More details have emerged about the re-release of the Star Wars saga, specifically when to expect The Phantom Menace back on the big screen. Contain your excitement…
It's probably fair to say that most of the response to Lucasfilm's announcement that the Star Wars saga is heading back to the big screen in 3D has not been positive. In particular, the idea of a cinematic release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 3D, the first of the saga off the retro-fitting production line, seems to be satiating a demand we weren't aware anyone had.
Who was it, we wonder, that thought that, of all the films released in 1999, the one that most required a big screen re-release, and in 3D too, was The Phantom Menace? That's nobody's first choice, surely, whether you warm to the film or not? Heck, we'd rather The Matrix had a fresh big screen roll-out, given the option.
But The Phantom Menace it is, which we now learn will be released in February of 2012. The news has been broken by Heat Vision, and it follows the out-of-season release strategy of the special edition Star Wars movies in the mid-90s.
Heat Vision also reports that the current plan is, indeed, to keep the films a year apart (which means we'd be waiting until 2015 for one we actually want to see back on the big screen), but that schedule may be revisited off the back of the performance of The Phantom Menace. The Phantom Menace, incidentally, looks like it'll be going head to head with Ghost Rider 2. We bet Nic Cage is shitting himself.
Heat Vision estimates that February 17th is a likely release date, and that "Launching the movies during the first quarter of the year would also give Lucas Licensing the opportunity to launch new licensing programs that could run throughout the course of the year."
At this rate, does this mean that in 2020 or something, a 3D special edition of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull will be heading to cinemas too? The queue for that starts right here...
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