I suppose it was only a matter of time. Lucasfilm Ltd. announced today that the Star Wars saga will be converted into 3D. Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace is expected to be the first 3D release sometime in 2012.

According to Deadline Industrial Light & Magic. will be supervising the conversion, with Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll saying “it is not something that you can rush if you want to expect good results. For Star Wars we will take our time, applying everything we know both aesthetically and technically to bring audiences a fantastic new Star Wars experience.”

THR say that “each conversion takes at least a year to complete” and George Lucas will be “overseeing the process to make sure each is as perfect as possible.”

If Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace makes enough money they will continue with the Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith conversions, followed by the original trilogy.

Lucas will also be releasing the Star Wars films on Blu-ray late 2011.

Will you be seeing the Star Wars films in 3D?

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UPDATE: Frank Marshall’s twitter:

The rumor about INDY 5 is completely false. Nothing has changed, we are not shooting next year and still in the research phase…

Ah well.

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A source for New Zealand site Stuff claims to have details on the fifth entry in the Indiana Jones series: apparently the “conclusion to the franchise” will take Indy & co. into the mysterious Bermuda Triangle. Many planes having been reported missing in this weird area of the North Atlantic Ocean, it seems like a fitting setting for an Indy adventure; Steven Spielberg and George Lucas could come up with all sorts of crazy things to have going on within it.

According to the source, Indiana Jones 5 will begin shooting next year, Lucas and Spielberg having almost completed the script. Shia LaBeouf will reportedly return as Indy’s son, but apparently the film will go back to the series’s “roots,” as opposed to opting for a special effects bonanza like the one seen in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

“Shia LaBeouf has a central role again as Indy’s son but this will be a blockbuster made in the old fashioned way rather than the CGI efforts of the last movie.”

The source interestingly refers to the fifth film as an “emotional and exciting conclusion” (note conclusion), and says that Indiana will face his “biggest challenge yet.” I guess the holy grail, aliens, and heart-ripping sorcerer-types still weren’t enough.

While I didn’t think Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a necessary addition to the series, it was pretty fun, and I enjoyed it more than most. Though it’d be cool if Spielberg and Lucas could successfully end the franchise with a film that returns to the quality of The Last Crusade. It’s a gamble, considering they could just take the whole thing even further downhill. I love Spielberg’s work, but are we gonna trust the guy responsible for the Star Wars prequels?

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The state of the fifth Indiana Jones movie is still something of a mystery. In the sense that we know it’s happening and that the story probably exists on one of George Lucas’ laptops somewhere. The most recent update we received was from Harrison Ford who suggested that the MacGuffin has been settled on and a script might possibly exist.

Now, from Ireland Online – complete with all the grains of salt this source comes with – is suggesting that Indy 5 might bring Sean Connery out of retirement:

The 79-year-old actor turned down the chance to reprise his role as the father of the daredevil archaeologist in last movie ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, and the script hinted his character Professor Henry Jones had passed away.

However, creators on the next movie, the fifth in the hugely successful franchise, are planning to bring Henry back.

A source said: “Steven Spielberg has been working on a script with George Lucas and there is an element of the story that could see Sean returning. Anything is possible in these movies and if Sean wants to return he will become central to the new story.”

Central to the new story, you say? ZOMBIES!, says I. Zombie Henry Jones could be the next fridge to be nuked.

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The Star Wars franchise returns this week as Star Wars: The Clone Wars is released on most parts of the planet. However, there will be no Hayden Christensen or Ewan McGregor. No Natalie Portman or Frank Oz. In fact, the only actors returning to voice their characters are Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku), and Anthony Daniels (C-3P0).

Why is this?

MTV asked George Lucas that very question:

“When we decided to do the feature, we went back to the actors and said, ‘Look, we’re doing a feature. Would you like to do the voice? Could you come in a month?’ Some of them were all over the world. It was hard to get all the actors that would be off on set,” Lucas told reporters at a press conference last week. “You need people available every week. [Also] you can’t really afford multi-million dollar actors to do a television series. Those guys make more during their coffee break.”

But the bottom line for why most of the actors aren’t returning to voice the characters they made famous? Because George Lucas doesn’t need them, Lucas himself said to reporters.

“It used to be in animation you just had [unknown] actors do the parts. The idea of hiring a really good actor – Tom Hanks [for instance] – was a really revolutionary idea,” Lucas said. “Partly they did it because they were great actors, partly they did it cause they wanted to use them for publicity. To be very honest with you, I don’t really think I need to hire a big movie star to publicize my movie. I don’t need Angelina Jolie here. That’s what it comes down to in the end. They have two days in the studio and then they have like two weeks doing press. They are mainly paid for the press stuff.”

He has a point. Although it would have been great to have everyone back to voice an animated version of their characters, it is not how the world works. In Hollywood anyway.

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ComingSoon spoke to DreamWorks Animations CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg on Tuesday and learned that George Lucas is looking to turn the six Star Wars movies into 3D.

Katzenberg told us that Lucas is very excited about it and that he’s got the technical resources to pull it off. “He isn’t going to put a product out, I think, that isn’t anything other than first rate,” Katzenberg said.

There has been talk of other movies being converted into 3D such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Is this another ploy by George Lucas to milk the ‘cow’ that is Star Wars or is this what the fans want?

Update: Apparently he said the same thing in 2005.

Lucas said he hadn’t yet committed to a precise schedule but hoped to have the first film ready for the 30th anniversary of the original Star Wars movie in 2007 and that he would then rerelease one Star Wars film per year in 3-D.

I guess that he got a little ahead of himself back then, but now that we have a good amount of movies being released in 3D, and more 3D screens, it is more likely this will happen.

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In a new interview, George Lucas said that “it’s more than a strong possibility there will be a fifth Indiana Jones,” [and] says that “he and director Steven Spielberg have left the door open for a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

Interesting! What would Indy & Co. be up to this fifth time around?

“I haven’t even told Steven or Harrison this,” Lucas said. “But I have an idea to make Shia [LaBeouf] the lead character next time and have Harrison [Ford] come back like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out.

“And it’s not like Harrison is even old,” he said, backpedaling fast. “I mean, he’s 65 and he did everything in this movie. The old chemistry is there, and it’s not like he’s an old man. He’s incredibly agile; he looks even better than he did 20 years ago, if you ask me.”

So it looks like young LaBeouf could be taking over for a generation of younger fans!

Is it just me, or does anyone else wish that they were Shia right now? Not only does he have Steven Spielberg in his back pocket, but now George Lucas, too! And, with Transformers 2 set to begin filming in June, he couldn’t be riding a higher wave!

Props, LaBeouf! Just make sure to start away from those convenient stores and everything will BE OKAY.

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