Is George Lucas Planning a New 'Star Wars' Trilogy?

Um ... probably not. But the folks over at Market Saw seem to believe that they've uncovered secret galactic plans to create a brand new big-screen Star Wars trilogy in 3D. However, they claim these films wouldn't be directed by George Lucas -- instead, he'd pass them off to other directors like Steven Spielberg or Francis Ford Coppola (who Market Saw claims their source mentioned directly as a potential candidate). Yeah, definitely let me know when Coppola decides to direct a Star Wars film so I can look out my window and watch all the pigs flying.

Almost immediately after this rumor hit, folks began to read between the lines. Market Saw, who've been the unofficial Avatar fansite for awhile now, continually mention in their piece that Avatar has to do well in theaters in order for this new Star Wars trilogy to happen since Lucas wants the films in 3D and needs more theaters to come equipped with 3D technology. As AICN points out, it seems like someone at Fox is spinning a marketing web by putting the thought in folks' heads that if they go see Avatar, they'll be helping to bring new Star Wars movies to life.

From MS: "How seriously should you consider these rumors? Well it is coming from a source that SHOULD KNOW. This source is absolutely connected. So odds are it is seriously being talked about at Lucasfilm. Right now. Will it happen? AVATAR will have to hit and hit big and then all the stars have to align properly - all I can do is pass on the info."

AICN contacted Lucasfilm who of course denied that any new trilogy was being worked on. They also denied that the original Star Wars films were being converted to 3D, though we already know (and Lucas has said it himself) that he wants to transfer the original trilogy to 3D and re-launch those in theaters. Friends of mine have already seen test footage of the opening of A New Hope in 3D and say it's amazing, so that I believe to be true.

And, yeah, I could see folks at Lucasfilm eying Avatar closely to see if it's worth investing all that time, money and energy into the conversion if there aren't enough theaters to house the films. So, a brand new trilogy? No, I don't think so. But I do agree that in a lot of ways Avatar holds the key to the future of 3D on the big screen. If it's a huge success, the theater industry will have to embrace the new technology, and you'll see folks like Lucas and Spielberg and Peter Jackson going back through their films and converting them to 3D.

What would you rather see: a new Star Wars trilogy or the original trilogy re-released in 3D?