George Lucas continues to treat the Star Wars saga like his personal Wikipedia page.
The latest news is that Lucas intends to release all six Star Wars films in 3D, starting with "The Phantom Menace" in 2012 and one film per year after that.
While this is not entirely surprising given the enormous success of Avatar, there is a world of difference between a film shot with the full intention of being shown in 3D and taking an existing film and trying to conjure a 3D experience out of a film shot in 2D.
The potential for success is higher with the "first three" films in the saga, however, due to the heavy use of green screen shooting in the series. I imagine that the shooting process segmented foreground acting from backgrounds into seperate data "tracks" so that either could be easily manipulated after the movies' releases. I imagine that being able to go in and manipulate the backgrounds to create depth-of-field in the manner of Avatar would be relatively easy. Doing Episodes VI-VI in 3D would be more challenging depending on the availability of prints. It will be a test however of Lucas' claim that the original negatives of Episodes IV-VI were destroyed after the creation of the "Special Editions," as being able to create a 3D movie would be much easier with the orignal negatives.
Lucas is also set to release a Blu-Ray edition of his movies next year.
It is a rite of passage for every Star Wars fan to realize that the purity of the original trilogy of Episodes IV-VI will continue to be tinkered with by Lucas until he becomes one with the Force sometime in the future. The unfortunate fact is that Lucas has the resources to continue to do so for many many years.
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I love the first sentence, Colin: "George Lucas continues to treat the Star Wars saga like his personal Wikipedia page." Perfect analogy!<br /><br />I remember my dad teaching me that a crucial aspect of making art is knowing when to stop. To be able to decide it's good enough and not try to make it perfect. Because while messing more with it, usually what happens is that it gets distorted and some of its great qualities are lost. And I did in fact ruin some drawings by not stopping at the right time.<br /><br />I wonder how many more mutations the movies will be subjected to as technology inevitably continues to advance? Will they all be re-shot in hologram? Virtual reality? Will Lucas ever figure out that it's about the story not the effects?<br /><br />So yes, a big part of me hates the fact that he's tinkering with the movies AGAIN. But I love movies on the big screen, in Imax, in 3D -- anything that makes them more 'in your face.' So for me, ANY chance to see the originals on the big screen again is worth it even though I fervently wish he wouldn't keep messing with them. (Too bad the prequels are coming out first though. I already endured the crap in 2D and it would just be exponentially worse in 3D.) <br /><br />There is one thing I liked from this article: "Lucas is also set to release a Blu-Ray edition of his movies next year." FINALLY.
Quote : <br />ROFLOL!!!!<br />YES!!!<br /><br />I know what I am doing for next 6 years!<br /><br />JAR JAR IN 3D BABY!!!
Quote : JAR JAR IN 3D BABY!!!<br /><br />To quote Vader at the end of Ep. 3: "Nooooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooo!!!"
<br />YES!!!<br /><br />I know what I am doing for next 6 years!<br /><br />JAR JAR IN 3D BABY!!!