Star Wars movies coming to a theater near you in 3-D starting 2012

[Christopher Lefchik]

A galaxy far, far away...now in 3-D. Read all about it: 'Star Wars' saga set for 3D release starting 2012

[John Vincent]

Been rumoured for a while... sadly none of the post 3D techniques work worth a damn. Look at CLASH OF TITANS - a very good big money Hollywood flick - that was nearly ruined by the process... so much so that star Sam Worthington reportedly would not do the sequel unless it was shot in "real" 3D (IE - two cameras lined up during his shot).

Now, I'd expect it to be the best version of the tech, but to really make it sing, you need a image produced by about 3-5 degrees removed from each other camera. No real possible way to do it unless Lucas literally CGs the entire film with the proper degree of separation, then combines them for a "true" 3D image.

Perhaps it's possible... but very unlikely - and certainly not in a year.

Glad I'll be able to take my kids to it... as long as it's also shown in 2D.

[Bruce Watson]

George Lucas is *this* bored? Has he thought about using the money to do something... new?

[Rick Presas]

In his defense, he might stop doing these revisions to Star Wars if people just stopped buying it. They keep buying it though. This will be the 4th (i think) theatrical release of the series. Each revision gets worse and worse, but people still buy.

The last version of Star Wars i bought was the original trilogy with Hayden Christansen and Jar Jar Binx spliced into the ending, and at that moment i decided that i wouldnt buy it again. simple as that.

when they release the original theatrical version on bluray, then maybe i'll replace the one i currently own for it, maybe.

[Dylan Couper]

I have the original on VHS. Everything after that is WRONG.

[Brian Drysdale]

I think this explains everything:

http://www.redlettermedia.com/phantom_menace.html

Also quite few points on the nature of story telling.

[Aaron Holmes]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

I have the original on VHS. Everything after that is WRONG.

This!

Yes, unless I can see that smeary "force field" underneath Luke's speeder, I feel robbed. :-)

Best,
Aaron

[Dan Brockett]

Why is everyone in our business so ga-ga over Star Wars? Never got it, never liked the films, even as a kid and grew to really hate them as an adult. When I worked as a video manager at an electronics retailer in the 80s, had to look at Return of the Jedi every day, all day for years, it was like the treatment in Clockwork Orange with toothpicks on my eyelids. Now Lucas is going to try to milk even more suckers by adding fake 3D? Ughh.

Why would anyone go to see that?

Dan Brockett

[Zach Love]

If anyone can take a 2D movie & make it a good 3D movie to watch, it is James Cameron with Titanic & George Lucas with Star Wars.

I think there have been a lot of awful 3D movies out there lately b/c they were doing 3D as a gimmick & not as a story telling tool.

I was amazed with the 3D in Avatar. I really felt that I was taken to a different world & was blown away with how well 3D was used. If Lucas & Cameron can re-create that in 2012, then I'll look forward to it.

If it sucks, well then all the people who hate 3D can have faith that 3D will be killed off in 2012.

[John Vincent]

Zack, Cameron used state of the art stereo-scopic 3D - "real" 3D - when making his pile of money. Didn't love it, but the 3D was actual 3D. Two cameras and/or two separate renders.

To really get 3D, you need two images shot at the same time or made in post. To truly get that for films that are, in the case of A NEW HOPE, 30 years old, Lucas would have to replicate the original images but off-set by 3 to 5 degrees.

Which means each movie totally replicated in perfection in CG, then combing that image with the original.

Hope I'm wrong, 'cause I do like 3D & STAR WARS, but I don't think that is what is going to happen. It will be some sort of post pseudo 3D that simply doesn't cut it in this day.

[Peter Moretti]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

I think this explains everything:

Red Letter Media

Also quite few points on the nature of story telling.

Brian, that was awesome. Thanks so much! :)

[Zach Love]

Originally Posted by John Vincent

Hope I'm wrong, 'cause I do like 3D & STAR WARS, but I don't think that is what is going to happen. It will be some sort of post pseudo 3D that simply doesn't cut it in this day.

I hope you're wrong too.

Lucas is a hard duck to follow, sometimes he makes decisions to make him more money & sometimes he passes on things which would make him more money. SW in 3D could just be one of those things that he knows will make him more money & so "why not."

Cameron on the other hand is an easier psychological nut to crack. His entire career is an upward trajectory of better, grander & more profit.

After Titanic, Cameron could have done anything he wanted to in Hollywood. He could have made flops for the last ten years & the studios would still be willing to invest in his ideas. Yet he took nearly a decade off to do whatever he wanted to do. And what he wanted to do was push 3D & underwater film making to new boundaries.

Re-releasing Titanic in 3D is either a stunt to make more money for Avatar 2, or it is something that Cameron believes in & will make Titanic better, grander & more profit.

If there is one man alive that can make a 2D movie work in 3D it is James Cameron. And if there is one man who can follow suit & spend as much as Cameron making a 2D movie 3D, it is Lucas. If Titanic is good, there is a good chance Star Wars will be good.

If neither of these are good, then it can't be done with our current technology. Maybe we have to wait another 10 years for the CGI to get to the right point, or maybe it really is ready, it just has to be done right, by the right guys.