George Lucas announced Thursday at ShoWest that he intends to repurpose all of the STAR WARS movies in 3D for digital cinema re-release, with the original movie, A NEW HOPE, to be readied in time for its 30th anniversary in 2007, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The plan is to then reissue one every year through 2012.
George Lucas will present the SIGGRAPH 2005 keynote address, "George Lucas: A Keynote Q&A with the Father of Digital Cinema," on Aug. 1 during the 32nd International Conference on Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques, July 31 Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.
Former Lucas Digital president Jim Morris wont be moving to Southern California after all to pursue a producing career in computer-animated features. After an 11-year stint as the Lucas Digital head and another 13 years as gm of Industrial Light & Magic, Morris will be producing at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. According to a Pixar spokesperson, Morris begins at Pixar on Feb. 14, 2005, to work on an upcoming feature film project. We think Jim will be a very good fit, considering his visual effects background at ILM.
Jim Morris, president of Lucas Digital for 11 years, is heading south to produce computer-animated movies. Chrissie England, svp of production at ILM, has been promoted to president of ILM.
Jim, Chrissie and their team at ILM have been working hard over the last 18 months to implement sweeping changes in both the operations and structure of ILM, commented Lucasfilm Ltd. president Micheline Chau. Now that those initiatives have been launched, Jim is taking this opportunity to move on to other areas of the entertainment business.
With George Lucas rejecting the last script from Frank Darabont, Lucas and director Steven Spielberg have hired CATCH ME IF YOU CAN/THE TERMINAL scribe Jeff Nathanson to take a crack at penning the fourth installment of INDIANA JONES, reports VARIETY.
While George Lucas blockbuster STAR WARS trilogy DVD set, which streets Sept. 21, 2004, is getting all the buzz both positive and negative Lucas debut from 1971, THX 1138, makes its welcome DVD bow on Sept. 14 (Warner Home Video, $26.99). This DIRECTORS CUT, like the STAR WARS films, contains extended footage with ILM-produced CGI; however, it merely adds greater scope and detail to the underground factory, where Robert Duvall and company work in a dull, depressing and dehumanized futuristic society.
Warner Home Video announced the Sept. 14 DVD release of a two-disc collector's edition of THX 1138 ($26.99 and $19.97 for single-disc version), George Lucas' first film from 1971. The director's cut will include not only meticulous digital audio and video restoration (a collaboration between Lucasfilm and Warner Home Video) but also digitally enhanced backgrounds, cityscapes and crowds of people, according to Jim Ward, vp marketing and distribution at Lucasfilm.
Henry Turner takes a look at the visual effects legacy of the Indiana Jones movie trilogy and how the new DVD box set has enhanced the spectacle.
In recognition of his enormous impact on the vfx industry, George Lucas will receive the first lifetime achievement award from the Visual Effects Society at the Second Annual VES Awards ceremony on Feb. 18, 2004, at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood.
George Lucas has divided his empire in Point Richmond, California into a new animation division to focus on the creation of digitally animated feature films reportedly due to his frustration over studio-controlled animated projects that have fallen through over the past six years. Lucas-film Animation will be given its own identity and autonomy to develop and generate full-length CG cartoons.
Toy manufacturer Hasbro, Inc. has scored a major coup in the licensing biz by extending its license with Lucas Licensing, Ltd., for the manufacture and distribution of STAR WARS toys and games for an additional ten years. Under the terms of the extension, the agreement is expected to run through 2018. The minimum guarantee payable to Lucas has also been reduced by $85 million to $505 million. Under its original 10-year deal, the minimum payment to Lucas was $590 million of which Hasbro has already paid $470 million.
In a move to promote long-term growth of his businesses, George Lucas announced that he is bringing Lucas Digital, LucasArts Entertainment, Lucas Licensing and Lucasfilm Ltd. into one organization, as Lucasfilm president Gordon Radley leaves the company. Lucasfilm CFO Micheline Chau has been promoted to the position of chief operating officer to oversee the new unified company and to guide all of the business units.
Alan Keith, chief administrative officer and vice president of Lucas Digital, announced that Robert Rieders has been named general counsel of Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC. Rieders will also serve as corporate secretary to the Lucas Digital board of directors "We are very pleased that Rob Rieders is joining our organization," said Keith. "Lucas Digital is looking at a future that encompasses continued growth, with projects of scope and size unlike anything in our first twenty-five years.
Lucas Learning Ltd., a developer of interactive entertainment and educational software, has named Craig Southard as their new director of development. Southard joins Lucas Learning from Mondo Media, an online content creator, where he served as executive producer. Previously, he spent 15 years as an applications developer for the New Media market.
George Lucas has decided to go mostly digital with the live-action segments of STAR WARS EPISODE II. On Sunday, April 9, 2000, Lucas said, after four months of testing high-definition cameras, he will start shooting most of the next STAR WARS installment with Sony digital cameras. Jim Morris, president of Lucas Digital, said the cameras had "exceeded expectations." In June, the film will start shooting in Australia for two months, then move to Italy and Tunisia in August for another month, followed by 18 months of post-production.
LUCAS LICENSING has appointed KERRY PHELAN in the new executive position of
director of domestic licensing & marketing. In her new role, Phelan will
oversee all aspects of the Star Wars licensing business for the U.S. Before
coming to Lucas Licensing, she was a long time marketing executive at LEGO
toys, where she was responsible for developing the LEGO brand among young
families. "The Star Wars licensing program has always been about creating
Art Spiegelman takes us into the world of the Tijuana Bibles, little hand-drawn pornographic pamphlets that provide a subversive peak at America from the 1930s-1950s.
Pre-production on STAR WARS EPISODE II (Lucas reportedly has a title inmind, but it has not been released) has already begun. Shooting is set tostart in June 2000 with locations at Fox Studios Australia, Tunisia, andItaly, and the release is scheduled for summer 2002. The story will focuson the romance and marriage between Anakin Skywalker (the future DarthVader) and Queen Amidala, and the Siths' attempt to gain control of thegalaxy. Whereas the budget for EPISODE 1 was $115 million, Lucas says he
George Lucas has donated $1.5 million, while Steven Spielberg has donated $500,000 to the USC School of Cinema-Television to help fund the new, yet-to-be-built Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts. The Lucas money will help build a sound stage which will be named for Akira Kurosawa.
