crissrudd4554 said:
Yeah I could definitely agree to the idea of hesitation out of loyalty to Lucas. Without him Disney wouldn't be banking in on this franchise to begin with would they?? Same with Fox if they are afraid to release the originals. You have to wonder though. Is it part of a bigger plan?? I think it's fair to say that both camps realize that releasing the original versions would be the best move if they wish to cash in more on the original movies. However, could it be part of something that they think will pay off more?? The fact they're releasing the same damn Blurays again within 5 years since its initial release shows they're willing to cash in on anything. So they probably know they want something that EVERYONE will buy including those who already own the current BluRays. So simply releasing the original versions wouldn't be enough. What else do we get?? '97 SE? '11 SE? A new SE??? And of course there's still the matter of Fox and Disney reaching a deal over video releases. Just an interesting theory.
I'd argue that the inclusion of the original versions alone would be more than enough of a selling point, but I'd gladly buy the ultimate set a la Blade Runner with the '97 version thrown in as well.
I suspect there will be a new SE released at some point, as that's what RMW's 4k "restoration" most likely was/is. Even with only four months to go, I still wouldn't be surprised to hear about the big theater chains like AMC doing all day 3D marathons on December 17th and having it turn out to be the debut of the new SE.
Should a hypothetical "ultimate" bd set ever happen, complete with the new SE, I doubt they'd bother including the '11 or '04 versions. It would be highly redundant in the face of the new version which would probably replicate most of those changes anyway. Rumor is that the most notorious '97 change, Greedo shooting first, has actually been switched back to its original 1977 form in the 4k SE, giving it a kind of "final cut" status.
If anything, the ticking clock of Fox completely losing their rights to 5/6 of the saga just five years from now should actually be motivation for them to make whatever deals they need to with Disney and just get a restored OOT (and maybe the OPT as well?) on the shelves so they can cash in on it.