At Celebration’s Closing Ceremonies, Ian McDiarmid announced (via video) the release dates for AOTC and ROTS 3D:
AOTC 9/20/13
ROTS 10/11/13
(They also just dropped that Celebration Europe II will be next July in Germany.)
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August 26, 2012 at 1:04 pm |
I *thought* those rumors were too persistent to be false! I have mixed feelings about this…part of me is happy to see AOTC and ROTS in 3D sooner rather than later, but then part of me suspects that LFL is just “getting these over with” to get to the OT. What do you think about it, LP?
August 26, 2012 at 6:36 pm |
I think they have a good idea now of how well 2D-to-3D conversions do at the box office and spacing them out once a year probably doesn’t make much sense to them anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if ANH 3D, TESB 3D, and ROTS 3D are released within a few weeks of each other too.
August 26, 2012 at 2:39 pm |
I’m wondering if after this, they’ll have the OT all in one year like they did with the Special Edition releases. And hell, why not then release all six for the 40th anniversary?
August 26, 2012 at 3:01 pm |
Frankly, I’m REALLY glad to hear this. Spreading these out one-a-year over six years was definitely a way to see the complete saga in 3D get cut off at some point. Make this an event over the course of two months and draw more attention to it. That’s the way to go! The “original trilogy” is going to be a job of converting a pre-digital FILM to 3D. That’s more-than-likely why everyone said the AOTC 3D preview looked so much better AND that they’re able to release BOTH so soon is that they’re completely in the digital format to begin with. Still not hearing anybody saying anything about HOME VIDEO 3D release. Maybe with all of the first three episodes out, they’ll make the money off of theatrical AND THEN home video and get to work on Eps 4,5, and 6.
August 26, 2012 at 7:19 pm |
BTW my jaw literally dropped at the ROTS footage they showed. The perspective in the space battle was far superior to any 3D I’ve seen before.
August 26, 2012 at 10:19 pm |
Aww, you got to see it?!
August 27, 2012 at 2:36 am |
Great news!! And how appropriate, eh, that the saga’s arch villain should announce this wickedly exciting development? I always wondered about that “one a year” deal, as I’m sure did most other fans. It didn’t seem like it could be justified under existing market conditions, so I’m glad to see the release schedule appears to have been hurried up. When I was leaving the screening of TPM 3D, I got into a brief conversation with a fellow punter about the LFL release roadmap, and I’m relieved I didn’t fill the guy with some wildly improbable idea out of accord with these newly-emerged facts (I speculated that the films might be released six months apart). Of course, what this also does — well, from a certain POV *wink* — is effectively seal TPM 3D off from the rest (well, the other prequels, at least), which seems fitting for the overture to the saga it really is. Nice to see that it’s going to be a bit of an island unto itself, and also maybe a somewhat tamer and more dignified use of the technology than the others: a solid foundation that the others can build on. And now, roll on, you sweet others, you.
August 27, 2012 at 7:01 am |
I think they just had to try “Phantom Menace” out in that format to see what it would do. The perception IS that it’s the least appreciated – although it’s worldwide box office take from this 3D run put it into the billion dollar club, ahead of “Dark Knight even. Despite the hype and hoopla, things are still untested with 3D releases and with Lucasfilm not quite on the level as the major studios, they’re proceeding carefully. With Episode 1 shot on film and then converted to digital, that made in probably harder to convert to 3D compared to the shot-on-digital second and third episodes. That MAY indicate why their conversion and release is happening at a faster pace. When they’re out on 3D home video – which despite NO NEWS on this, surely sometime will happen – we’ll see all the movies presented together and “Phantom Menace” won’t seem so “sealed off from the rest”.
August 28, 2012 at 3:46 am
I don’t think there is any practical difference between the film-based production of TPM and the digital ones for AOTC and ROTS. One of the main reasons Lucas switched to digital was so he could cut costs and *avoid* the added hassle of scanning physical film in for processing, visual effects, editing, and colour timing: cut out the analogue-to-digital process; save a step. But once it’s in the computer, it’s all the same: it’s all digital. TPM, though, as you say, will be brought into unity with the other prequels, eventually, once a box set is released. By the way, they seem to have fallen silent about TPM 3D’s release to Blu-ray. It was meant to be about around now. I guess it makes better business sense to wait and release them all in a pack, maybe like the existing Blu-ray discs: prequel, original, saga. That means one might hit the shops just before Xmas 2013, if they stick to the plan and get AOTC and ROTS out in September and October. Although that would make an awfully tight cinema-to-home-video transition time-frame. Well, whatever. At least this 3D project isn’t dead — not yet, anyway. Far from it, it seems!
August 28, 2012 at 5:42 am
It could be said that NOW is what Lucas was looking ahead toward when converting Phantom Menace to digital and shooting the others in that process. The 3D we have now, the quality, getting it into a wide release – simply couldn’t be done logistically or economically with film. And then of course digital adoption has happened so fast, manufacturers aren’t making film cameras anymore – I just read the other day that Kodak is selling off it’s film division. So it WAS a practical decision at that time for doing effects, editing and reducing production costs but really it was to allow Star Wars to continue and evolve in a coming digital entertainment age.
The video enthusiasts, sites and blogs seem to be speculating that late ’13 or ’14 will have a 3D home video release of Eps 1, 2 and 3. At any rate you figure sometime in the interim between the first three’s release and the second they’ll have a home video release.
August 27, 2012 at 1:26 pm |
I so pumped for this! Best news to come out of C6. Clone Wars looks insane. Detours looks, well stupid, to be nice. Fan boy crap. Just got the new Insider, bit disappoint in there AOTC Anniversay issue. Content looks good but, there should be a WHOLE issue dedacated to to it. TPM 10th got a whole issue. Another fail on Lucasfilms part. Any “Why We Love Episodes I-III” coverage coming LP?