Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The nice folks at MarketSaw ran a hardcore rumor today, claiming a source has told them that Lucas is planning a new Star Wars Trilogy to be shot in 3-D... And that he wasn't directing, but there was rumor of Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola finally getting to make their Star Wars movies.
Yeah, so if that didn't smell already check the wording of the article...
"Well it is coming from a source that SHOULD KNOW. This source is absolutely connected. So odds are it is seriously being talked about at Lucasfilm. Right now. Will it happen? AVATAR will have to hit and hit big and then all the stars have to align properly - all I can do is pass on the info."
That's repeated a few times in the article, saying that Avatar has to be a success for the 3-D screens to be there or there will never be new Star Wars movies ever! So you better make sure Avatar does super good!
Sounds to me like their source is someone at Fox trying to get some people to believe that by buying a ticket to Avatar they're ensuring new Star Wars movies to me.
That said, stranger shit has happened, so I contacted Laura Wuhlhammer of Lucasfilm's Public Relations department and asked her about the rumor. This is the first response:
Hi Eric,
Thanks for your email. Lucasfilm is not currently working on a 3D version of the Star Wars movies.
Best,
Laura
Wait... that reads like a denial of them actively working on retrofitting the Original Trilogy to 3-D. So I wanted to make damn sure what she was saying, be positive she wasn't snaking around the question, so I wrote back a clarifying email, distinguishing the OT and PT 3-D-ification vs. a whole new set of Star Wars movies.
Hi Eric,
We do not have any Star Wars theatrical movies planned.
Thanks,
Laura
That's more like it.
Now, I will say that Lucasfilm would be the last place to confirm a rumor as true... even if it is (they did that a lot back in the day... I remember them denying Ewan McGregor was cast as Obi-Wan for the entire month leading up to their announcement), but this story already stinks of untruth (especially with Coppola's name being thrown in there... read this), so I think it's pretty safe to call BS on this one... especially with Lucas so engulfed in the live action TV show at the moment.
I think the part about Lucas waiting for 3-D screens is true, but so he can restart the 3-D versions of the first 6 movies and send them out as huge rereleases not to start a brand new trilogy. I've seen the test footage of the opening of A New Hope in 3-D and it's really great. Would love to see him to follow through on that.
We have some feelers out to more informal sources who might be more inclined to confirm any truth to this rumor than a PR person, but I expect we'll turn up nada. If we do find anything else interesting we'll update this article.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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