If it’s not next year - and I’m not holding my breath* - I fully expect 2020 for an official announcement of some kind, even if it’s just them saying “here’s why we still haven’t restored the theatrical versions.” The elephant in the room will have outgrown the room by that point.
It’s bad enough that the 2004 Lowry master is still the official version that’s being trotted out, just with the additional 2011 updates. Like Zombie said in his article on SSW, they can’t even get the SE right.
2020 will be a significant year for the OT for a number of reasons.
Since the ST will most likely be done by then, the folks at Lucasfilm will be scrambling to keep the well from drying up. That only means a better chance of them finally rolling out what they’ve been keeping in their back pocket for all these years.
By that point the new 4K UHD blu-Ray format will have reached a much wider market and the time will have come to remaster these films yet again. I can’t see the OOT ever being considered the “canon” version of these films, but I could see Kathleen Kennedy bringing George in to consult on a “final” version of I-VI. Maybe she could also get his blessing about finally remastering the original versions as well.**
Most notably of all, the distribution rights to all of the films (except ANH) will fully revert to Lucasfilm in 2020. There are two possibilities here. Either Fox will try to make a deal with Disney to get a snazzy new blu-Ray collection on the store shelves by 2019 or Disney will just continue to sit on it until they get the rights back in 2020. Disney would still need to make a deal with Fox over ANH, but it will be a formality by that point.
I also can’t help but wonder what the plans are for the 3D version of the OT. We know they’ve already converted the PT, so I see the OT following suit at some point. I really wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what the footage from RMW’s demo reel was all about. Maybe Lucasfilm just needed a fresh scan of the negatives as a starting point for the conversion job.
ETA: Add me to the list of people who actually want the theatrical cuts of the prequels.
*Seriously, how bad of a sign is it that we’ve heard nothing on the subject from Lucasfilm in the almost four years since they were bought by Disney? If the blu-Ray release of TFA has come and gone without an update on the status of the OOT, I’m not expecting the 40th anniversary to bring any updates either.
**I wouldn’t completely dismiss these rumors that people at Fox feel uncomfortable about putting out a remastered OOT while George is still alive.