skyjedi2005 said:

I think the original I.P.'s as well as the dailies and selected takes still exist on reels in lucas cold storage vault. as well as the dye transfer print of 1977 star wars.

This is the question I keep coming back to.

If the original IP's still exist then that's all that matters. Then Lucas really is just sitting on them and told the publicist to tell us that "existing prints are in bad condition." Because even if that's true, "bad" could mean anything. It doesn't necessarily mean that the IP's are beyond any hope of restoration.

Aren't the IP's all that really matters in regards to the OOT anyway? Yea, it's a shame about the O-neg, but what's done is done and I'm getting tired of people acting like it's the "end all be all" of us ever seeing the OOT remastered. All we would need is the IP's or, if worst came to worst, the theatrical release prints. But I'm hoping it doesn't end up resorting to that because a print is even further removed from the original quality of the negative than the IP already is.