Like It or Not...The Phantom Menace is Returning to Theaters

It's been over 12 years since Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace opened in theaters, which was highly anticipated by fans and then just as quickly reviled by most of those same fans within minutes after the midnight screenings ended.  The Star Wars prequels chugged along anyway, and for better or worse, they're part of the Star Wars universe whether we like them or not.  And actually...I enjoy them.  They're not perfect (at all), but over the years, I've found that for everything that aggravates me about the prequels (and there are many), there are at least three or four things that I like about them, so it evens out.  Mostly.  I was never good at math.

Anyway, George Lucas certainly wasn't going to let this 3D craze pass by without screwing around with the Star Wars movies again, so the films are headed back to big screen in glorious 3D, starting with The Phantom Menace, which returns to theaters on February 10, 2012. 

To celebrate (or warn, depending on your point of view) the re-release, we have our first look at a brand-new poster showing off the stuff that will certainly look the coolest in 3D, courtesy of Cinema Blend:

Critically maligned or not...that sucker is still going to make a fortune next year. 

Now these re-releases are scheduled to be an annual thing, so starting next year we'll be getting one 3D Star Wars movie per year.  That also means we won't be seeing any of the original trilogy in 3D until 2015.  That kind of sucks, but on the bright side, we should all be able to ride to the movie theater on our hoverboards by then.

Here's a slightly disturbing thought:  the 3D re-release of Return of the Jedi is scheduled for 2017.  That year also marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars film.  Who would have thought back then that we would be celebrating this anniversary with dancing Ewoks in 3D?  I've been a Star Wars fan for a good long time, but I sure as hell didn't see that one coming.