If we ever get a 4K format (and that's a big "if"), it truly will be the laserdisc of the 21st century some people were saying blu-ray was gonna be. There will never be a format more widely adopted than dvd, and that's because virtually everything benefited from it. Before dvd, you had to use bulky, expensive laserdisc just to enjoy a recording of something at full standard-def resolution (vhs and betamax were only 200 lines or so).
Dvd not only brought people full standard def at an affordable price, but did so on a cd-sized, completely digital disc. It was even slightly superior to what the analog standard was capable of, what with anamorphic video and progressive scan and all. In any event, pretty much everything benefitted from dvd. Even material shot on video looked much better than on vhs thanks to the full resolution.
Then blu-ray came along.
For starters, it really only benefits stuff shot on film. Only stuff that was shot on video in higher-than-sd resolution benefits from this new format, which limits it to video from the last ten years or so. TV shows that were shot on film can now be seen at a higher resolution than anyone's ever viewed them before, but shows that were shot on sd video don't benefit at all from blu-ray.
With 4K, we're talking about an even smaller amount of material. Yes, more and more old movies are getting brand new 4K masters, which almost always results in a better looking picture than their existing HD masters. The new 4K master of Ghostbusters, for example, looks markedly better on blu-ray than the previous one. Pretty much every movie ever made benefits from blu-ray, assuming it was shot on film. With 4K, only stuff shot on 35mm film can see any kind of improvement whatsoever, and even then, you'd better be watching it on a really big screen at a close enough distance to really see any kind of difference over 1080p.
I'm pretty sure blu-ray is already seen as somewhat of a luxury in this economy. I even have a well-to-do, tech-savvy friend who hadn't upgraded as of the end of last year. I think it either had to do with him not seeing the difference (I can't lie, dvd's look pretty good on his hdtv), or not wanting the hassle of switching to a new format and then suddenly finding his existing dvd's inferior in quality, or something. Another person I know insisted he couldn't see the difference either. So, I guess that's why the studios feel the need to throw in a standard dvd copy when their new releases hit blu-ray.
A handful of the movies made over the last ten years were mastered in 4K, but most of them were finished in 2K or photochemically on actual film (the old-fashioned way). I've noticed the studios are now finishing more and more of their movies at 4K, even if they were only shot at 2.8K on the Alexa (with 2K effects shots), the untouched 2.8K stuff benefits from a 4K finish. It's getting upscaled rather than downscaled. So, going forward, I'm sure the studios will make 4K the standard.
Indeed, we could very well be seeing a 4K Episode VII in a couple years.
Catalog is a different story, though. Some titles have 4K masters all ready to go (Taxi Driver, Lawrence of Arabia, etc.), but the vast majority do not. A new 4K home video format can't take off unless the studios think people will be willing to sell off their blu-rays so that they can buy the same movie for the third or fourth time.
In his review of the Complete Saga blu-ray set, Bill Hunt theorized that technology may eventually allow the prequels to be magically re-rendered. The software would basically do a deep analysis of the 2K files and then estimate/guess what they would look like in 4K. This tech is several years away at the earliest, but it's an intriguing possibility. Then it could sit alongside a rescanned OT and a 4K Episode VII.
Whether or not there's a 4K home video format on the way, I think a new petition (if one were to be written) should emphasize getting the highest quality possible out of the materials. As has been stated in this thread, an IP might make more sense as a starting point for an OOT restoration.
Also, here's something to consider in regards to the whole "hair in the gate" argument:
When Apocalypse Now was restored several years ago for the blu-ray release, the restorationists noticed a hair in the gate in one of the shots. They asked Coppola what he wished to do about it, and his opinion was that it should be kept in the movie as a reminder that this is a flawed work made by fallible human beings. Similarly, Spielberg has said there will be no wire-removal when 1941 is eventually prepared for blu-ray.
Anyway, here's something I typed up last night but posted in the wrong sub-forum:
I'm convinced George was planning on eventually releasing the OOT on blu-ray. It was only ever a question of money, and milking every release for what it's worth. I wish I could find the quote, but I remember people noting something he said at a convention (celebration Europe, maybe?) a couple years ago to the effect of "we haven't put the original versions out on blu-ray because they're still too expensive to restore." I remember people making a big deal about it online because it was the first time GL had publicly and blatantly said "it's about money" and not about his "original vision" or any of that.
If you look at how the releases have gone:
-2004 dvd: "restored"/remastered OT-SE, commentary, a new documentary, some featurettes and some trailers from the archives. No deleted scenes.
-2006 dvd: individual releases on dvd for the first time. 1993 laserdisc transfer ported to dvd as a "bonus disc."
-2011: The movies are released on blu-ray, with the OT-SE sourced from the existing 2004 HD masters, with a few minor fixes and additional alterations. The deleted scenes are finally trotted out, along with a bunch more random stuff from the archives (all of which is only included in the "complete saga" six-film set, of course). Still no Holiday Special, heh.
I'm convinced George would've eventually commissioned some kind of restoration/remastering of the OOT, but only after sales of the existing blu-rays had slowed to a trickle and he'd figured out how to maximize profitability of the next release. I imagine they were planning on eventually releasing the movies individually, just as they had on dvd.
In any event, it's now out of George's hands.
Disney is surely considering all the unreleased product they have to work with, everything they can package and sell for the first time ever: a blu-ray of the OOT, a blu-ray of the '97 SE, a blu-ray of TPM that includes the '99 cut, etc.
Heck, once they work out the nitty gritty of distribution with Fox, they've still got the 3D versions to consider (we still haven't seen a blu-ray 3D of TPM). If Disney were smart, they would put together individual blu-ray releases of the six movies that would force fans to buy the 3D versions in order to get the OOT and the '97 SE (just like you had to buy the SE in order to get the GOUT, or the prequels in order to get deleted scenes from the OT). Seriously, it could go like this:
Individual releases for each movie, for each release:
Disc 1: 3D version
Disc 2: If they wanted to jack up the price even more, they could throw in a 2D disc of the 3D version
Disc 3: '97 version
Disc 4: original version
Seriously, they could sell each individual release for like 50-60 bucks and slap a sticker on the shrink wrapping that says INCLUDES RESTORED ORIGINAL VERSION in big letters.
They don't have nearly as much to work with for the prequels. There's basically only one version of RotS (anything aside from that wipe?), and AotC and TPM could probably use seamless branching to include both versions. Still, I say they should do this for the prequels as well.
All of this is to say, I see an OOT restoration as an inevitability. I would argue that it requires tender love and care to get it looking and sounding the way it should. Luckily, there's at least one technicolor print out there (and another in George's possession), so we basically know how it's supposed to look. There was controversy over the color-timing of the Raiders of the Lost Ark blu-ray, but I'm pretty sure it stemmed from an uncertainty of how the original release prints looked back '81. Since we don't have IB prints of Empire and Jedi, this might present a problem. But who knows?