Because it takes so long to physically duplicate 35mm prints, in addition to the time to actually send the prints to theatres, I have heard that traditionally movies have had very tight post-production deadlines. However, if there are no prints to worry about (because the movie is completely digital), does that mean that the director and crew are allowed to take more time for post-production? In other words, with no prints to be made and shipped, can a director work on a movie until much closer to the actual release date? Thanks to anyone that replies.

Even if the movie is shot digitally 35mm prints are still made. Theaters still project the majority of films on 35mm, whether it was shot digitally or not. In addition to that movies shot digitally still have 35mm masters.

In terms of post production the process is nearly the same. The only real difference is that instead of the images being scanned they are downloaded.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Blu Man.

I remember when Attack of the Clones came out, there were minor VFX tweaks as well as a couple new shots in the digital version that weren't in the film prints. They were very minor additions IIRC, like Slave One landing, and a shot of Anakin's hand at the end. I'm sure there's a list somewhere...

So I'd imagine there's enough time to make minor tweaks to the film, but I'm guessing that most directors not named George Lucas lock their films when it's time to run prints.