Re: Star Wars OT UNALTERED Bluray!!!
Because the only value of owning ANH would be to do a non-SE release, and that is of limited value.
To expand on this point -- because I think it will be necessary, given the level of fandom here -- those of us who post to these forms, for the most part, are HUGE fans of Star Wars. We are the outliers in society. The vast majority of the public doesn't really care about the SE changes. Plus, the vast majority of the public doesn't care about film preservation and history, either, so they're more inclined to say "Who cares? They made the f/x look better and more modern instead of the cheesy 70s stuff." I recognize that this mindset is totally alien to most people here, but it really does exist out there.
As a result, anyone who was gonna buy the films on any home media format...probably already has them. The only difference is the digital release and/or a Netflix deal which, by the way, will also severely cut into the market appetite for another home release.
The end result is that the OOT is, essentially, a niche product. It's got a very limited but very vocal audience. But the majority of the public just doesn't care much. That's not to say that it's of NO value whatsoever, but rather that it is of LIMITED value.
I can potentially see them doing it just to please the old school fans just as they are making an effort to resort back to the old style of Star Wars and move away from prequel type styles.Everything from design to movie making techniques. And don't get me wrong I am no prequel hater but who better to please than the most vocal of all Star Wars fans on the internet. The old school fans.
Ben
Ben
That's a nice thought, but from my understanding, it's not how filmmaking works as a business. If anything, fans are generally considered a "given." You know they're gonna show up. They're fans. So, you don't actually have to work very hard to appease them. People who hated the design of the new Enterprise in JJTrek because they knew that warp nacelles of that shape would directly interfere with the warp drive's functionality because of what it said on the Technical Readout Manual on page 5....they still went to see the film.
Likewise, when a film fails the way the new Fantastic Four film did, it's not because the fans stayed home (although that didn't help). It's because
everyone else stayed home, too. The fans might publicize what's wrong with the film, but the people who'll be far more effective at that are the critics who complain about how the third act doesn't wrap up the story, rather than complaining that the Thing's rock skin is supposed to be orange and not brown.
My point here is that old school, hardcore fans...are generally ignored by studios because they don't
need to please them. That's why they're less likely to cater to them.
Maybe Lucas told Landis about a real plan to do the original movies, but something Disney is planning on releasing a few years from now after the rights have reverted. Disney does think very long term. Just the film resto process itself would take some time.
On the other hand Disney probably wants a fresh set of copies of the OT to be available for the SW mania that is coming in the next few months. They might not mind just giving Fox a percentage right now.
See, this is what I think is more likely.
My guess is that Disney is, indeed, in some process to remaster and restore the OT. My guess is that, to do that, they'll need to go back to the negatives (or an interpositive, or whatever their source material is). They'll scan the films in at 4K and maybe 8K for potential future use.
Then they'll sit on them.
In 5 years, they get the entire PT back and 2 of the 3 OT films back, for free. At that point, they'll be in a much better bargaining position to negotiate a deal with Fox to buy ANH back, or license the distribution rights back from Fox, or do a revenue sharing deal.
Once that's done, my bet is that they will ONLY release an OOT in some form of mega-set. By that point, the new trilogy will be out and already on home media. If I had to guess, the release would be as follows: Individual trilogy sets at a remastered 4K or 8K or whatever (by 2020, it's very possible that people will have purchased 4K or 8K displays in greater numbers), containing the same ol' PT, the same ol' SE OT, and the same ol' sequel trilogy (ST). About 6-12 months after that, either around Christmas time or around the time of one of the anthology film releases, they'll announce -- for the first time in over 20 years -- the return of the theatrical OT, in glorious remastered edition....as part of this exclusive, limited edition 12 disc set, with collectible [lightsabre/Falcon/helmet replica, varying by retailer].
I'd say the only major question will be whether they'll try to redo the digital additions of the SE, or scrap that altogether as being too costly. But on the other hand, if the theory is that general consumers prefer the SE version, they'll pay to have them redone in order to continue making the films viable.
For that matter, the remastered OOT might be used as part of a focus group, where they have people watch both versions or watch clips from both versions and say which they prefer. Who knows.
Long story short, I don't think we're gonna see a re-release before 2021. Which is fine, because my kid will be 5 at that point, which I think is a solid age to first see the films.
