Ship-Shape

Paying a visit on Thursday to ShoWest, the annual convention of movie theater owners in Las Vegas, George Lucas tried to drum up a few bookings for the May 19 release of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, offering the following pitch: ''It's not like the first one. It's more emotional.'' He added, ''I describe it as a Titanic in space. It's a real tearjerker, and it will be received in a way that none of us can expect.'' (Gee, George, I expect it to gross hundreds of millions of dollars.) Lucas didn't elaborate on what he meant by ''Titanic in space,'' but let's hope it means a more emotional and character-driven drama than the last two movies, and not that Lucas hired Celine Dion to sing the theme song.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lucas also told theater owners that he plans to rerelease all the Star Wars films in 3D. He said he hoped to rerelease the original Star Wars in 3D in time for its 30th anniversary in 2007, with the rest following at a rate of one per year. So it could be 2012 before Lucas is finished tinkering with his universe.

You Might Also Like

• DVD Review Stars Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Nov 01, 2005) | Dalton Ross
• Movie Review Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith (May 19, 2005) | Owen Gleiberman
• All About Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
• First Person An EW.com reader loses his ''Star Wars'' virginity! (May 16, 2002)
• Movie Commentary Get your hankie! 2005's saddest film moments (Sep 23, 2005) | Gary Susman
• Pop Culture News EW reminds us of the events of May 2005