3-D Vader's Still Waiting: Digital "Wars" Can't Happen Until Biz Pushes D-Cinema Forward
Variety web article, April 2005
By David S. Cohen

Don't start mass-producing those Darth Vader masks with built-in 3-D lenses quite yet.

At last month's ShoWest, George Lucas said he's eager to release all six films in the "Star Wars" saga in digital 3-D, one film a year, starting in 2007. But even though Lucas has control of the pics and can release them when he chooses, Lucasfilm says a 3-D "Star Wars" series will have to wait.

"No, we don't have any real plans," "Star Wars" producer Rick McCallum says.

"George had never seen the footage of the first six minutes of 'Episode IV' until a week before ShoWest."

Lucas "yearns for it to happen, he wants it to happen," McCallum says, "but we can't implement it until the industry gets its act together and pushes digital cinema forward."

With rumors flying of a possible deal among Sony, Disney and Warners to finance digital cinema systems for exhibitors, that day may not be far off.

And once the theaters are there, it won't take long to convert existing films to 3-D.

Michael Kaye prexy-CEO of In-Three Inc., says the company's process can be used on any film, new or old. "The funny part is that the producers and filmmakers think there has to be something they have to do. Just shoot normally, we'll do (the 3-D)."

The cost for converting a feature film varies, starting around $5 million.

Right now, Kaye says it might take a year to convert a feature to 3-D, but he hopes to cut that time to 60-120 days by the middle of 2006.

That would give Lucas at least a year before he'd need to start the process of converting any "Star Wars" feature to 3-D.

The 3-D release would most likely feature the six films in numerical order. The original 1977 "Star Wars" is "Episode IV."