Culture

Star Wars, Lord of the Rings May Get 3-D Retrofit

With Avatar racking up huge box office sales, movie studios are looking to convert classic sci-fi and fantasy films into 3-D for rerelease. Star Wars, The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogy are just some of the fanboy favorites likely to be “retrofitted” into 3-D versions, according to U.K. newspaper The Times. “We […]

With Avatar racking up huge box office sales, movie studios are looking to convert classic sci-fi and fantasy films into 3-D for rerelease.

Star Wars, The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogy are just some of the fanboy favorites likely to be "retrofitted" into 3-D versions, according to U.K. newspaper The Times.

"We can turn an older film into 3-D in around 16 weeks," Bobby Jaffe, chairman of San Diego's Legend Films, told the paper. "It mostly suits action films, such as Top Gun or The Matrix, but Avatar proved it’s best to use the technology to immerse the audience in the story rather than throw things at them. This is the new, more sophisticated era of 3-D."

The process of converting 2-D films to 3-D, used recently with portions of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for its Imax release, is becoming increasingly popular as studios look for relatively inexpensive ways to boost revenue. The Times quoted an associate of George Lucas, saying the Star Wars director will spend $10 million to update his 1977 movie into 3-D.

"George cannot leave it alone," said the unnamed source. "He is salivating at the opportunity to play with it again. This time the Death Star is really going to explode all over the audience and leave them gasping."

Full story: "Avatar sparks 3-D makeover for action classics" (The Times)

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