Yes, it’s true! After George Lucas made mention of it in 2005, an official release year has been announced. All 6 Star Wars movies are going back to theaters starting in 2012 with Episode I. The official announcement can be read here on starwars.com. The griping has already started on the internets with many fans saying, “here’s Lucas again cashing in on Star Wars”. We have the recently announced Blu Rays coming out next year and now there will at some point be 3D releases for home. I will not deny that this is another way of him making more money with Star Wars, but to me nothing matches the experience of seeing these movies in a theatre with an audience. It is very much a different experience than watching them from the comfort of your own home. The last time we got to see the original movies was in ’97, which by the time these start coming out will have been 15 years ago. I’ve personally always thought it would be great to have them rereleased every few years. While I know a few vocal people are criticizing the fact of it coming out in 3D, I’m really more excited to have the opportunity to go back and see these in the theatre rather than the 3D aspect. Knowing how Lucas is with technology though, I imagine the 3D will still be very good even with the fact that these are conversions instead of proper films shot with 3D cameras like Avatar.
A video can also be watched of John Knoll talking about the 3D conversion. He was the video effects supervisor on most of the films. video link