Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but one positive thing about this sale:
The likelihood of every single re-release of the films containing new tweaks and changes has just gone down dramatically.
Now let's just hope Disney doesn't pull that "into the vault" crap to push immediate sales...
Even if they did....so what? The Blu-Rays were just released. Anyone and everyone who wants a copy probably already has it. Anyone who doesn't...didn't buy 'em. I think it'd be more likely they'd keep sales going and use that to help fund a restoration of the OOT for release as part of a mega-set right around 2015 when they release the 7th film.
Yeah, but who hires and fires those writers, producers, directors, etc.? Who's holding the purse strings for the entire production?
If a director isn't taking the film where Disney management wants to go, what do you think will happen? If the screenplay doesn't include enough cross-merchandising opportunities, who do you think has final say on that? If Alan Horn passes on "script suggestions," is anyone foolish enough to think those can be disregarded?
Again, I'm not saying Disney will meddle like this. I'm just saying that the potential for such heavy-handed control will always be out there. Disney may let other people drive the car, but make no mistake, it's Disney's car now.
All true, and it raises an interesting issue with respect to creative control: the business vs. art split. WITH THIS PROPERTY SPECIFICALLY I'd be thinking more along the lines of it being good to have a bit more "business savvy" in the process. Lucas' own "artistic" approach (or at least singular vision) was the SOLE guiding force behind the PT. It seems that Lucas' vision was heavily present in KOTCS, too. In both cases, I would submit, it is the strength of the brand itself that carried the day, rather than the films being genuinely good films. There was also a LOT of backlash in the fan community, which continues to this day.
Disney MIGHT look at that and say "You know, why are we gonna **** all these people off? Maybe we can make somethign that makes every fan -- old and new -- happy. So, yeah, no Jar-Jar-like nonsense."
I'll grant you, the later Pirates films seemed bloated and dull, with a lot of mugging for the camera, but I can't help but wonder what drove that. Was it the suits at Disney, or timidity on the part of the creative team? Or was it simply instincts to "go bigger" rather than "go better"?
In the end, it doesn't really matter to me all that much. I'm at a point with both Indy and Star Wars where, as long as I have my originals (particularly restored ORIGINAL originals), I can look at the new stuff in a different light. That's new product for a new generation of fans, and that's fine. Some of it will appeal to me, much of it won't, but hey, whatever. It doesn't all have to be about me and my tastes. JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN RESTORED OOT.
I'll grant that the first film was for the art, and give Lucas the benefit of the doubt for ESB and RotJ. The prequels were from a sold out Uncle George, not motivated (solely) by artistic expression.
Cynical as I am about Lucas and Disney, I have far more faith in Disney than I do in George sadly. Episode VII will be nothing but a cash grab, but at least there will people on the production who can say "no."
See above. But I'd also argue that Lucas was shifting heavily towards "marketing" by ROTJ. (Wookies into Ewoks and such...)
I really think the issue is less whether it's done for sell-out reasons and more WHAT is done. I mean, Pirates of the Caribbean -- the first film -- was a total cash grab. An attempt at marketing a freaking RIDE as the basis for a film. And yet...it rocked. The first sequel was a little too big, but it was still pretty good. It just went off the rails in the 3rd and 4th films, but so it goes. My point, though, is that "cash grab" doesn't automatically translate into "crap fest."
The new Muppet movie could be argued as being a "cash grab" in that it's re-launching an old brand for a new audience. But I don't know any old-school Muppet fan who didn't view that film as a heart-string-pulling return to form.
