Anna Daniels
While the plans for a 3D library of the complete Star Wars saga never came to fruition, The Phantom Menace‘s 3D release sparked a rumor that Lucasfilm had secretly stashed away a 3D version of Episode IV: A New Hope, a.k.a. the original Star Wars. Watching the prequel trilogy, which featured relatively modern effects (and earned significantly less fan and critical acclaim), might not have seemed appealing to the franchise’s core fanbase who openly revered the ’70s and ’80s originals. But seeing the trio of Luke, Leia, and Han take on Darth Vader in the new format could have been something special — even if it was a part of a rather exhausting 3D trend that was gripping Hollywood at the time.
The existence of such a version, however, was disproven. While Lucas did actually convert the remaining two films in the prequel trilogy, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, due to the timing of the $4 billion sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, it’s likely A New Hope didn’t have a full 3D conversion yet. As it turns out, making it happen would have actually been quite complicated. At that time, 20th Century Fox still owned the distribution rights to the original six films, meaning any further 3D conversions could theoretically be done by the VFX wizards at Industrial Light & Magic, but the release would have had to be hashed out by Fox and Disney.
Back in 2012, before deals like Sony and Disney’s shared use of Spider-Man, it just didn’t seem possible — and maybe it still would be, had Disney not completed its $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox in 2019. With that comes a new hope for a 3D Episode IV, should James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sequels jumpstart a return of the stereoscopic craze.
Written by: Looper
