Michael has good attention to detail. He should be en editor.

Right, sorry, but my point still stands. Disney has an uphill climb to restore the image of these films. A release of the originals will go a long way towards fixing that.


(I can't believe I didn't catch that typo either....)

The Bits article barely even counts as "rumor." They went up to some "industry insiders" (although apparently nobody from Disney) and asked their opinion about whether or not the OOT would be released. Hell, I have an opinion about that as well, that doesn't mean anything at all about what Disney is actually planning.

There was some discussion of this on the two threads made when the news of Disney buying Lucasfilm first broke. One important note is that Fox still owns the distribution rights to all 6 current films until 2020, and even after that it owns the distribution rights to ANH in perpetuity:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayli...y-fox-20121031

It seams doubtful that Disney will let Lucasfilm release any restorations of the original versions until after Disney has distribution of at least the majority of the films, and then they'd have to work out some sort of agreement over ANH. So I'm guessing 2020 at the earliest.

I still don't think you're considering that Disney would be considering the homevideo release as the major reason for releasing them. They're thinking about the overall franchise and if releasing the originals helped create buzz for the movies all over again, then they'll do it. The fact that they'd be helping to preserve cultural touchstones that changed moviemaking would be secondary to them, as would the profits from such a Bluray/DVD release.

Cars 2 was greenlit because merchandise from the first Cars movie outsold merchandise from practically any other franchise, not because Cars was a great movie that deserved a followup.

People need to remember that FOX owns the rights to A NEW HOPE until 2020, so NOTHING is happening on home video until at least then (at which time Blu-ray should be dead in the water).

And you seriously think they wouldn't jump at a chance to re-release the movie? Even if they had to split the pie, it's still a new product to sell.

Eh, you never know what sort of deals can be struck on these types of things, (revenue sharing on x, future profits on y). It's all about the Benjamins, and stranger things have happened.

I don't think the new Star Wars films really need that much more buzz, and restoring the OOT isn't going to create that much buzz. Yes, there's a market for them of die-hard fanatics, but those die-hard fans already know about the new films. The rest of the public doesn't really care about the changes all that much.

What's more, Disney can't release their own boxset or even standalone releases, they'd have to give the restored films to FOX to distribute, which would earn FOX a pretty penny on them. I think studio pettiness could easily trump any "for the good of the franchise." idealism.

Correction: As i noted above, FOX owns the distribution rights to A NEW HOPE in perpetuity, aka forever. The distribution rights for the other 5 films revert back to Lucasfilm, now part of Disney, in 2020, but FOX gets to keep A NEW HOPE. Now, this could change if Disney is able to convince FOX to sell, but that seems unlikely.

I think I will pick up my Unaltered Trilogy box set on the same day as the 1960's Batman Complete Series...never.

I believe that if there is ever a time to release the OOT on BluRay fully remastered, it would be to coincide with the release of Episode 7 in 2015. You could cross promote the return of Luke, Leia and Han to the big screen for the first time in 32 years, along with a release of the original versions.

As for distribution rights, I remember there was a big flack over the Titanic VHS/DVD release in the late 90's. Because Titanic had such a mammoth budget, Paramount and Fox ended up funding the budget together, but the problem was who distributed the home video release? It ended up that Paramount got the distribution rights for domestic home video release, and FOX got the distribution rights for the international home video release.

Now I am not a lawyer, so I don't know how these companies can come to an agreement. But these companies are businesses and if there is money to be made, they will FIND a way to make it work. As Tony Soprano said to Johnny Sack, "We are all hear to provide for your families, so lets settle on a price and be done with it!"

With Titanic, Fox and Paramount came to that distribution agreement before the film was even made, since it covered theatrical as well. and they each funded the movie as well, based partly on their distribution. Paramount, having domestic rights, paid the higher share of the cost initially, and ended up covering all the overages as well.

New Line and MGM also came to an agreement regarding The Hobbit for a joint production/distribution deal. MGM also reached a joint production deal with Sony for Bonds 23 and 24. When Disney acquired Marvel Studios, they worked out a deal with Paramount regarding The Avengers and Iron Man 3, already in production and part of a previous distribution deal, with Disney absorbing all costs and paying Paramount a percentage:
http://collider.com/mgm-sony-james-bond/
http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/para...-avengers-too/

Such joint production/distribution deals aren't that uncommon, actually. However, note that all the deals above, Titanic included, consisted of new films being produced. Each side had some sort of leverage, either in terms of financing or rights. With Star Wars OOT, the films have already been made, a long, long time ago, and Fox already has the distribution rights. It's hard to see what Disney could bring to the table to get Fox to fork over their share, especially when Disney could simply wait them out to get the majority of the rights back.

Another logical point would be after the next trilogy is finished and released on home video, when Disney could release a super box set of all 9 films. That would be sometime in late 2019, early 2020, which coincides with the time Disney gets distribution rights to most of the films back.

As for 2015, there may be a home video release to capitalize on the new film, but released by Fox. They could simply repackage the existing Blu-ray sets, or re-arrange them somehow. Maybe release the trilogy sets with their relevant extras, or even do standalone releases of each title. Fox could also re-release their DVD versions, or even go back and re-release the Limited Edition DVDs, with the unrestored laserdisc masters of the OOT.

I just want the Unmolested Original Trilogy so I can act like the prequels never happened. The way Star Wars stands now is the rise/fall/redemption of Anakin Skywalker. It wouldn't be so bad if Lucas hadn't turned him into a whiny brat who kills children and ushers in a dictatorship because he had a temper tantrum. As it stands I don't care if Anikan is redeemed. He doesn't deserve it.

Artistically, maybe. But if Darth Vader Takes A Shit came out in cinemas tomorrow, it would out-gross Avatar by the end of the week. People will pay for the Star Wars brand name sight unseen, no questions asked.

Yeah, well, about that...

The "Lucas clause" is something fans are all speculating about because we've been burned too many times, but there's never been any official confirmation about it.

I will pay damn near any reasonable price for the OOT.


Doubtful. There's always the possibility of them reaching some sort of agreement (Hey, Turbo bombed, maybe they need money), but I find it very difficult to see Disney and Fox ever getting along about much of anything. And there is no film called A New Hope. There never has been, there never will be, no matter how many times they put it on the package or digitize it into the screen.

I assume that the merchandising rights for all of the Star Wars stuff were included in Disney's deal?

Remember the guy in GoodFellas who gets stomped to death and then stabbed? That is my last remaining hopes.

I've long opined that this sadly the case. The general public don't care about the changes.

And Song of the South, I'm sadly believing that Lucas' Orwellian mission to rewrite film history has been successful.

2015, 2020, either way, I'm not getting younger. If there were some official confirmation, at least that'd be something, but "industry insiders" is the same thing that The National Enquirer prints above all of their articles.

I do think they've run out of way to milk the existing six film, I can't imagine most people would care about rereleases of those, no matter how shiny the new package is.

What's your preferred name for it? Calling it just "Star Wars" is confusing, since it's not always clear if one's referring to just the first film or the entire series. And calling it "the original Star Wars film" just seems clumsy.

Disney got the rights to everything Lucasfilm has the rights to. In the case of rights that Lucasfilm licensed out, Disney will get those once those licensing deals expire.

Hasbro just re-upped its license for Star Wars toys through 2020, covering the next 3 films as well:
http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/has...es-1200566115/

If that were true, then all three prequels would have outgrossed Titanic, which they didn't. In fact, all the Star Wars films, not adjusted for inflation, have been outgrossed by Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, and The Dark Knight domestically.

I think he was speaking in hyperbole, since I don't think the MPAA would allow the title Darth Vader Takes A Shit.

I do think the main gist is correct though, that a new Star Wars live-action film is very likely to have a strong box-office even if it's mediocre. If it's actually good it could do a lot better.

That said, as someone who wants the OOT on home video, whether Disney releases it or not has little bearing on my decision to see the new films. I'm going to see them based on if they look good, that's really the only factor. I'm guessing the majority of the viewing public is the same.

See, I think the prequels and the continual whoring out of SW may have turned some people off. Considering that Disney just spent a billion dollars acquiring this property, they want to make sure that their first movie is a hit right off the bat. Not just a hit, but a megahit. Especially after having some big high profile flops. So I don't think it's a given that Episode VII will sell like gangbusters if it's not good.

So how many of us actually held off on buying the Blu-rays all this time and how many eventually broke down and bought it?

I've held off obviously because of all the ridiculous changes that just became too much but mostly because I realized I've had the original trilogy on DVD since it was released the first time and still haven't watched them.

If and when the unaltered trilogy is released I finally pick it up.

I haven't bought the Blu-rays. The prequels don't exist to me, and the OT is unwatchable in its present state. I have the Harmy despecialized editions in HD on a thumb drive. When I want to watch the Trilogy, that's what I watch.

I caved on the OT set. BB had it for $30 around Christmas and I got one of their $10 christmas bonus certificates so $20 out the door. I'm good at that price even with all the changes.

I've only watched SW and ESB though. Still haven't gotten to the Hayden force ghost crap.

I'm certain Disney is taking extra care to make sure Ep7 is a good film (as sure as they can be, at any rate). Also, Disney has taken some steps to keep from diluting/whoring out the brand, cancelling the 3D versions of the previous films, as well as shelving indefinitely the Star Wars: Detours TV show.

But I do think that a new Star Wars trilogy has a shitton of built in buzz. Hell, the fact that George Lucas won't be directly involved has been enough to pique the interest of those turned off by the prequels. Releasing the OOT would be a tiny blip on the radar in terms of buzz. And based on my opinions of the prequels, after having released 3 shitty Star Wars films in a row and still raking in big bank, a new film would have to be really, really, really shitty for it to dramatically flop.

Still haven't bought it.

I've still held out on not buying the set. I've been tempted a few times but can't bring myself to. The 2004 DVD set is still fine for me (even though that's not the original Original Trilogy either).

I found a used copy of the 9 disc set last summer and bought that. I've watched some of it, wish I could have paid a little less than $53 though. It's not a terrible set, considering.

Same here but I also have the set in the tin that I think came out in 2006.

Vader screaming "noooooo" during the lightsaber battle in Return of the Jedi was the final straw for me not buying the Blu-ray set. Some of the changes I don't mind but to me that seemed like a huge fuck you to fans when Lucas knew that scene was criticized when it was first done in Revenge of the Sith. I would buy the set and possibly even the prequels if the originals were released.