Posted Mon May 21, 2007 at 08:59 AM PDT by
Responding to persistent rumors of a pending release of the 'Star Wars' films on high-def disc, Lucasfilm has issued a statement denying any such plans for the series in the foreseeable future.
Ever since both next-gen formats launched last year, George Lucas' blockbuster space saga has been one of the most highly-requested "holy grails" on high-def.
But hopes hit a new high several weeks ago when early adopters started buzzing about this Amazon.com listing for the Star Wars Trilogy on Blu-ray. Such "placeholder" pages for highly anticipated titles are common practice with the web's biggest retailer, enabling customers to sign up for an email alert when the item in question becomes available. Unfortunately, this can lead to confusion for some consumers, who mistake these placeholders to mean the title has been officially announced.
Hoping to quell the web wildfire, the folks at PC World contacted Lucasfilm for comment early last week, and were told the following by company spokesperson John Singh:
"Lucasfilm Ltd. has no plans to release any of the Star Wars movies on Blu-ray or HD DVD. Listings on Amazon.com or any other Web site are purely speculative and erroneous."
It's worth noting that such a statement should not be much of a surprise (if still a disappointment) to long-time industry watchers. Lucas was one of the longest hold-outs on DVD despite that format's fast-growing mainstream acceptance, waiting over four years after launch before he allowed the first 'Star Wars' film to be released on disc (which turned out to be 'Episode I: The Phantom Menace' in September 2001).
Needless to say, we'll keep you posted on any future news of a 'Star Wars' release on high-def disc. Stay tuned...
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