UPDATE: Episodes 2 & 3 re-releases have been cancelled. While I'm super excited for J.J. Abrams' take on Episode VII, I also know this means we will wait much, much longer before getting the classic trilogy in 3D, if ever at all. Boo...
As reported by IGN and Marketsaw, Lucasfilm has pushed back the released date for Attack of the Clones 3D from Spring 2013 to Sept 20, 2013.
And in a surprise move they're releasing Revenge of the Sith 3D on October 11, 2013, just three weeks later.
What does this mean and why would they do this?
The original plan was to release one film a year back into theaters, for six years (2012 - 2017). Supposedly a Blu-ray 3D collection would follow in late 2017 or early 2018.
That's right... 2018!
Who knows what the state of movie consumption will be in 2018? Will Blu-rays even exist? Will audience interest revert back to 2D (making the 3D versions a niche product for a niche market) or will we have moved on to Holographic projection of some kind (rendering simple 3D as outdated and old-timey)? Will we move to a streaming-only system where quality is restricted by insanely high bandwidth costs imposed by our service provider overlords of the future?
But seriously, they know that right now there is a market for 3D movies. Now it's just a race to get the 3D versions onto store shelves, while we still have store shelves to put them on.
The real news here is that we will probably get the Original Trilogy just a tad bit sooner. And that's what we're all waiting for right? They just have to get the Prequel versions released so they can include them later in the Star Wars Super Mega Ultimate 3D Blu-ray Collectors Edition Saga.
And that's fine with me.