That dupe neg talk was just speculation on Robert A Harris’ part. I’m pretty sure we know for a fact that George had the changes cut directly into the o-neg. RAH is correct, though, that the o-neg is not needed for an amazing OOT restoration.
Now that it’s Disney’s money to spend on such a project and not GL’s, I’d say the chances are much greater. George even changed his tune from “my original vision” to “it’s too expensive right now” not long before selling the company. I honestly don’t think it would bother him if the remastered original were packaged with a remastered SE.
The only somewhat reliable person online that I’ve ever found that claimed the OUT would not be released is Devin Faraci, who claimed that Fox wouldn’t release the OUT until George Lucas died, which I think was completely wrong because his article was full of factual inaccuracies. Every other person I’ve encountered with so-called “inside information” claims it will happen in 2017. Hope for the best, expect the worst.