Is SW "Comin' At Ya?"
(Pat yourself on the back if you remember the 1981 3D flick Comin' At Ya.)
You knew it was inevitable, I knew it was inevitable. Papa George was cornered at the Golden Globules Awards on Sunday night by Access Hollywood and he said that the 3D version of the saga is "closer" to happening:
http://community.livejournal.com/theholonet/3903.html
As you might remember, a 3D digital version of all 6 movies had been on the drawing boards since 2005. Test shots from ANH and AOTC were sporadically shown, including to some Spaniards at a digital effects conference some years back. Then all of a sudden, the whole project got shoved to the back burner. Not enough digital screens and the technology wasn't quiiiite there. My unspoken theory was that Lucas and Co. were going to wait and see how that 3D Smurf movie was going to do first. Now that it has made "titanic" amounts of cash, there's proof that 1) audiences are ready for it 2) there are enough screens now to make the investment worthwhile and 3)the technology is there to make it happen.
Of course, you know and I know when George Lucas says he's closer to getting something done, you're still years away from seeing it happen. I recall he said when Jurassic Park came out that with the CGI technology at a point where he was satisfied, he was "closer" to making more SW movies. Yeah, six years closer! Now he won't have to create new movies from scratch, but the process is still going to take a while. He still has to launch the live action show within the next couple of years.
My prediction is we'll see the first one out in glorious 3D in the 2015-2017 timeframe. (Whether it will be ANH or TPM is anyone's guess.) Why? Because that's just how long things take in SW-land. By then the tech will be even better and there will be even more screens/IMAXes to accomodate the films. As anxious as I am to see a 3D shirtless Anakin or a 3D Han bending over blown up to 8 stories, I want them to be the best they could be. And for that, you gotta wait.
On the other hand, the 3D revamp of Star Tours, with all-new material, will only take about a year. So who knows?
You knew it was inevitable, I knew it was inevitable. Papa George was cornered at the Golden Globules Awards on Sunday night by Access Hollywood and he said that the 3D version of the saga is "closer" to happening:
http://community.livejournal.com/theholonet/3903.html
As you might remember, a 3D digital version of all 6 movies had been on the drawing boards since 2005. Test shots from ANH and AOTC were sporadically shown, including to some Spaniards at a digital effects conference some years back. Then all of a sudden, the whole project got shoved to the back burner. Not enough digital screens and the technology wasn't quiiiite there. My unspoken theory was that Lucas and Co. were going to wait and see how that 3D Smurf movie was going to do first. Now that it has made "titanic" amounts of cash, there's proof that 1) audiences are ready for it 2) there are enough screens now to make the investment worthwhile and 3)the technology is there to make it happen.
Of course, you know and I know when George Lucas says he's closer to getting something done, you're still years away from seeing it happen. I recall he said when Jurassic Park came out that with the CGI technology at a point where he was satisfied, he was "closer" to making more SW movies. Yeah, six years closer! Now he won't have to create new movies from scratch, but the process is still going to take a while. He still has to launch the live action show within the next couple of years.
My prediction is we'll see the first one out in glorious 3D in the 2015-2017 timeframe. (Whether it will be ANH or TPM is anyone's guess.) Why? Because that's just how long things take in SW-land. By then the tech will be even better and there will be even more screens/IMAXes to accomodate the films. As anxious as I am to see a 3D shirtless Anakin or a 3D Han bending over blown up to 8 stories, I want them to be the best they could be. And for that, you gotta wait.
On the other hand, the 3D revamp of Star Tours, with all-new material, will only take about a year. So who knows?