This comment was completely anonymous and could easily be full of sh#t, but it’s worth a gander I suppose:

“This isn’t surprising news… it’s well known within industry circles that the plan was to release the OT’s theatrical versions in new 4K transfers prior to ‘The Force Awakens’ but the 1977 film needed a lot more work than initially thought - Disney even went so far as to ask the Library of Congress for a scan of the print they’ve had in their archives since 1978 - and so it was put back until the 40th anniversary in 2017…” - Anonymous post on the Den of Geek’s article reporting Gareth Edward’s mention of the 4K restoration.

I’m grasping at straws (which is what SW fans have had to do regarding the OUT for years), but this does fall 100% in line with every single thing I’ve heard from people with so-called “insider” information. Hope for the best, expect the worst.