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and…
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And very well put too, mate. Especially these parts of your posts…
Ultimately, it’s a bit saddenning for us because we didn’t want this to leak out the way that it did, and now the people who were involved in this effort (their names were literally on some of the clips) would now be at risk of being blacklisted by the industry even though they weren’t even part of the reason why this was leaked in the first place.
and…
It absolutely sucks that the leaker got their 15 minutes of fame trying to get reddit karma over this restoration leak, and now the talented people and minds who were deeply involved in this project and took great care in restoring the trilogy is going to suffer from it.
💯
Though obviously many of us hope that won’t be the case - and that’s not just because these are some impressively accomplished and dedicated people who have done some truly breath-taking work with this stunning restoration so far.
Of course, there is the possibility this is an internal archival project - one that may not see an actual release for many years, if at all. Obviously, we hope it will see a 2027 release (given recent announcements, statements, and the coming 50th anniversary)…
Edit: It is also worth highlighting… even IF this ALI restoration project does see a release (theatrical re-run, physical media, Disney+ etc) it does not necessarily mean all of the Original Trilogy films would be released / made available in 2027… it could just be Star Wars for 2027, Empire for 2030, and Jedi for 2033… staggered releases to ‘maximise the return on investment’ (ROI) for the 50th anniversaries of the Original Trilogy. Followed by a deluxe boxset in 2034 etc (just a possibility worth considering).