No More ‘Star Wars’ 3D Prequel Releases; Lucasfilm Passes To Focus On New Trilogy

Nikki Finke: ''I learned of this decision just now from Lucasfilm‘s promotional partners who are telling me the studio now owned by Disney wants to focus only on “rebooting the franchise” with three new Star Wars films. This surprising decision follows the underwhelming box office performance of Episode I: The Phantom Menace re-released in 3D in February 2012. It debuted to only $23M domestically but maybe even more importantly hardcore fans felt it was yet another craven cash grab by George Lucas. '' (Cinema, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith)

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Comments (6)

DarkBlood + 112d ago

well shit there goes my chance of seeing the original trilogy on the big screen.

and rebooting the franchise? that word seems to lose its meaning nowadays

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LOL_WUT + 111d ago

There goes my chances of seeing the last episode Revenge of the Sith, but it seems like that won't be happening.

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StarWarsFan + 112d ago

The phrase of rebooting a franchise is really getting overused and abused. I like how everyone says Episode I only made $22.5 million in its opening weekend. Come on, that's pretty good. Was anyone really expecting re-releasing the movie would have it gross as much as the first time around or something?

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Garethvk + 111d ago

Exactly. Look at how much it made during the run in the U.S. alone over $50.00 mil. Not bad for $5-10$ million in conversion costs and a 10 year old movie which is considered the worst of the series. I would liked to have seen the battles in AOTC and ROTS as well as the original series in 3D. I am not a fan of converted 3D and believe shot in 3D is the only way to go. I know it is not an option for the past films but there you go. The funny thing is that the process was well under way. AOTC was due in Feb and ROTS in March, then it was pushed back to late in the year, now not at all.

Disney is clearly aware of the backlash on the prequels and I think is trying to remove the bad taste of the films that many fans hold. Do you want 2-4 3D converted Star Wars films coming to the market which may harm the reaction for Episode VII? Best bet is to deprive fans of Star Wars on the big screen for 2+ years so that Episode VII is an even bigger event and people do not get their prequel anger riled and have it stand in the way. I dispute that there are fans who will take a wait and see approach to the new films, but Disney does not want to take chances. There is a ton riding on the new films. Imagine if they come out, and Phantom by comparison is a much better film.

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Soldierone + 111d ago

This really sucks for people like me. I never got the chance to see the original trilogy in theaters and was looking forward to seeing them.

Couldn't care less about the 3D conversion, I just wanted to see them in theaters.

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aDDicteD + 110d ago

As for the prequel the only episode that i want to see was episode 3 on 3d and of course i was really looking forward on seeing the original star wars trilogy on 3d as well. I do hope they'll reconsider on releasing the original trilogy in theaters before episode 7 hits cause i think many would support and watch the original trilogy.

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