Star Wars Prequels Will Not Be Re-Released In 3D After All
This article is more than 2 years old
Now that Disney owns Lucasfilm, it looks like they will change the company’s direction, namely with decisions made before the Mouse House acquired them. It appears that Lucasfilm will no longer be re-releasing Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in 3D later this year. Lucasfilm will now focus all of their attention on the new Star Wars films.
According to Deadline.com, after the weak box office returns on The Phantom Menace 3D up-conversion re-release last February, Lucasfilm decided not to do the same with the remaining films in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The two films were slated to be re-released in theaters this fall, with Attack of the Clones 3D on September 20th and Revenge of the Sith 3D on October 11th. The Phantom Menace 3D opened to a disappointing $23 million box office.
Lucasfilm made the announcement to re-release the Star Wars saga in theaters with a 3D up-conversion treatment back in September 2010. They announced their plans to re-release Attack of the Clones 3D and Revenge of the Sith 3D back-to-back at Star Wars Celebration VI last August, after the final numbers on The Phantom Menace 3D were dwindling.
Disney executives are now relaunching the franchise with a new screenwriter, Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3), and a new director, J.J. Abrams, so it stands to reason that they would want to reevaluate the direction of the Star Wars brand. But in saying that, it would make sense for them to re-release the entire Star Wars saga before Episode VII is released, if only to re-introduce the franchise to old and new fans alike.
Now that Lucasfilm will focus their attention on the new sequels, will the new films be 3D movies? Considering the box office failure of The Phantom Menace 3D re-release, and that J.J. Abrams is no fan of 3D, some would say absolutely not. Then again, Disney wants to maximize its profits as much as possible, so the cynical answer is probably yes.
