hairy_hen said:
That's exactly what I said: they'll do it if they think there's money in it. My concern is that they will deem it as having a negligible impact on their profits, and therefore not worth bothering with.
Does anyone really think that ticket sales for the new movies will be affected in any way by whether the original versions are available in stores? Or that the amount of toys sold will be influenced by this? Children buying toys today do not know or care whether Han shot first or not. It makes no difference to them; therefore it makes no difference to Disney. An official release could happen, but it would take a lot of persuading by people on the inside who have sufficient clout and can make a convincing case for it. They're not going to do it on their own, because that's not the reason they bought the Star Wars brand.
I agree to the extent of the negligible profits in a short term sense BUT the release of the OT could be both a theatrical re-release in 4K of the original films for the first time ever, followed by a blu-ray release which would also have an exclusive featurette/early look at Episode 7. The OT release would be (a small but important) part of the overall marketing strategy for Episode 7.
The short term profits may be negligible but consider it from a long term perspective: brand quality and assurance is confirmed to the now parents who will pay for the childs ticket to Ep7. Additionally faith in the films is restored to the lapsed fan base and to a potential new audience (further garnered by positive press and a marketing campaign) AND finally the films would finally be restored for future re-releases (i.e. your easy profit point, for example, buy the special comic con collector's 4K UHD boxset of Episode 1-9 now with talking yoda head etc).
They bought the Star Wars brand to make money for the all forseeable future. Episode 7 is a small step in their overall plans, which are ultimately to sell and license merchandise which will, make no mistake, occur with Eps 8 & 9 as well disguised 2hour adverts for kids toys.
There will also be a new generation of kids who, yes won't care who shot first, but likely haven't seen the OT and would be taken to theoretical screenings of the OT by their parents (who want to see the OT). The parents see what they've always wanted, the kids love it and want the toys. The prior home video mess of releases is also reset for Disney.