I think it’s worth noting how much a lot of the more pessimistic comments in threads like these tend to overestimate the PT’s footprint among mainstream audiences. Everyone I know who doesn’t identify as a major Star Wars fan gives them no thought whatsoever. A lot of people who weren’t the right age when they were coming out haven’t even seen them, and a large percentage of the folks who did see them as they were released haven’t seen them since. They haven’t become a cultural rite of passage the way the OT has, where you can assume almost everyone has some form of a relationship with them. The only groups that would actually be willing to buy the PT again in 2016 are the ones who adore absolutely everything Star Wars indiscriminately (i.e. Jason Ward and his MSW crew), contrarian hipsters (the population of whom I’ve always thought to be greatly overestimated), and children who grew up on The Clone Wars (many of whom are likely now more interested in the ST anyway). Even if those groups add up to more people than the folks who want the OUT, I think the numbers are probably closer than some people realize.

I also think the powers that be can’t fail to recognize that the OUT is a much surer thing than a prequel repackaging. Sure, there may be more people out there who might consider buying a new PT release, but they know with absolute certainty that almost every single one of us is going to line up for the OUT the day it becomes available, because we’ve asked them for it specifically and repeatedly. There’s no demographic guess-work involved; they release the OUT and they know they have a hit among a certain segment of the fan base.