Official Star Wars (4-6) Announcement
CINDY
The following is taken from the November 22, 1994 issue of _Daily Variety_:
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'97 'Star Wars' update in works
by Beth Laski
Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox announced plans Monday for the worldwide
theatrical release of a technologically updated version of "Star Wars" in
1997, 20 years after the film's original release.
"Star Wars Special Edition" will include about four minutes of
previously unreleased footage, new digital effects and a digitally
remastered soundtrack. The new version will allow filmmaker George
Lucas to complete the scene in which Han Solo confronts Jabba the Hutt,
which was filmed in 1976 but not included in the original film due to time
and budgetary constraints.
"There were parts of the movie that didn't live up to his vision, and
now he has the ability to fix and add to the movie," said Howard
Roffman, Lucasfilm's VP of licensing.
Lucas went to Fox with his idea more than two years ago because they
control the film's distribution rights. The studio would not
comment on what it will spend to make the new version.
The original "Star Wars" had a worldwide theatrical gross of $513 million,
with the trilogy grossing about $1.3 billion in theatrical worldwide
release.
"We wanted to give the new generation of children - and their parents -
the chance to experience 'Star Wars' on the big screen," said Fox
chairman Peter Chernin in a prepared statement.
Lucas has recently begun to work with Industrial Light & Magic to create
moving, breathing creatures within the city of Mos Eisley outside
the cantina and in the Tatooine Dunes. They also will jointly create
new vehicles and Droids.
"The digital technology that ILM pioneered in films like 'Jurassic Park'
and 'Forrest Gump' allows me to revise a few scenes which bring the
movie closer to my original version," Lucas said in a prepared
statement. He was not available for further comment. Lucas "showed
us a tiny portion of how he's going to continue with the story," said Tom
Sherak, Fox senior executive VP. "There is some that will be brand new,
and it fits right in."
Sound for "Star Wars Special Edition" will be remastered in one of
the THX dubbing stages at Lucas' Skywalker Sound and will be released
in the new digital formats now available in theaters. The making of the
original "Star Wars" predated the intro of THX sound.
Sherak said the special edition is a marketing and distribution dream.
And, he added: "I'd be lying if I didn't say that every licensee
wouldn't love to have the next three 'Star Wars'. But this is about
the special edition."
Lucas, whose principal focus is on writing the stories that will make
up the next "Star Wars" trilogy, has not yet decided where he will
make the movies or who will pen the screenplays.
"Clearly they are a coveted prize," Roffman said of the trilogy. "For
us, that's a question for another time."
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Any typos are of course mine.
/cy
David Hines
>and 'Forrest Gump' allows me to revise a few scenes which bring the
>movie closer to my original version," Lucas said in a prepared
>statement. He was not available for further comment. Lucas "showed
>us a tiny portion of how he's going to continue with the story," said Tom
>Sherak, Fox senior executive VP. "There is some that will be brand new,
>and it fits right in."
What do you bet that this is talking about the Han/Jabba scene?
David Hines
dzh...@midway.uchicago.edu