S NEW MATERIAL. That's all I'm asking for here. I have ZERO interest in seeing 30+ year old movies being remade into 3D. NONE. Can't wait for Holographic technology to make its way into theaters when Lucas is 101, and just before he kicks, he finds the fountain of youth and decides that he can't die without making Star Wars Holographic. And just my opinion here, but I think Star Wars is an entity that could surpass the "artistic theme" argument, based on popularity alone. Hollywood execs would get wood thinking about the money that could be made, and millions of fans would be juiced to see what's next. Again, jmo.

The first time I saw RotJ was at the Metro North AMC 6 Theaters, and the first cheer came when Luke was about to get tossed into the Sandy Vagina, flipped back on the barge, and lit up his new, green lightsaber. The place went crazy.

Well if we're sharing memories, the Glenwood crowd went absolutely insane the moment Darth Vader walked down the ramp from his shuttle in the second Death Star.

I had never seen or heard anything like that in a movie theater before and I went to tons of movies as a kid.

My fondest memories as a kid were when Vader threw the Emperor down the shaft and when Ripley said "Get Away from her you B*tch!"

Ive never heard a theater get so loud since.

Good call on the Ripley line - that was real crowd pleaser.

The only time I remember a crowd actually cheering was in Rocky 4 when Rocky started rocking Drago.

That was the last rumor I heard but I haven't heard much about it since. I think the Clone Wars series has been excellent and the look, especially the space sequences, are equal to or superior to any of the movies. The voice actors are excellent as well and definitely surpass those of the latest trilogy.

On another note, I've "heard" that the live action series is mapped out and ready to go but the costs are prohibiting it from moving forward. He's got a hundred episodes with script in hand but at this point, it's a losing proposition because there isn't a network to fund it. I've heard he's looking at $20 million per episode minimum, so it doesn't appear that'll happen any time soon.

The Clone Wars has really come a long way from where it started. I watch it every week now.

Yep. When I went to see Rocky 4 the place was just plain nuts. I also remember quite a bit of cheering at the end of Karate Kid when Danielsan pulled out his crane kick.

Damn I have never been at a theater where people cheered where people cheered out loud I bet that was pretty cool though hell I'm 28 and i still love that scene lol

I hope that George Lucas has enough to get by in this recession.

no way I see episodes 1-3
will only see the originals if
HAN SHOOTS FIRST

this

:clap:

Official release date Feb 10th, 2012


http://starwars.com/movies/episode-i...ate/index.html


Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox announced today that the 3D theatrical launch of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace now has an official release date -- February 10, 2012! Set against the thrilling and exotic backdrop of a "galaxy far, far away," Star Wars is perfectly suited to the immersive 3D theatrical experience, and Episode I delivers some of the Saga's most stunning and spectacular sequences -- from the Naboo invasion to the Tatooine Podraces to the climactic lightsaber battle between Darth Maul and the Jedi.
Supervised by Industrial Light & Magic, the meticulous conversion is being done with utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.

OMG I think I truly just hate George Lucas.

How did you get Revenge of the Sith on VCR? Did you tape it off the TV? I cannot find it anywhere in VCR form.

Why would you want it in VCR form?

Maybe they are out of print now, but they have been on VHS tape for years....in the 80's, and 90's...IM pretty sure i threw all my tapes away.

Mainly for collector purposes, I have them all but that one.

Sweet! Less than a year and I get to see Star Wars on the big screen again. DLP BABY! FAP FAP FAP

I will keep looking on ebay, amazon and such but they never realeased the VHS version of Revenge of the Sith around Nashville. I have the other 5 in VHS.

I wonder if a 3rd dimension will make me give a shit about the characters or anything going on. I'm guessing not. I'll never be able to test my theory, though, since there is no force on Earth that can compel me to attend this shameless money grab.

I never understood the hate for Phantom Menace. I thought it was an awesome Star Wars film, complete with Jedi vs. Sith, a great race, awesome lightsaber battles and the perfect Jedi in Liam Neeson.

I also believe that it's John Williams finest Star Wars score, maybe his best score, ever.

Personally, Jar Jar never bothered me and I liked the story line quite a bit. With that said, AOTC is absolutely unwatchable for me and ROTS is only slightly better.

It was Jar-Jar and little Anni. Both were awful.