https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1204960815821946880?s=21
JJ is on our sides
That’s good to hear, and I respect him for being open about his views in this matter, but he sadly also confirms the OOT will not be released for reasons even he doesn’t understand.
As far as he knows.
This is pretty major imo. We have the director of 2/3 of the ST saying on camera in a sit-down interview that he doesn’t understand why the unaltered versions haven’t been restored to modern quality. The most we’d gotten from him prior was casually mentioning he’d shown his kids the original versions in a written interview several years ago (whether this was the GOUT or Harmy is unclear).
Rian hasn’t brought up the subject at all to my knowledge since he was hired by LFL back in 2014, although he did jokingly refer to the SE as “the cartoon version” on twitter the week the bd’s came out back in 2011.
I think, it goes a little bit beyond, as far as he knows. He literally states, he asked about the OOT, and was told a release wasn’t possible. So, I think it’s almost certain the OOT will not be included in the physical release of the 4K versions next year. In this respect it’s also important to note, that the new 4K master was done under the supervision of Lucas before the sale of LFM, making it even less likely the OOT will be restored, as this will be an archive release, not a new restoration by Disney. The release of the OOT is becoming less likely with every year that passes, and with physical media becoming extinct, next year will likely be the last opportunity for such a release, as the SE will forever remain the available versions on streaming services. I just don’t see it happening next year, and so I don’t see it happening at all, sadly.
Well, we know this isn’t entirely true, since these new 4K versions were clearly mastered after Disney’s Lucasfilm acquisition. They include the revised Lucasfilm logo that Disney created in 2015, and they were given the Dolby Vision HDR treatment by the same Company 3 colorists who did The Mandalorian. Dolby Vision didn’t even exist until around 2015.
I think you’re probably right that the foundation of this 4K version existed back before Disney’s acquisition, and was completed under George’s supervision. But I’m afraid your assumption — that the entire master as a whole was completed before then — is simply not true. In fact, looking at the evidence, I would wager that in its current, completed form, this new 4K version was completed this year.