Early Release for Star Wars The Phantom Menace 3D Blu-ray?

With Star Wars Episode One - The Phantom Menace in 3D currently showing in cinemas, it's perhaps a surprise to hear about a potential Blu-ray release, however according to TechRadar it could be coming sooner than we'd normally expect.

However, there's a catch.  Like the Blu-ray of Star Wars, Panasonic is being rumoured to have snapped up the rights to The Phantom Menace in 3D, and will be packaging the movie with its home cinema sets in the spring.

This would be a very fast turnaround, and a massive coup for Panasonic, however a more feasible September date is also being suggested.

At this stage there's no mention of the film being an exclusive title to Panasonic, so fans shouldn't face the same problems as they did with Avatar.  It also means there's a chance it'll hit retail around the same time as it becomes available through Panasonic.

Amazon UK and USA both have place-holder pages for the 3D Blu-ray, but neither have dates attached. This points to a release schedule which will follow the theatrical re-release, in that we'll get one a year instead of an entire 3D boxset at the end. Although don't rule out a deluxe version when we get to Return of the Jedi in six years' time.