"Star" to be Re-Born

A Star is Born — the 1954 version directed by George Cukor — is being restored in 6K resolution by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging.

What’s it all mean? It means the new version will have a super-clear picture, because most digital film restoration is done at 2K. If you know about pixels, consider that a 4K restoration has 4 times the pixels of a 2K, and 6K contains 2 1/4 times as much as 4K.

But enough with the numbers. The film, starring Judy Garland and James Mason, is believed to be the first restoration project where the scanning, restoration work and mastering will be completed at that resolution.

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The main goal is preservation, but the restored film will also be released on DVD and Blu-ray. It’ll be interesting to compare the new film to the original.

Restoration of A Star Is Born is expected to take four to six months. “Our expectation is that the restoration would live for easily 100 years,” said Ned Price, vp mastering, Warner Bros. Technical Operations.

Image: A Star is Born, Warner Bros. Pictures, 1954