The more I think about it, the more it becomes obvious that people simply do not care about seeing the OOT restored. Or at least there aren’t enough people who actually care as much about it as we do.
If the next several years came and went and Lucasfilm continued to say nothing on the subject, that many more people will simply say “I give up, it’s never going to happen.” Over a long enough timeline there simply won’t be anyone left who actually gives enough of a damn to complain about it. Sure, maybe someone at Lucasfilm will see the money-making potential of a release that includes the original versions, but man, they really seem to need a lot of convincing for something that’s guaranteed to rake in the cash.
The biggest imperative is preserving the movies, because one way or another the films elements will eventually disintegrate. Maybe we really should forget about dangling that carrot of “we’re waiting for you to take our money on this,” a strategy that’s failed to get their attention, and appeal to them on the grounds of preserving our cultural heritage.
In other words, we need to shame them into restoring the OOT.
The only way the OOT will ever be released is over a certain person’s dead body. I think 2020 will pass by without result. It’s up to the fans to keep these original versions from fading away. Just my opinion.