The Criterion Collection is proud to announce that it will be releasing one of the landmarks of independent cinema, downtown icon Jim Jarmusch’s epic ode to everything Stranger Than Paradise, in the form the filmmaker originally intended.

While working on Criterion’s upcoming release of Dead Man, Jarmusch revealed that his breakthrough film had originally been conceived as a 3D experience. “When we originally filmed the movie,” he said, “we tried duct-taping two Bolex cameras together, but at the time we just weren’t able to combine the two images correctly for 3D . . . until now!”

Criterion’s Jon Mulvaney says that by any measure this will be one of the company’s proudest achievements. “Here at Criterion, we’ve always been committed to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen, fully restored, in the correct aspect ratio, and so on, but this isn’t just a matter of a few dirt and scratch fixes or an alternate shot here and there. This is a chance to make a filmmaker’s dream come true.”

When it was released in 1984, Stranger Than Paradise set the standard for immersive indie experiences, but few knew that they had only seen half the film. The secondary camera reels, long thought lost, were discovered in Jarmusch’s basement in stunning mint condition. Scanned in 4K, the reels were composited using state-of-the-art 3D-Lineator® MARK IV™ software to create the ultra-real impression that Jarmusch always hoped for. You can practically smell the sidewalks of the East Village and the shores of Lake Erie! Look for STP3D at select theaters later this year.