Lucas announces Star Wars for Blu-ray
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
After years of rumours George Lucas personally announced at Star Wars "Celebration V" Convention in Orlando the worldwide release of the Star Wars Saga on Blu-ray in autumn 2011. All six films will be released as a box-set with high video- and audio-quality and containing additional features.
Specific details have not been mentioned, but a "deleted scene" was shown at the convention, where Luke Skywalker assembles a lightsabre. "Blu-ray is the absolute best way to experience Star Wars at home – in pristine high definition,” said George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars Saga. “The films have never looked or sounded better."
According to The New York Times, George Lucas said that they wanted to wait with the Blu-ray Disc release until market penetration was high enough, because they learned from the 1980s VHS release that an early release on a new home-video system can negatively influence sale figures.
Wikinews learned yesterday that Lucasfilm have issued copyright claims to YouTube regarding videos related to the convention and the deleted scene that is now slated for release. As a result, YouTube has removed at least two videos showing this content.
Sources
- Alex Dorn. "George Lucas Announces Star Wars Saga will Finally Come to Blu-Ray Next Year" — hitfix.com, August 16, 2010
- Andreas -horn- Hornig. "Lucas officially announced: Star Wars on Blu-ray in autumn 2011" — HDTVTotal.com, August 14, 2010
- Neodelrio. "Star WarsCelebration V Announcement.MOV" — YouTube, August 14, 2010
- "For the First Time Ever, the Force Will Be with You on Blu-ray! Highly Anticipated Complete Star Wars™ Saga Readied for High Definition Blu-ray Debut" — Businesswire, August 14, 2010
- Dave Itzkoff. "‘Star Wars’ Films Coming to Blu-ray Next Year" — The New York Times, August 14, 2010