According to a recent article published online via the Hollywoodreporter.com on September 28 2010, George Lucas has received a ton of inspiration from the success of 3D movies like Avatar and ... well mainly Avatar:
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-- 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.
[Above: Darth Maul vs Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, two of the film's main Jedi masters]
Star Wars Episode I, "The Phantom Menace," would be first movie cruising out of the 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.--
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Now stop the presses... I said stop the damn presses, people....
Q: IS GEORGE LUCAS REALLY GOING TO SUBJECT US TO AN OVERLOAD OF THE 6 "ALREADY SEEN MOVIES" BOTH AS COLLECTIBLES AND AS THEATRICAL RE-RELEASES??
A: Apparently he is.
Frankly, I don't know why he's doing this. I do not know George Lucas personally, and therefore, I can't really discern the inspiration for his trend of thoughts, and his consequent actions. Some say he is too rigid and pedantic about handing over the Star Wars legend to other writers, who will carry it forward. And some critics believe that George doesn't really have a future vision for the series beyond the "Death of Darth Vader".
But the bottom line is this: as true fans of the Star Wars franchise [which is still ahead of Transformers and Harry Porter in terms of its cumulative profits] we would all like to see EPISODE 7 and not more colorful remakes of Episodes I to VI.
For those of you that aren't current with the direction the Star Wars series has been taking over the past 3 years, they've started a 3D animated series titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars which takes place between the movies tagged as Episode II [Attack of the Clones] and III [Revenge of the Sith]. According to the official series chronology, there is a 3-year gap between those movies, released in theaters around the world in the years 2002 and 2005 respectively.
Star Wars Cartoons that you may not have seen...
Although fanboys praised that 3D animated feature, the parts of it I saw eventually [via Youtube] were really not that impressive, in terms of action sequences. In my opinion, there was a 2D cartoon version of Clone Wars released as 5-minute episodes [tagged as a microseries by its producers, and released as 25 brief episodes/chapters from 2003 to 2005]. It aired on the popular cable channel Cartoon Network several years ago. And those series of shorts were completely phenomenal, in terms of the action and dynamic setup.
Each of the chief jedi [military generals in the republic army, ahead of the millions of white-armored clones] received showcases in the brief episodes, letting fans see a glimpse into their personalities and abilities, tied to their distinct training regiments. Since every sith/jedi apprentice has a master, their dueling style is undoubtedly tied to their tutor. In the episodes, Yoda, Obi Wan, Mace Windu, Shaak Ti and Anakin all get to show off their fighting/leadership skills, and despite the fact that it was drafted traditionally, this cartoon series was one of the best I've seen. Scout through Youtube and you'll see more clips of that show.
The popular femme fatale named Asajj Ventress [a dark jedi aka a sith, who becomes Anakin's arch nemesis for many years] was also introduced in this stunning series.
BTW Anakin Skywalkerjedis to be trained by three different masters at disparate stages in his life: Obi Wan Kenobi, Yoda and the SithSidious [the elusive villain often called the Emperor of the evil Galactic Empire] all imparted knowledge and skills to him. And Darth Vader later mentored a secret apprentice named Starkiller - in a novel/video game spin-off tied to "The Force Unleashed" series.
Apparently that brief 2D cartoon series was completely boycotted as an official historic record, once the "introductory" Star Wars: The Clone Wars 3D animated movie hit theaters back in August of 2008 [the movie I mentioned at the top paragraph, an shown on the left side].
I've tagged it as "introductory", because it became the flagship of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars 3D cartoon series that started in October 2008 and have been airing in 13-episode seasons since then.
Its cool stuff... Yet to be honest with you, if you are familiar with the live action movies and George Lucas' legend, you know exactly what is going to happen in the Star Wars 3D cartoons; you know who is destined to die, and who is destined to become a bad guy. Thus you really don't have to expect anything extraordinary, because the cartoon is set between movies that have already been launched in theaters about 5 years ago... the same movies that Lucasfilm Inc. want to convert into 3D live action feature films in 2012.
I could dive into an angry verbal conundrum right here, but I digress. If you love Star Wars, just keep loving it. And if you don't like what they release, then just don't support it... You can support DSNG instead, knowing that the DSNG sci fi saga is going to be completely unpredictable, and the fusion of action & romance will keep you coming back for more :)
Cool Links:
Artwork of Sexy Jedi Babes, Aayala and Asoca: http://dsngsfm.blogspot.com/2011/02/jedi-babes-part-2.html
DSNG Chronicles Book 1 [Part 1 of 6 ebooks available at Amazon]: HERE
