Oh and also, keep in mind that the GOUT is widely believed to have been released in response to the prevalence of laserdisc transfer bootlegs in circulation. Now with fan preservations like Despecialized and SSE making the news, more pressure is on now than it was even then to do something about it.
I don’t think you’re reaching at all, because whenever I watch The Force Awakens, nothing about the whole movie reminds me of the prequels at all, except for when Maz Kanata says and I paraphrase “I’ve seen evil take many forms. The Sith, The Empire, today, it is The First Order.”
It’s quite clear which version of the OT JJ prefers, especially since he showed his kids the unaltered versions.
If sub par Laser Disc transfers got Lucas to budge, there’s no way HD fan restorations won’t persuade Disney to release an OUT set. The demand for them is very obvious. Over a million and a half views on Harmys YouTube video.
Really, really hope tomorrow morning I see the news article “Disney releases theatrical star wars films”