If you’re a fan of the Indiana Jones franchise, September is a great month.  Not only did Raiders of the Lost Ark get a special one-week IMAX release, but the entire franchise hits Blu-ray next week and the box set is loaded with incredible behind-the-scenes extras.  For a full list of what’s included, click here.  But trust me when I say, this is a set absolutely worth owning.  Click here to order Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures on Amazon.

To help promote the release, I recently got to visit LucasFilm in San Francisco and participate in a group interview with Sound Designer Ben Burtt and Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren.  They talked about their thoughts on how the films hold up, the visual effects, their favorite moments, how Burtt came up with some of the signature sounds, if anything changed during the restoration process, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what they had to say.

The initial plan for the Star Wars 3D re-releases was to test the market with The Phantom Menace in February 2012, and if it performed well, release episodes two through six every year around the same time over the next five years.  The Phantom Menace grossed $43 million in 3D showings, which probably makes Lucasfilm some money, but is nothing special compared to the $94 million The Lion King earned with its 3D re-release last fall.  That must have inspired the studio to shake up the plan, because it was announced at the Star Wars Celebration this weekend that Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith will be re-released back to back on September 20, 2013 and October 11, 2013, respectively [via the official Star Wars Facebook page].  That’s fine, but what that means for most of the core Star Wars fanbase is that Lucasfilm can probably get to A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi sooner than 2015 as originally planned.

We’ll definitely check back in when they announce the release plan for the original trilogy, but in the meantime, hit the jump to watch the trailers for Clones and Sith to see just how excited you can get about revisiting them.  (Revenge of the Sith was good, right?)

Despite closing the book on his career-defining Star Wars franchise some time ago and finally bringing the long-gestating Red Tails to fruition earlier this year, George Lucas’ passion for his craft burns bright as ever. In fact, he’s looking to take his work in a fresh, “experimental” direction. The good news for anyone who hasn’t really dug his post-Return of the Jedi work: you won’t have to see it. Empire Magazine had a quick chat with the producer/director for their latest print issue, during which they posed the standard “So, what’s next?” query. Lucas’ unexpected answer: he’s leaving Lucasfilm behind to make movies in his garage…using a hammer and saw, apparently. Hit the jump to read what the filmmaker has planned for himself in his own words.

Last week, I had the privilege of going to Skywalker Ranch and Lucasfilm’s offices at the Presidio with my daughter to learn about the 3D re-release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which opens everywhere today.  Hit the jump to read my recap of the visit, including how the 3D re-release offers a new perspective on the film, and for a rundown of 12 things we learned about Episode I.

The World War II action-drama Red Tails will be released in select theaters in Barco’s Auro-3D 11.1 surround sound.  Most theaters use 5.1 or 7.1 audio, which has three speakers in front, two on the side, and two in the back.  11.1 changes that up by putting up far more speakers at various heights in order to reproduce the audio dimension of height.  Since Red Tails depicts intense aerial combat, it’s an ideal candidate to test out the 11.1 system.  It’s important to note that while the audio system is called “Auro-3D”, it’s only creating a 3D audio mix.  Visually, Red Tails will be released in 2D only.

Hit the jump for more details about the Auro-3D system, an explanation from producer Rick McCallum on how it will function in Red Tails, and which theaters will be getting the 11.1 upgrade.  Red Tails opens January 20th.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga hits Blu-ray tomorrow, which means the Lucasfilm marketing machine is in full swing. While many may be deriding the changes that The Almighty Tinkerer has made this time around, not everything Lucasfilm does is nerd-angering. The studio has launched an initiative to benefit the charity Stand Up to Cancer, and they’ve recruited some big names to help out. The Use the Force For Good intiative has kicked off with a video tribute featuring a number of celebrities reenacting scenes from the series. The clip is actually pretty funny, and includes Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Jaime King, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone, and of course Samuel L. Jackson.

Hit the jump to watch the video. Unsurprisingly, Hader is the highlight, as his penchant for impressions leads to some fantastically goofy reenactments.

As the high-definition format of Blu-ray looks forward to the franchise of Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) hitting its catalogue, it’s time for fans to look back at the historical saga of Star Wars. With the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, the dawn of the 21^st century and now the teens of it, Star Wars has existed in five decades and counting, but how pure was that first one. How glorious was that second, how rejuvenating was that third, how sweet that fourth and the fifth has just started. Before Star Wars is in high-definition, this is Star Wars in retrospect. You’ll need a home theater seat by September 16, but you don’t need a theater seat to experience this now. No, this is your seat on the Millennium Falcon and hyperspeed is after the jump.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to get crushed by tens of thousands of people?  Then you may want to walk (or attempt to walk) the Exhibitors’ Hall at Comic-Con.  Despite the seeming chaos of the hall, there is actually a method to the madness.  Major companies get the center (except for video game companies which get their own corner), artists are shunted as far off to the side as possible, and most of the sellers inhabit one-half of the hall.

But where the crush truly happens is at the insane lines circling the major companies as fans line up for swag and autographs.  The usual suspects are all here: DC Comics, Marvel, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Mattel, LucasFilm, CBS/Showtime, Lionsgate, Hasbro, and Sideshow Collectibles.  I’m not sure why Square-Enix gets such a large booth considering everything they make nowadays is crap.  Hit the jump to check out the full map.  The 2011 San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 21 – 24th.

Although Dylan Dog is director Kevin Munroe’s first live-action feature, his background in developing comics and his love for the story made him the perfect choice for the job. Blending horror with comedy, the film tells the story of a private investigator who gets drawn back into the world of the undead when a mysterious woman (Anita Briem) asks for his help on a case. To make matters worse, his assistant Marcus (Sam Huntington) gets turned into a zombie, and Dylan suddenly finds himself caught between warring vampire and werewolf clans.

During this exclusive interview with Collider, Kevin Munroe talked about how he first came across the story of Dylan Dog, changing the melancholy tone of the comics in favor of a more humorous feel for the film, why it’s been such a long journey to the big screen, what made Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington perfect for their roles, the decision to use practical make-up for the creatures, and how he would love to do a sequel where he could explore Dylan’s roots back in London. He also talked about the project he is currently working on for LucasFilm, and how both of his comics – El Zombo and Olympus Heights – are currently in development for film and television, respectively. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

With director Kevin Munroe’s Dylan Dog getting released April 29, stars Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington and Munroe were at WonderCon to premiere footage and also answer fan questions.  If you’re not familiar with Dylan Dog, the film blends horror and humor and it’s set in the backstreets of New Orleans.  From the synopsis, “the story revolves around Dylan Dog, the world’s only private investigator of the undead with a business card that features his slogan, “investigator of the paranormal:  no pulse, no problem.”  Along with his assistant Marcus, Dylan will go where the living dare not — facing down friend and foe alike, until justice is done.”

Before the panel, I sat down with Routh and Huntington for a very loose interview.  You can watch it here.  I also got to speak with Munroe. During our extended conversation, we talked about being at WonderCon, how he got attached to Dylan Dog and the long road to release, how his CGI background helped with production, what are his go-to karaoke songs, editing, and he revealed that he’s working on a secret movie project at Lucasfilm that’s all CGI and not related to Star Wars.  Keep in mind, ILM animated Rango. Watch what he had to say after the jump.

Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox have set February 10, 2012 as the date for the 3D re-release of George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.  We reported back in September that Lucas plans to re-release all six Star Wars films in 3D with a new 3D post-conversion due out every year.  I can’t wait to find out how this does at the box office.  My guess: the first three will flop and the original trilogy will do fine.

Hit the jump for the official announcement.  Also set to open on February 10, 2012 is the thriller Safe House starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, and the romance flick The Vow starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.

Hot on the heels of the long-gestating news that Lucasfilm intends to begin rereleasing all six Star Wars episodes in 3D starting in 2012 (covered here), the internet rumor bees went abuzz about the possibility that this could mean another threequel of Star Wars episodes, as it would mirror the announcement of The Phantom Menace and the digitally re-mastered releases of the original trilogy in the 90’s.

In much less dramatic fashion, it seems to have rather signaled the development of 3D post-conversions for the Indiana Jones films. Raiders of the Lost Ark is obviously 1^st up in the queue, and it’s unclear whether the one-a-year strategy planned for Star Wars will be carried over for these or where the theatrical runs of the two series will fall with respect to one another. According to Blue Sky Disney, George Lucas is expected to make an official announcement next month, and if it all pans out as reported we’ll have more for you then.

Hit the jump for more on 3D post-conversion and why nostalgia should be held sacred.

In his Star Wars Celebration V interview with Jon Stewart Saturday, George Lucas announced that all six Star Wars films will finally make it to Blu-ray in Fall 2011. Not many details have been released just yet, but there will be documentaries and deleted scenes, including a long rumored sequence from Return of the Jedi where Luke makes his green lightsaber. (Update: We now have footage of this deleted scene that they played at the event after the jump.)

It was confirmed that the original trilogy Blu-rays will use the Special Edition remasters from 2004. Lucas said that releasing the original versions on Blu-ray is “kind of an oxymoron because the quality of the original is not very good.”  He elaborated,

“You have to go through and do a whole restoration on it, and you have to do that digitally. It’s a very, very expensive process to do it. So when we did the transfer to digital, we only transferred really the upgraded version.”

Whatever you say, George. Hit the jump for some more details.

What do Snoop Dogg, David Beckham, Jay Baruchel, one of the founding members of Oasis, FIFA World Cup, and Star Wars all have in common?

Not a whole lot really.  But with the 2010 FIFA World Cup about to kick off, they can all be found in an entertaining new spot for Adidas Originals from the brilliant minds over at Lucasfilm.  The ad brings together the above, plus a few others (including Daft Punk and Ciara), to one of the most famous bars in movie history: The Mos Eisely Cantina.  Hit the jump to check out the ad and to learn how Lucasfilm brought it to life.

We reported earlier this month that LucasFilm is developing a new Star Wars TV series, which would be an animated comedy.  During a Q&A session at C2E2 on Saturday Steve Sansweet, LucasFilm’s Director of Fan Relations, revealed that this new animated series would feature the post-Return of the Jedi adventures of the original characters. It happened when a fan asked, “I would really love to see new adventures after Jedi with our favorite characters Luke, Han and Leia,” to which Sansweet replied, “And you will, in the new animation.”  (via IGN)

This is news which will probably make many fans glad and many other fans quite worried.  Given what Lucas did to Obi-Wan, R2-D2, C-3PO and Yoda in the the prequels, I wish that he would just leave Luke, Han and Leia alone.

But after the Q&A, in an interview with ForceCast, Sansweet seemed to backtrack and insisted that he was “in the dark” and did not know exactly what would the new series would be about.  He said that it could possibly feature “characters from the original trilogy, the prequels [or] new characters,” but that it will most likely be a mix of all of the above.  For more on what Sansweet does know about the series, hit the jump.