Did George Lucas know what Disney was going to do?

For instance: To lead up to the PT, the OT was rereleased as 'Special Editions'. Starting in 2012, both the PT and OT were to be rereleased, this time in 3D. During this time and before, Lucas doubtless was working on a story treatment for the ST that he would sell later that year. It seems to me that the 3D rereleases were his idea of a perfect build-up to the long anticipated ST, (and I agree). Do you think he had any idea that Disney would 'postpone' them? What about other choices, like canceling TCW, (leaving some stories to be told in printed form), or filming with 35mm film, (the opposite of Lucas' effort for technological progress over the years, ie: you'd think they'd be using a twin-lens 4K camera that goes at HFR 48fps, rather than 35mm, which roughly equals 3K, 24fps and and a post conversion).

 

I don't agree with choices GL and the Mouse has made so it's about even in my book. As for 'progress' new isn't always progress.

 

Well, the things I mentioned are. (digital 4K, HFR) Lucas was campaigning for digital projectors in theaters over a decade ago, to everyone's benefit, so it seems like nostalgia may replace some of the original forward-thinking spirit.

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-Lucas did the SE's for the OT because the 20th anniversary was coming and he wanted to make ANH look like it did, since FOX wanted to do a theatrical re--release. He did the other two since he was on a roll. Building interest for the PT was more of a bonus.

-The origins of the story treatments is a bit muddled. Lucas did have ideas back in the late 70's, but he never really consolidated things. Once he entered into negotiations to sell his company, he took what he had and agreed to include it as part of the package. And that he would help develop it further. But he had no intentions of making those films since he would be in his 70's by the time he finished.

-The 3D releases had nothing to do with the ST and more about his wanting to promote 3D technology. Between 2006 and 2007, Lucas started talking about converting the films to 3D since there was a push to make 3D work. He, James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez and a couple of others were pushing for that going back to 2004.

-No, he probably didn't think TCW was going to end like it did, but "Rebels" was already in the works.

 

That's a directorial choice, I don't see George having any problems with it. Four out of the six movies were shot on film.

He began writing the story treatments during his involvement in TCW (per Filoni and Jett Lucas), wether he used whatever ideas he had from the 70s as a basis, nobody knows. Lucasfilm was eventually going to make the ST, wether the company was sold to Disney or not.

And was Rebels really already in the works? I always believed it was commissioned by Disney after they cancelled TCW.

 

I was under the impression that "Rebels" was already in development.

 

Darth Sinister : Yes, it was the 20th anniversary, but it's obvious it was a lead up to the PT. I can't fail to see a parallel with the 3D rereleases.

Alexrd : There isn't an inherent 'problem' with shooting on 35mm, it was what was available at the time. The reason only 4 out of 6 were filmed that way is because high quality digital became available. Along the same lines, Yoda was a puppet at first, but then changed to cgi when it was a reality. In this day and age with higher quality methods, I just find it odd the filmmakers would make the 'artistic choice' of limited, antiquated technology when the movies have always had steady technological progression with each one. There's nothing wrong with these methods, and I know it will look great, and story is the most important thing, but I have a strong feeling that Lucas wouldn't do things that way, just for warm and fluffy nostalgia, maybe even to placate the prequel critics.

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Both technologies are limited. Film is better than digital in terms of resolution, dynamic range and durability. It also doesn't suffer from digital artifacts that many times plague digital movies.

Would Lucas use film? No, he's the one who launched the digital revolution on the motion picture industry, he sees the potential it has, and the industry has proven him right.

Is it nostalgia? No, Abrams shot all his movies on film. What may be nostalgia is using the same stock as the one used for Episode IV. That seems completely unnecessary and blind nostalgia, but then again, it's his choice as the director.

 

Did George know what was going to happen to TCW? I feel like there's no way he couldn't have, but who knows...

Not mad at him or anything, just wondering.

 

I think the cancellation of the 3-D releases and the early ending of TCW were Kathleen Kennedy putting her stamp on Lucasfilm and showing that she was the new boss. New CEO's often do things like this. It shows all the employees that every important decision has to go through the top dog. I think if GL had retained Lucasfilm there is absolutely no way he would've cancelled the 3-D releases or ended the TCW early. He makes thing because he wants to make them. The Indiana Jones Chronicles never made any money, but GL made it because he liked the project, he thought fans would appreciate it, and he liked that it was a way to educate young people about history.

As a business decision, it seems to me that the cancellation of TCW makes more sense than the cancellation of the 3-D re-releases of the Saga. TPM 3-D and Jurassic Park both did mediocre at the box office in the US (about $45 million each), but Jurassic Park made $100 million in China alone. (TPM 3-D wasn't released in China.) If the rest of the 3-D saga was released in China, then the money earned there just by itself would make have been the 3-D release profitable. (ATOC has already been completely converted!) Also, the 3-D re-release would've been a great build-up for the ST. Just as a business decision, Kennedy's choice to end the 3-D release seems very poorly thought out to me.

Cancelling the TCW seems to be a much more defensible business decision. The loss revenue from the TCW will most likely be replaced by the new revenue from Rebels, which is set more closely to the OT, which is closer to the ST. Why they didn't decide to set the new cartoon in the period between ROTJ and the ST I have no idea. A series like that would have helped the buildup for the ST much than a series set before ANH, but studios seem to make stupid decisions all the time.

 

It's interesting to note that TCW wasn't (more) profitable due to the high budget George was willing to put on it (just like TYIJC, as you mentioned). You won't see high-quality animation like that on television, weekly, for a very long time. Disney, as a public company, won't "waste" money like this on a project unless it can make a certain amount of revenue at the end.

I still believe they have something planned for the 3D releases though. They were postponed, not cancelled. If they wanted the latter, they would have easily announced it back then.

 

I've wondered if the TCW is profitable at all. I'm guessing it makes it into the red after the DVD and blu-ray releases, but it certainly wasn't helping profits at all when GL was letting Starwars.com show the episodes commercial-free. I doubt we'll be seeing such a fan-service from Disney. Many fans have beefs with GL, but I think he went out of his way for his fans in many ways, and it wasn't as if he was doing this with other people's money.

I certainly hope they'll get back to the 3-D releases. I want to see ROTS on the big screen so bad. Shot in digital with great special effects it should make for a great 3-D transfer. I also hope Disney isn't being petty and wanting to prevent Fox from getting part of the piece of the pie.

 

Merchandising and licensing was probably the main source of profit. At least it's that way with the saga.

 

Like I said, 35mm film has LESS detail than 4K. I agree that cancelling TCW was a more logical choice than canceling the 3D rereleases. I also agree that they will come out later, seeing as Eps II & III are done being converted. (either for theaters or straight to Blu-ray 3D). Still, with the ST coming, it would've been the golden opportunity, but too late now. It won't mean as much if they're rereleased amidst spin-off films or later episodes. They might even wait until 20th Century Fox's rights expire in 2020. :S Yeah, really thinking of the fans . . .

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No. 4K is resolution, not detail.

 

Clone Wars was caught between being an acclaimed series, but at the same time not being very profitable. Then again, some have theorized that politics may have played a role in this with Disney trying to sweep the PT era under the rug (personally, it's still too early to judge on that one). I'm just one of the many who are crushed that they cut the series short, and I'm also not completely sold that Rebels will fill the void.

Lucas clearly wasn't anticipating the re-releases being cancelled simply for the fact that AOTC and ROTS were already completed/nearly completed. It helped create more buzz around the series, and when the ST was announced, it seemed even more perfect. Even if they just re-released the OT, that would lessen the blow. But as it stands, we're looking at nothing...

 

Alexrd : under optimum conditions, resolution limits the amount of detail you perceive. 35mm is roughly between 3 1/2 K. Besides, with digital you can do HFR, the emerging standard for high end productions like The Hobbit & the Avatar sequels.

Slashman : Yes, it did seem perfect. Right now I would love a 2D rerelease of the whole saga right before the new ones, even though I'm a big fan of 3D.

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What I don't understand is how ROTS looked so good on screen. My understanding is that it was shot in 1080p, and from all I've heard, 35 mm is supposed to be far superior to 1080p, but I didn't see any difference in picture resolution/detail in ROTS from 35 mm, and I have really good eyes. The picture quality seemed slightly different from 35 mm. It was crisper and less grainy, but it looked as good as 35 mm to me. Did ILM use some type of process to boost the resolution/picture quality? Or were the special effects created with a resolution higher than 1080p?

 

Darth ladnar : Almost no professional films are shot in 1080p, the minimum is 2K, larger than 1080p. Regardless, no matter how high a resolution it was filmed in, ANYthing will be downgraded to 1080p on your current TV and most theaters. That being said, someday most theaters and people will have 4K displays. -- Yes, digital always looks cleaner. High end cameras record with virtually no compression, so there aren't artifacts like yould see in consumer cameras.

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It usually is with cartoons. The main money earned comes from the merchandising and licensing with DVD sales being a secondary boon. I'll give a couple of examples.

1. In 1996, "Transformers" was starting its second comeback attempt with "Beast Wars" after "Generation 2" under performed and it would be the first toyline to have a new cartoon series in the US since the original ended in 1987. The show was CGI and for twenty six episodes, cost $18 million USD. The toys had sold exceptionally well enough to justify renewing it for thirteen more episodes. And then another thirteen before it was ended. A second series launched in 1999 called "Beast Machines" both seasons were thirteen episodes each. But delays in getting the toys on shelves and weak sells on Hasbro's part that year, all around, lead to the show getting an early cancellation. But did have a suitable finale. In 2010, "Transformers Prime" launched and was an all CGI show, after the previous shows had been a mix of either 2D or 2D and 3D animation since 2001. The toys sold well enough even though they didn't start hitting shelves regularly until 2012, with only a small number in 2011 and largely limited to Japan. The show ran for sixty five episodes and a TV movie which when divided up would add up to sixty eight episodes. Cost was much less than the first CGI show, yet was still profitable with the toys, which allowed it to meet the goals set in place in 2009.

2. But then you have something like "Beware The Batman" which debuted in 2013 and only ran for eleven episodes before it was pulled. The remaining episodes have just recently been aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami this past Saturday. It is still unclear why it was cancelled. Though it is likely that the cost of CGI and poor sales of the toys was too much for the network. The network has managed success with "Dragons: Riders Of Birk" which appears to be profitable as a spinoff of "How To Train Your Dragon" and its upcoming sequel.

 

Trust me, there will be. The problem with that, is that pre-production for the Cartoon would lock specific elements for the ST that hadn't been decided yet. Rebels would need to lock in histories, character names, and designs years before The ST was finished. After the trilogy is completed, then we'll probably see something.