---

The Star Wars saga will at long last be released in a high-definition home video format as all six movies come to Blu-Ray in a Box Set in Fall 2011, as announced by George Lucas this morning at Celebration V. At the fan convention's Main Event, thousands of Star Wars fans braved the muggy heat of an Orlando morning to queue for a one-time only stage session between George Lucas and The Daily Show's Jon Stewart. Stewart asked Lucas questions submitted from the fan community, and one of the most frequently asked questions submitted online prior to the Main Event was about the saga's release on Blu-Ray.
"I wish I could say it was coming out this year," said Lucas, "but it will come out next year."

The set will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films, with the highest picture and audio quality, along with extensive special features.

---

---

Star Wars fans were treated to a glimpse of bonus material, in the form of a long-lost deleted scene from Return of the Jedi. The scene has long been talked about online -- a sequence that depicts Luke Skywalker assembling his new, green-bladed lightsaber prior to infiltrating Jabba the Hutt's palace. After completing the Jedi weapon, Luke stashes it in R2-D2's dome. What makes the Jedi deleted clip so remarkable is that it made it all the way to postproduction before it was cut, so it is a rare example of a cut scene with completed visual effects and music.

Actor Mark Hamill came out to describe the scene, remarking that once again his original introduction in a Star Wars film was cut out (his Anchorhead introduction was, of course, cut from A New Hope). Luke's intro is purposely played as ominous, with his face cowled in shadows and his intentions unclear."I had the black cloak, the glove, and I thought, wow, this time around I get to be the antagonist. Little did I know I was predicting the path of the prequels," said Hamill, noting the similarities to Luke in this scene and Anakin Skywalker's appearance.

---

---

Walt Disney/Pixar franchise grabs $920 million US worldwide

Toy Story 3 has trumped Shrek 2 as the highest grossing animated film of all time.

The third instalment of the Walt Disney/Pixar franchise raked in $920 million US in global sales as of Friday, outpacing Paramount/DreamWork's Shrek 2, which took in $919.8 million US in 2004 when it came out.

First launched in 1995 by Pixar, the tale of a group of motley toys who come to life, led by cowboy Woody and his pal Buzz Lightyear, has been a top earner for Disney.

The DVD is slated to come out in November.

In terms of its position on the list of Disney's highest-grossing hits, Toy Story 3 comes in fourth, after the first two Pirates of the Caribbean films and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Toy Story 3, created in 3-D, has gotten wide critical acclaim. Director Lee Unkrich said the long lag time between the last film and the current one was about finding the right story.

"We want all the films to be great whether they are a sequel or not," Unkrich said in June, when the film opened.

"Hopefully the fact that 11 years have gone by between Parts 2 and 3 show that we're not hustling out sequels to make a quick buck."

---