Disney has every motivation they could possibly need to restore and release the original versions. They paid $20 billion more than they’d originally planned (which was already something like $50 billion) to buy 20th Century Fox thanks to the bidding war they ended up in with Comcast. The original Star Wars was one of the films they gained the rights to in the buyout, along with the other five pre-ST films. Are we really to think 2020 was the last time we’ll see a new release of these movies?

With all of the talk these days about how movie theaters are hurting financially, it would sure make Disney look good if, let’s say, three years from now they were to release an unaltered OOT restoration in theaters and have that be the only way you could see it. They would of course announce a home release months later, but the message they’d be sending in the meantime about how they respect the history of their films and how much it means to their fans, not to mention the importance of the theatrical experience, would ultimately benefit their bottom line.