zombie84 said:
I don't think they ever expected it to do numbers like 1997, but I honestly think George believed that the 1999 box-office numbers were due to people genuinely liking it
That boggles the mind. Poor George.
It is amazing how much the state of Star Wars has changed since 1997. Back then SW was very much loved and we were all very excited to rush to the theaters to dish out full ticket prices to see a movie we had two copies of lying around at home. When Star Wars hit the $2 theater, I went to see it every time I could talk someone into going to see it with me.
When The Phantom Menace came out it was a huge disappointment, but I still don't want to admit how many times I paid full price to see it (several). It sucked, but somehow it was still Star Wars and having never known the concept of a crappy Star Wars film before, it was kind of a hard to know what to do with it, hating it and not watching it anymore just didn't sit right.
I guess I am a lot older now so maybe that skews my perspective, but it is really hard to imagine fans who are as old now as I was in 1997 getting as excited for these 3D releases as I did for the theatrical rereleases of the OT. Aside from much of the goodwill that had been associated with Star Wars over the first twenty years of its life being forever changed, so much technology exists now that allows us very theatrical like experiences at home. Contrast BDs on a 50 inch widescreen HDTV with VHS on an old 20 inch set. That old 1997 commercial for the rerelease that showed a tiny box in the middle of the screen playing Star Wars bursting into a widescreen picture that covered the screen was so very relevant then in a way it could never be again.
I could just be naive and majorly overestimating people, but I get a funny feeling that if the OUT were to receive a theatrical rerelease again, bare bones restoration, no 3D even, it would pull in some very serious numbers at the box office. For that too good to be true scenario, I would be as excited as I was in 1997 and I'd once again be going to see it every time I could talk someone into seeing it with me.