Could Disney finally give us the remastered, unedited Star Wars we want?

[rodneyfaile]

Could Disney finally give us the remastered, unedited Star Wars we want? | Ars Technica

.....now that Disney has its hands wrapped firmly around the Star Wars steering wheel, the company seems to be in the perfect position to give the fans what they want.
But assuming Disney wanted to invest the time and effort into such a release, is it actually possible?Do the original Episodes IV-VI exist in a restorable state, or is the oft-repeated story that they were "destroyed" during the editing of the 1997 Special Edition re-releases actually true? And even if a restoration is actually possible, would Disney be able to do the work and release the movies under the terms of its existing Star Wars license?
It turns out that these two questions both have complicated answers. The quick spoiler versions are "almost certainly yes" and "no, at least not for now," but the long answers require going down a number of different rabbit holes. Strap in, because we’re about to make the jump to light speed.

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Stated simply: the vast majority of the restoration work to release a beautiful HD version of the original trilogy has already been completed.

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The issue, then, isn’t whether Disney would be able to make any money creating and selling a re-release of the original theatrical versions of Star Wars IV-VI or whether it's technically possible—it’s whether or not Fox would let the company do it, and whether either vast company would be willing to share the resulting profits from doing so. Drew McWeeny on HitFix notes that cross-studio deals like this aren’t uncommon, but divesting Star Wars from Fox and Fox from Star Wars is a tangled process that can’t be done quickly due to the sheer number of agreements in place (20th Century Fox also owns the distribution rights to the computer-generated Star Wars: Clone Wars movie—but not the animated series, which is distributed by Warner Bros… except for the online streaming version, which is distributed by Disney).

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Things get a little simpler in 2020, when the distribution rights to most of the Star Wars movies revert to Disney. However, the original film, Episode IV—the one that purists still refer to simply as "Star Wars," since it debuted under that title with no "Episode IV" tag—won’t follow them.

.....as so often happens in Hollywood, the legal wrangling far overshadows the technical issues.

 

[Stronglikebear]

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney tried to brute force something together for 2017, the fortieth anniversary. Or if Fox did the same.

 

[Risu]

I can't say why I know this, but yes, they will.

 

[Mola Rob]

I believe they will for two reasons - number one is of course money, the most popular of the three ultimate driving forces behind everything relating to the human race. The second reason is that it would be the perfect way to bring back many fans who have been put off by the antics and sub par creations of Mr. Lucas since the late nineties.

 

[CB2001]

It's really hard to say. I mean, the original SW trilogy was a major hit with Fox, despite them having no faith in the film before and during the making of the original film. They may have struck a deal to do the distribution of the newer films, but for the originals, it's hard to really know for sure. Fox refuses to give up the film rights to the Marvel film properties they have (which is the reason why we're getting more X-Men films, as well as reports of a reboot of the Fantastic Four) back to Marvel, which happens to be owned by Disney nowadays. So, like I said, it's hard to really say for certain in my opinion. As much as I would like to have the original trilogy as they were when I was growing up, I'm not getting my hopes up for it.

 

[Treadwell]

Disney restores/preserves stuff in their catalog they have no intention of ever releasing again, because they are good stewards of their fragile photochemical media. Regardless of making a deal with Fox, it would be in their interest to reconstruct, or at least scan/duplicate/preserve all original unaltered trilogy material, just so it's safe. I'd be very surprised if they didn't. (As the article points out, whether it would be RELEASED is another question.)

 

[Probe Droid]

If the remastered films were released to the home market and not​ theatrically (which would suck), would FOX be involved at all?

 

[JD]

 

[Treadwell]

If the remastered films were released to the home market and not​ theatrically (which would suck), would FOX be involved at all?

According to the article they own all release rights on any medium in perpetuity.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Who actually owns the rights to the movies? Is it FOX, Lucasfilm, or Lucas? If Lucas had or retained any ownership of the actual movies, he might not allow it.

 

[Treadwell]

Disney owns all the movies and all related intellectual property (and Indiana Jones), lock stock and barrel. Lucas is out. Fox has the distribution rights to ANH forever, and the other films until 2020. So Fox gets a goodly slice of the pie should Disney want to release any of them during that time.

 

[cayman shen]

Let the record show that if the original unaltered editions were released on BD, I would literally cry. Pure joy tears, hitch in my throat, the works. Where do we send the emails to Fox and Disney to play nice and do a service to cinema history?

 

[dascoyne]

Harmy 2.5
[/thread]

 

[CB2001]

Who actually owns the rights to the movies? Is it FOX, Lucasfilm, or Lucas? If Lucas had or retained any ownership of the actual movies, he might not allow it.

How I see it (which I could be wrong):
1. Disney - Owns the franchise
2. Fox Owns the distribution rights of the original trilogy
3. Lucas - Owns copyright to the story

 

[Treadwell]

Lucas owns nothing SW, he sold everything. (Well, I'm sure he still has profit participation "points".)

 

[nitrox]

Lucas owns nothing SW, he sold everything. (Well, I'm sure he still has profit participation "points".)

I think he still owns the archives though right?

 

[Clutch]

I think people have made such a big deal over this that it will be a non-event if they ever do release the untouched originals.

 

[Solo4114]

Who actually owns the rights to the movies? Is it FOX, Lucasfilm, or Lucas? If Lucas had or retained any ownership of the actual movies, he might not allow it.

Disney owns all the movies and all related intellectual property (and Indiana Jones), lock stock and barrel. Lucas is out. Fox has the distribution rights to ANH forever, and the other films until 2020. So Fox gets a goodly slice of the pie should Disney want to release any of them during that time.

As I understand it:

- Lucas divested himself of any ownership in the property whatsoever. He no longer owns anything "Star Wars." He might still get residuals, but my understanding of the Disney sale was that he sold all his rights to Disney.

- Disney owns the rights to the franchise that Lucas sold them. That means the rights to make new films, new derivative works, trademark rights, licensing rights, etc., etc., etc. Disney owns Star Wars.

- HOWEVER, Lucas could only sell what he himself owned. Technically, the copyright holder owns the distribution rights. But Lucas either assigned/sold or licensed-in-perpetuity the distro rights for Ep. IV to Fox, across all mediums. Meaning in the year 3000, if "home media" is now beamed directly to your brain, Fox has the distro rights for Ep. IV to do that. Currently, fox has a license to distribute the other 5 films, which expires and reverts to the rights-holder (Disney) in 2020. But the Ep.IV distro rights will never revert.

- Now, legally speaking, a license is just a contract, and the parties to the contract may freely agree to alter the terms of the contract, if both parties are in agreement on the alterations. So, Fox could agree to give the rights back to Disney -- either forever, or for a limited time -- or Disney could agree to extend the rights on Eps. I-III and V-VI. The question is ultimately one of money.



Fox has a price at which they'd sell Star Wars. I guarantee you, someone knows the value of that property, or can at least calculate it if that calculation hasn't been run already. But the value of that property can vary. Right now, Fox has the "full set" of Star Wars films. Meaning it can sell six-film sets, or three-film sets, or individual films. BUT, if ALL it can sell is Ep. IV, then the value of that license diminishes significantly. And in 2020, that's exactly what'll happen. Disney will regain the rights to Eps. I-III, V, and VI, and the value of Fox's rights will be significantly lessened. It is therefore in Disney's interests to focus any attention on reclaiming the rights to Ep. IV in the post-2020 landscape. They may be in negotiations now, but they timeframe for which they're negotiating is after that 2020 reversion date. Fox also does not own the rights to make a remastered edition. All they own (at least based on everything I've read) is the right to distribute whatever someone else creates. This is also why no release of a remaster will appear before 2020. Why spend money to put money in Fox's pocket?


I think it will happen eventually. I highly doubt it'll be prior to 2020, but I could see it happening in that decade (2020-2030). Although, we obviously can't anticipate the media format in which any such remaster will be issued that far in advance. But there will be some home media remaster of the originals at some point, in my opinion. The only thing that MIGHT hasten the decision to make a deal would be the impending death of the physical media market. Blu-Rays won't last forever as a medium, and streaming is becoming more and more popular. But I don't necessarily see that change as dramatically affecting the value of the distro rights for Ep. IV themselves.

 

[cayman shen]

Depressingly, this scenario is almost certainly how it will go down. Whelp, fingers crossed for unaltered OOT editions by the time I'm 50! (I'm 38 now...sigh.)

 

[robn1]

I hope it happens by the time I'm 50, eleven months and counting