Last we heard about a 3-D version of the Star Wars saga, George Lucas mentioned back in August 2008 that he had put LucasFilm to work on developing the technology to make it happen. At that point, he said that the technology worked great, but it wasn’t very practical. Now we have word that Lucas was wowed by Avatar’s 3-D tech, and that it may be just the push LucasFilm needed to adapt Star Wars.

This doesn’t mean that LucasFilm will lift Avatar’s tech directly, but they’ll likely get a few ideas for making their own tech more usable from James Cameron and crew’s many years of effort. (I’m sure this will all go down well with the Avatar haters.)

It was inevitable that Lucas would finally figure out a simple method to convert his cash cow franchise to 3-D. I had always figured that we’d see 3-D Star Wars sometime this next decade, and this news solidifies that timeline even further.

Honestly, it’s not the move to 3-D that worries me, it’s the potential for Lucas to go in and edit even more of the original trilogy. We could see edits that drastically change the tone of scenes like the infamous Han/Greedo shootout, or perhaps even another change like Hayden Christensen replacing Sebastian Shaw in Return of the Jedi. I’m just hoping that Lucas has grown tired of the constant re-edits.

As for the 3-D conversion itself, I actually have no problem with Lucas updating the series to utilize the latest theatrical technology. It’s a money-grab for sure given the higher ticket prices for 3-D theaters — but it’s an awesome money-grab. The only problem is that they’ll likely see the best results converting Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith since they were shot entirely digitally.

3-D probably won’t be the end of Star Wars theatrical re-releases either, but I suppose if there’s one film series that every generation needs to revisit in theaters, it’s this one.

Discuss: Would you watch the 3-D Star Wars releases? Are there any particular edits you’re worried about Lucas making?