The 3D 'Star Wars' Conversions Could End After 'The Phantom Menace'

When Lucasfilm announced that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace would be released in 3D on February 10, 2012, the /Film readers spoke their minds. Here are some gems from the almost 100 comment thread:

oh good so i can go and not see it again..

You know George, when everyone called the movie flat and completely lacking in any depth, this wasn't what they meant.

Hey, this proves that the world will end in 2012!

This franchise is deader than s***, for the love of god, stop raping its corpse.

Nothing about this is appealing to me........and Natalie Portman doesn't get hot till the next one.

Public distaste for Lucasfilm is at an all time high. This is going to be an epic fail at the box office. Why would anyone subject himself to the one of the worlds dullest movies AGAIN?

Well fans, Lucasfilm might have heard you.

According to a recent interview, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum suggested if The Phantom Menace 3D doesn't live up to box office expectations, they might not release anymore Star Wars films in 3D. We explore the pluses, and minus, of that after the jump.

This information came from a site called Czech Position (via First Showing) who quoted McCallum as saying the following:

We're doing 3D versions of all six films, one a year, starting in February of next year. We start with [episode] one and go all the way through six, totally chronological. One a year, if they work. If they don't, then there will be just one [episode converted to 3D].

*Steps up on soapbox*

Hey Rick! And yes, I feel like I can call you Rick for all meals I've purchased for your family. If that was the case, if you were really only going to release one movie in 3D, why the F*** would you release The Phantom Menace? Oh, I get it, it's chronologically the first of the series and, a few years ago when this was set in motion, that was the film Lucas decided would be first. But if there was even the slightest inkling that you might stop there and leave five other, much better (in some cases) films not converted, why not start strong with A New Hope? The only reason I was even curious to see The Phantom Menace in 3D is because it would tide me over until the original trilogy came out...

Wait a minute, I get it. You're a genius. By saying this, you're forcing the audience's hand. Here's what you really should have said:

Star Wars fans, we know The Phantom Menace sucks and that you hate it. We also know that you hate 3D but you'd pay to see the entire original trilogy in any format so long as it's on the big screen. So here's what we're going to do. The only way you'll get to see those movies is if you stuff our pockets for three years seeing s***ty movies. Then, and only then, we will give you what you want.

That would have been more honest. But honesty or true fan appreciation have never really been synonymous with Star Wars post 1997.

*Steps off soapbox*

In all seriousness, if the film fails, it makes perfect sense to stop re-releasing the movies. It really does. But that doesn't make it feel any less patronizing.

So the moral conundrum I pose to all of you is this: Do we pay to see The Phantom Menace, then Attack of the Clones, then Revenge of the Sith just so we can see the Original Trilogy in 3D? Or do we let Lucasfilm suck a fat one and laugh as they lose millions?