Meh. There’s a free app as well.
In the news: Phantom Menace 3D is news to Ewan
GQ breaks the news. It sure seems like Ewan McGregor will be everywhere this year, but apparently the guy’s been so busy that it seems the first he’s heard of The Phantom Menace 3D is from the folks at the magazine. “They’re actually going to rerelease it into the cinema?” he asked GQ. “Well, that’s interesting.” Yeah, can’t say we’d be wildly enthusiastic to find out that our (hypothetical) rat-tail would be in three dimensions either. In other straight-from-1999 news, the Pepsi tie-ins are back.
Hobson profiled. Chicago businesswoman and Good Morning America contributor Mellody Hobson, perhaps best known to us as George Lucas’ girlfriend, is the subject of a brief profile in Forbes. She and Lucas will be featured on the January 15th episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter.
Gaming. The Old Republic might be coming to Mac. Nice try, folks.
Lucasfilm. George Lucas has big plans for a new digital technology facility at Grady Ranch, but some folks in Marin County aren’t exactly welcoming it with open arms.
Best of Star Wars in 2011: On screen
Continuing our review of the year that was, we have a glimpse back at how Star Wars has been lighting up the video screens – mostly our televisions in 2011, with an epic year for The Clone Wars, and the Blu-ray release of the Star Wars saga.
Digital Yoda appears on Russian TPM 3-D poster
Guess Maul won’t be headlining all the promotional materials for The Phantom Menace 3-D… A Russian poster features the CGI version of Yoda. Click on the thumbnail at right to see the full poster.
It’s no surprise that the CGI version will be featured, since the subpar Phantom Menace puppet version was entirely replaced on the Blu-ray version of the film, but it’s an interesting bit of trivia nonetheless.
Out this week: Agent of the Empire #1
Wednesday brings the debut issue of John Ostrander’s Agent of the Empire, featuring the James Bondesque Imperial agent Jahan Cross. The series spans a few years before A New Hope, or so I hear.
Also gracing the comic shelves will be a pair of digest reprint collections: Episode I Adventures collects some TPM side adventures, while Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the official movie adaption.
You might also want to be on the lookout for the latest issue of the Star Wars Insider, #130, for the new short story by Matthew Stover, ‘The Tenebrous Way,’ though in some places I’m seeing it dated for the 21st.
Sky Movies chief pins 3-D hopes on Star Wars, Titanic
The head of Sky Movies, Ian Lewis, thinks that Star Wars or Titanic could make 2-D to 3-D conversions appeal to the mass market.
“I know everybody is experimenting with it but I’ve yet to see a made for 2D movie where I’ve though the 3D conversion is good enough.
“We’re hopeful for the first half of next year where you have George Lucas releasing Phantom Menace in 3D and Cameron releasing Titanic, and one of those two, or between them, they will crack it.”
Certainly having the 3-D version of The Lion King be a hit helps as well, but animation is generally easier to convert. (via)
Italian austerity measures close prequel palace
The Royal Palace of Caserta, which served as interiors of the Theed Royal Palace for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, was closed Tuesday, suprising hundreds of tourists who turned out for the All Saints Day holiday.
“The ministry did not authorise overtime payments because of a lack of funding. I’m very sorry that so many people were turned away but it is really not our fault,” a local official, Paola David, told La Repubblica newspaper.
It’s only the latest in a long line of funding issues plaguing Italy and embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government.
The palace doubled as the Vatican for the adaption of Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons (which co-starred Ewan MacGregor) and also appeared in Mission: Impossible III.
Video: The Phantom Menace 3-D trailer, officially
After 20th Century Fox went on tear copyrighting all the fan versions to death, the official Star Wars Youtube account has posted a copy of The Phantom Menace‘s 3-D trailer in 2-D. It’s plagued by (different, darker) color issues, but it’s up. The new version seems to be color corrected.
All-prequels in the news with Samuel L. Jackson, Ewan McGregor, and Peter Serafinowicz
Records. The Guinness Book of World Records has named Samuel L. Jackson the world’s highest-grossing actor. His films – which include not only the prequels but other blockbusters like Jurassic Park, The Incredibles and Iron Man 2 – have brought in a staggering $7.42 billion dollars.
Strange saberfellows. Noel Gallagher of the band Oasis was a neighbor of Ewan McGregor when he got the part of Obi-Wan – and he was the first to teach Ewan how to fight with a lightsaber. “I just happened to have two of those lightsaber toys, so I said, ‘Come on – in the back garden.'”
Uh-oh. Peter Serafinowicz – the original voice of Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace – told Digital Spy that he didn’t think the film was very good. “”But it was certainly an extremely exciting thing to be a part of,” he goes on to say.
Technology. Learn a little more about Prime Focus, the company doing The Phantom Menace’s 3-D conversion, from India’s Economic Times
Video: The Phantom Menace 3-D trailer
Curious about The Phantom Menace 3-D trailer, but not enough to pay to see The Three Musketeers or any of the weekend’s other 3-D offerings? TFN has a copy. TFN’s copy is kaput, but here’s a Youtube version. Found another. Cross your fingers.
Obviously it’s not in 3-D here, and the colors are a bit off – I’m told that’s a symptom of the re-conversion back into 2-D.