Me, I think that 20th Century Fox will not sell the distribution rights to Disney when it comes to the original trilogy. After all, the original trilogy was three of their most biggest hits in their history and drew in millions of dollars for decades. Hell, Fox won't even give X-Men and The Fantastic Four back to Marvel, which is owned by Disney as well, and those films probably haven't even touched the amount of money that Fox made off the original trilogy, even after Marvel has probably made dozens of offers to get those rights back, and from what I've read, Marvel has pretty much ended The Fantastic Four comics, possibly in hopes that it would sabotage the upcoming film so that they can get the rights back. Unless Disney can somehow make one hell of an offer that Fox can't refuse, the odds of seeing the unaltered original trilogy released on Blu-Ray is something that seems more as a pipe dream at this moment. But then again, stranger things have happened and it could happen.
You're conflating distribution rights with total creative control. Fox owns X-Men and Fantastic Four for purposes of
making movies, from top to bottom. They can write the scripts, pick the actors, shoot the films, and put them in theaters and then burn 'em to media and sell the streaming rights or host them themselves, all in-house.
That's not the case with Star Wars, though. As I understand it, Fox owns the
distribution rights to the OT. Two of those films revert to Disney in 2020 -- five years from now. The third film remains in Fox's control
for distribution purposes in perpetuity. Now, again, as I understand it, what that means is that Fox gets to keep printing copies of the OT. And that's about it. They don't get to modify the films by adding or cutting scenes. They have no creative control over them. What they get to do is print the movies, and I'm not even sure that they get to decide
when that happens. I
think that distribution rights means that, if LucasFilm/Disney wants to reissue discs, or do an OOT version or whathaveyou, then they bring the film to Fox, and have to use Fox's distribution chain to get the final product to the consumer. That means Fox prints the discs or decides who does. Fox picks the company that does the box artwork. Fox controls how it gets to the theaters, if it gets to the theaters again. But I
don't think that it means that Fox gets to say "Hey, let's do an 8K version of the OOT with all the SE stuff taken out, but let's keep some of the color correction, and reissue the films with the original 'Star Wars' title crawl. Also, let's put this in theaters in 3D." Basically, Fox gets a cut of any distribution money, and Disney has to use Fox's distribution chain to get the film out, and that's it.
The reason why nothing is likely to happen until 2020 is because all Disney currently has to do is sit and wait for the rights to two of the films to revert. That gives them more leverage to work a deal with Fox to either license or purchase back the distribution rights to
one film as opposed to three. Now, Fox will still hold something of considerable value, but that value is significantly diminished when it's just the one film. So Disney has no incentive to spend additional money just so it can jump the gun by 5 years (or less, as time ticks by) to put the whole trilogy out. They'll just wait, and then work a deal with Fox to get the film.
Fox, at the same time, is not gonna refuse a deal because the value of JUST releasing Star Wars isn't enough to make it worthwhile. Plus, they'll know Disney
will want the rights back, because Disney is working on a theory with the franchise that it will provide a unified approach to ALL things Star Wars. Books, comics, video games, toys, TV shows, films, web series, Youtube channels, websites, everything. Disney wants it all controlled in-house by people it selects because it knows they can deliver quality. That's already how they're approaching the franchise, and it's likely to continue. And that means that, yes, this will eventually happen (probably), or at least Disney will recapture the rights.
If I had to guess, I'd bet that they'll buy them back outright, rather than license them on some temporary basis. It'll cost them in the short run, but it's worth it for them in the long run. Fox will want the money, so it will be inclined to deal, rather than ask for a number so astronomically high that Disney refuses. Fox, after all, is in the business of making money. Denying Disney the ability to release the film does not make them money. It costs Disney money. That's not the same thing. In the end, the desire to make money will win out over the desire to harm the competition because, realistically, Fox gains nothing by harming the competition, and makes money by making the deal.
that is so not what is going on. I feel like I need to educate half this forum about branding and business sometimes...
I've given it my best shot, but please do feel free to correct me where I've gone astray, misunderstood, or misread the situation.