Frankly, at this point, Fox is trying to milk every penny out of the OT they can before they lose the rights to Empire and Jedi. If that means cooperating with Disney/Lucasfilm on a physical release, they will do that. In the end, it’s about money, and that is the only way they can make any more off those two movies. The current Blu-Ray master has been milked dry—two “Complete Sagas”, two OT boxes, and the steelbooks. They need a new product now—namely 4K and/or an OUT BD, both of which will require a new master—to make any more substantial money before their rights expire.
Star Wars? Now that’s interesting. Good point about Fox access to archives. Fox could probably unilaterally release Legacy, though, if Mike is cool with that and Disney is not willing to cooperate on a restoration.
I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.
Good point about the 4K. If they’re going to do that transfer anyway, and they’ll have to if enough films start coming out at that resolution, then they might as well go ahead and do the OUT while they’re at it. In fact that might well be what they’re waiting for.
It would be kind of funny if the 2011 versions remain stuck at 1080p forever while the theatrical versions come out in 4K. No doubt it would anger devotees of the Bluray if their preferred version became the inferior quality product (inferior quality in resolution…it was always inferior in entertainment quality).
I’d just like to point out that most of the 4K BDs that’ve come out so far have been 2K upscales.
Yes, but most DVDs at the start of that format’s life were just laserdisc transfers. I don’t expect it to remain that way for very long.
That and the fact there isn’t even a 2k master of the OUT to upscale.
I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.
Going back to the question of whether GL is really truly absolutely positively 100% against the OUT being properly restored and released to the public, I think much of that has died out within the last few years. Someone on the Steve Hoffman Forum site who apparently has worked for LF has mentioned himself that GL is not fully against it, its just he doesnt wanna spend the money on it. I mean who knows. The stories that the original negatives were destroyed. Was this GL’s excuse so fans are assured that the OUT will never be seen again or is it his excuse so fans know he wont spend the money to restore them?? Or both?? Also apparently some 8 or 9 years ago someone sent a request to Lucas claiming he had prints of the OUT which he’d restore for nothing! He never got a response.
However, I think the assumption that he never wants them released is irrelevant now. I think if it mattered THAT much to him charges would probably have fallen upon Harmy by now. No way anyone here is gonna tell me GL does not know of the DeSpecialized versions. If I had to take my guess, I dont think GL is the obstacle at this point. He’s not in charge anymore and plus Disney/LF even rejected his story ideas for TFA. If they can do that surely they should be able to move forward with an OUT restoration but then again I as everyone else don’t know the full specifics of GL’s deal with Disney. I will say this. I actually consider a lack of response from LF/Disney a good omen because perhaps it hints something IS happening. When Lucas was in charge at least he was upfront. This isn’t to say I’m getting my hopes up but I have a feeling something is being planned for the 40th anniversary.
But when you mention this “lack of response from LF/Disney”, doesn’t that imply that they were asked a question about it and then responded with something like “no comment”? I don’t recall that they were ever asked though (unless I’m mistaken).
Speaking of which, someone should totally put Kathleen Kennedy on the spot at some public Q&A. Even if she’s not allowed to answer, the nature of her response can at least tell us something (like if she says “I can’t talk about that right now”, then that translates to “it’s being worked on, but we aren’t officially announcing it until later”).
I as everyone else don’t know the full specifics of GL’s deal with Disney.
He sold it, as in sold. As in Disney gave him 4 billion dollars in exchange for his company. When he took the dough he lost any say he had in the company. When someone pays that much for a company it comes without strings attached. Anything else would be dumb business for Disney.
I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.
I meant if there was perhaps a clause in this deal that prevents the OUT from ever being released which some have hypothesized before. Me personally I don’t think that’s the case. As you said once the deals done it’s done. I was implying that we don’t know for sure if anything OUT related was put in writing in the deal other than its out of Lucas’ hands which at which point we just ruled out our own theory.
I know. And what I said is that Lucas was in position to make such demands when he demanded a $4B check.
I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.
The Blu-Rays are aging badly. Those lightsabers aren’t getting any better, the low brightness and blue tint make matte paintings stick out, and the 97/04 CGI is really dated, especially when superimposed on 77/80/83 films. Also, Abrams and Johnson both hate the SEs more than they hate the prequels and Holiday Special combined and the SEs would be inconsistent with a PT-avoiding VII, VIII, and IX.
Has Abrams ever spoken explicitly about the SEs? I vaguely recall Johnson saying something, and Abrams’ comments on Han shot first and his personal policy of no director’s cuts. But I don’t recall an indictment from him.
I would put this in my sig if I weren’t so lazy.
I don’t know if he’s said anything explicitly, but when asked who shot first, he said “Han”. So that does reveal which one he prefers.
Abrams was interviewed by Empire magazine a little while after his announcement as director. They asked him which versions he showed to his children, he replied something along the lines of, “The original theatricals, that’s very important.”
I’ve tried to find the issue with the interview (both in my flat and online!) but I can’t so you’ll have to take my word for it!!
I’d just like to point out that most of the 4K BDs that’ve come out so far have been 2K upscales.
And a couple blu Rays I noticed are simply HD DVD transfers like “Batman Begins” on blu Ray.
Mark’s Down On Your Syntax said:
Abrams was interviewed by Empire magazine a little while after his announcement as director. They asked him which versions he showed to his children, he replied something along the lines of, “The original theatricals, that’s very important.”
I’ve tried to find the issue with the interview (both in my flat and online!) but I can’t so you’ll have to take my word for it!!
Question is…did he know of the despecialized editions or did he have to resort to the GOUT DVD’s. Yay for Abrams though! It’s awesome he showed his kids the theatrical
I meant if there was perhaps a clause in this deal that prevents the OUT from ever being released which some have hypothesized before. Me personally I don’t think that’s the case. As you said once the deals done it’s done. I was implying that we don’t know for sure if anything OUT related was put in writing in the deal other than its out of Lucas’ hands which at which point we just ruled out our own theory.
I don’t think he was totally opposed to it; I just don’t think it was on his radar and he had to justify not doing it. It’s hard work to restore a film, especially since he felt compelled to oversee all of it.
The Person in Question
Mark’s Down On Your Syntax said:
Abrams was interviewed by Empire magazine a little while after his announcement as director. They asked him which versions he showed to his children, he replied something along the lines of, “The original theatricals, that’s very important.”
I’ve tried to find the issue with the interview (both in my flat and online!) but I can’t so you’ll have to take my word for it!!
Question is…did he know of the despecialized editions or did he have to resort to the GOUT DVD’s. Yay for Abrams though! It’s awesome he showed his kids the theatrical
Well, Simon Pegg is like his best bud, so considering this https://twitter.com/simonpegg/status/249553559320928256
I think the odds are pretty good that JJ watches Despecialized at home 😃
Mark’s Down On Your Syntax said:
Abrams was interviewed by Empire magazine a little while after his announcement as director. They asked him which versions he showed to his children, he replied something along the lines of, “The original theatricals, that’s very important.”
I’ve tried to find the issue with the interview (both in my flat and online!) but I can’t so you’ll have to take my word for it!!
Question is…did he know of the despecialized editions or did he have to resort to the GOUT DVD’s. Yay for Abrams though! It’s awesome he showed his kids the theatrical
Well, Simon Pegg is like his best bud, so considering this https://twitter.com/simonpegg/status/249553559320928256
I think the odds are pretty good that JJ watches Despecialized at home 😃
That’s awesome!!! It’s great when people find despecialized. Iv tried to always spread the word to friends and families and help them obtain it so long as they own the Offical blu Rays. Simon Pegg is the bomb!!!
Like I said in another thread, the delay of Episode VIII from its original date means Lucasfilm won’t have a movie on blu-ray to sell come the Fall, barring a double-dip of Rogue One like they’re doing with TFA.
But, like I also said in another thread, I think they’ll have a harder time trying to justify a double-dip with Rogue One (although they’ve now set a horrible precedent with TFA so who the hell really knows).
So, I think there’s a chance we’ll see something in that seven month span between May and December.
By that same token, the first six films only just started airing on tv again last week. This makes me think it will be at least a couple years before we see them released in new editions.
The other thing to consider is that Disney will finally start supporting the 4k UHD blu-ray format next year. We know there’s already a 4k master of the OT from Reliance MediaWorks, although Mike Verta wasn’t thrilled at how the brief clips in their demo reel looked. This is also likely the SE yet again. It may have already made its way out there in the form of actual DCP’s if Tack’s report from one of the recent roadshow screenings is accurate.
As I’ve said in the past, I truly don’t believe a 4k SE alone will be enough of a selling point. If Lucasfilm wants to see the kind of profit margins they’ve enjoyed with the blu-ray and dvd debuts of these movies (and presumably also with the GOUT to a certain extent), then they’ll have to include a restored OOT at the very least. That holds true whether they wait a year or they wait a decade.
I think the fact that they’re going to have to release it in 4K is enough to justify an OOT release. Can’t get away with selling the SEs alone again. Plus I thought that the 2011 version doesn’t even exist at that high resolution? I thought the last scan in 2004 was just done at 1080p/2K, and then the effects done digitally from there?
That means they either have to just release the 97 SE from a new 35mm scan, do another scan and butcher everything by re-doing the effects, or just do what everyone wants and restore the OOT already. Worst thing they could possibly do is try to get away with doing a lousy upscale of the 2004 scan with the 2011 effects. The fans aren’t going to tolerate that though so I doubt they’ll do that, and given all this talk about Reliance Media it seems like 4K scans might already exist anyway so that’s probably not happening regardless of whether it’s SE or OOT.
If only it was so clear-cut - basically every big budget movie between 2005 and 2015 has been done using a 2K DI, with the visual effects rendered at 2K or 1080p, so most of those films will get a 4K BD release upscaled from their original 2K DI master and a new HDR color-grade (some already have). And they can very easily do that with the 2011 SEs and will have to do it with the PT and the general public will eat it up, because it’s Star Wars in 4K, just like they ate up the Blu-Rays, because they were Star Wars in HD, no matter the woefully lacking quality. So they still won’t need to release the OOT in order to make huge money on a 4K BD release.
Worst thing they could possibly do is try to get away with doing a lousy upscale of the 2004 scan with the 2011 effects. The fans aren’t going to tolerate that though so I doubt they’ll do that, and given all this talk about Reliance Media it seems like 4K scans might already exist anyway so that’s probably not happening regardless of whether it’s SE or OOT.
Hmmm given the recent reports of the Alamo screenings of the OT, it seems like it was partially the Reliance Media version & partially the Bluray version. So as crazy (and sad) as it sounds, maybe they just ended up splicing upscaled 2011 SE shots into the 4K Reliance Media version in order to create a 4K version of the 2011 edition. And…well…that just sucks.
I wish there was a way to resurrect Walt Disney and put him back in charge of the company. Maybe then the OOT (not to mention all the classic animated Disney films) would get the proper restorations they deserve.