mutantchair

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

I’m 100% certain we are overthinking the Fox-Disney thing. It’s not novel for a movie to be owned by one studio and distributed by another.

You’re right it’s not uncommon, and it will happen. What’s strange to me is that for digital release Disney couldn’t get the digital rights from Fox for ANH. You can’t buy it on their own platform:

https://www.disneymoviesanywhere.com/search?q=star wars

Fox has always played hardball with ANH. Lucasfilm tried to buy the copyright multiple times and Fox wouldn’t budge. So Disney is going to have to pay up to get a home video box set out. Fox has leverage to delay that as long as they want.

But that’s equally true whether we’re talking about special editions or original versions. I’m confident Disney will eventually negotiate a home video box set release with Fox, and pay a lot for it. Whether they can release original cuts is a whole separate issue.

I found a better source for the 2020 figure… Disney’s official SEC filings for Q4 FY2013:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/000100103913000164/fy2013_q4x10k.htm

“Prior to the Company’s acquisition, Lucasfilm produced six Star Wars films (Episodes 1 through 6). Lucasfilm retained the rights to consumer products related to all of the films and the rights related to television and electronic distribution formats for all of the films, with the exception of the rights for Episode 4, which are owned by a third-party studio. All of the films are distributed by a third-party studio in the theatrical and home video markets. The theatrical and home video distribution rights for these films revert back to Lucasfilm in May 2020 with the exception of Episode 4, for which these distribution rights are retained in perpetuity by the third-party studio.”

nickyd47 said:

mutantchair said:

Fang Zei said:

Quick side question:

I’m just throwing this out there for anyone who might have the answer, but do we know exactly why Fox loses the rights to the other five movies in 2020 as opposed to some other time?

Just to clarify, I’m not asking for an explanation of why they’re losing the rights. That much has been made clear. I’m just wondering why it’s happening in 2020 and not some other time. I’m also curious how we were able to figure this out in the first place. There was an article written on some website shortly after the Disney deal that gave the 2020 date, but I don’t think it was ever explained how the writer knew it was 2020.

This article in the Hollywood reporter is the main source for the 2020 date, which is a solid source for industry reporting. A “fox insider” was apparently interviewed for the article.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tangled-rights-could-tie-up-384541

It’s also worth remembering that Disney has digital distribution rights to all but ANH.

So what? They have to give Fox money every time a digital copy of the Special Edition of a New Hope sells.
What would waiting till 2020 change? Nothing. They’ll have to give Fox money for every sale of Star Wars, Special Edition
or not.

Actually, Disney can’t sell ANH digital copies at all. You can’t buy ANH on the Disney Movies Anywhere platform.

Fang Zei said:

Quick side question:

I’m just throwing this out there for anyone who might have the answer, but do we know exactly why Fox loses the rights to the other five movies in 2020 as opposed to some other time?

Just to clarify, I’m not asking for an explanation of why they’re losing the rights. That much has been made clear. I’m just wondering why it’s happening in 2020 and not some other time. I’m also curious how we were able to figure this out in the first place. There was an article written on some website shortly after the Disney deal that gave the 2020 date, but I don’t think it was ever explained how the writer knew it was 2020.

This article in the Hollywood reporter is the main source for the 2020 date, which is a solid source for industry reporting. A “fox insider” was apparently interviewed for the article.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tangled-rights-could-tie-up-384541

It’s also worth remembering that Disney has digital distribution rights to all but ANH.

Cobra Kai said:

mutantchair said:

moviefreakedmind said:

I doubt that Disney or Lucasfilm would ever release Mike Verta’s project.

I’d love to see Verta’s project, but I’m not sure I want to see it as the official release. It looks better than the original film did, and I just want to see a good restoration of the original matte work from Lucasfilm.

Huh? Mike Verta’s project is a restoration of the original film. What else would you want?

This video is an example of the kind of subtle enhancements he’s doing that go beyond restoration:
https://vimeo.com/117582796

The original shot carries a lot of artifacts of the special effects process, going through the optical printer several times. The flickering, jittering X-wings are are rotoscoped to get an impressive smooth motion. It’s accurate to the original intent — but arguably isn’t accurate to the original film.

Verta has said he’s comfortable “fixing” things he considers production mistakes, like garbage mattes. “I plan elminating everything that changes the drama, ruins the suspension of disbelief, or alters the characters. Things like Darth Vader’s missing saber glow were simply production missteps, and are not crucial to the drama. Ditto with the “garbage mattes” seen around various ships, or the off-color blobs seen below the landspeeder. I have no problem seeing them fixed.”(http://www.starwarslegacy.com/archive/site/pages/FAQ.html)

He may have changed his goals since then, and I haven’t followed the project too closely, so please correct me if I have the wrong idea.

moviefreakedmind said:

I doubt that Disney or Lucasfilm would ever release Mike Verta’s project.

I’d love to see Verta’s project, but I’m not sure I want to see it as the official release. It looks better than the original film did, and I just want to see a good restoration of the original matte work from Lucasfilm.

Thank you! That’s the same as the 2004 DVD and current Blu-rays.

Hey, long time lurker, first time poster here.

My question is about the klaxons in the opening sequence on the Tantive IV. The original stereo mix of ANH had one version of the Klaxon (the one most people are probably more familiar with, and the one heard at the end of R1). The Mono mix used a different, lower klaxon (also heard on the death star, and in the R1 trailer) — and you can barely hear the original klaxon once or twice.

At some point, the scene was mixed to contain BOTH klaxons at the same time. That mix hadn’t happened yet with the 1985 or 1993 laserdisc mixes. It is in the 2004 DVD release and subsequent versions.

So my question is: in the 1997 Special Edition, can you hear both klaxons on the Tantive IV, or just one? If just one, which one?