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What next for Star Wars - Extended Editions?

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I was wondering what’s next in the endless cycle of repackaging and reselling Star Wars. From ‘selected scenes’ on 8mm by Ken Films in 1977, to the 4K Skywalker Saga set released a couple of weeks ago (and all the countless releases in between).

I’m speculating but I think we might get Extended Editions.

It struck me as odd that The Rise Of Skywalker didn’t include any deleted scenes, especially considering comments made by JJ Abrams and others about how much they’d cut. It’s possible that they might release some kind of ‘ultimate edition’ of The Rise Of Skywalker with deleted scenes in coming months, but might Lucasfilm have held them back because they’re thinking a bit bigger. Re-releasing all the films as Extended Editions?

The Lord Of The Rings provides a pretty good barometer that there’d be a market for an extended edition, and we know there’s plenty of decent content (some films have more than others obviously). It would be easily achievable for Lucasfilm to restore and reinstate scenes, and the dream would be that they’d include two versions of each film in the set - the original theatrical (at last!) and the extended edition.

Every time Star Wars is released in a shiny new package or on a new format, we all think it’s the last time we’ll be buying it, but despite streaming it’s inevitable that there will be another. What do you think?

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Probably not next, but at some point I expect Sir Alec Guinness’s performances to be digitally replaced with an appropriately aged Ewan McGreggor, bringing them closer to Lucas’s original vision.

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We can all hope for sure.

From a technical standpoint, based on the minimal level of effort Disney has put into the release of earlier films, I would be surprised if they had plans for extended editions across the board. Extending Star Wars Ep 4 would be rather dubious and not yield such good results (we already have limited scene extensions/additions in the Special Editions). As much of a rush as TROS was to release, my guess is the best we would get is some actual deleted scenes, maybe. And the idea they would tinker with the OT to digitally replace Alec Guiness seems a bit far fetched. They will be generating revenue with the Kenobi series and The Mandalorian Season 2-- things like this will probably be their focus.

heil Palpatine!

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krausfadr said:

And the idea they would tinker with the OT to digitally replace Alec Guiness seems a bit far fetched.

I believe many would have thought digitally replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen to seem a bit far fetched, until it happened.

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I don’t think Disney’s going to be doing Special or Extended Editioning of Star Wars at all.

They’re more of a “remake it entirely” kind of company.

So keep an eye out for that in about 10-15 years, probably.

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OT-Fan said:

krausfadr said:

And the idea they would tinker with the OT to digitally replace Alec Guiness seems a bit far fetched.

I believe many would have thought digitally replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen to seem a bit far fetched, until it happened.

That was just one shot though. Disney isn’t hostile, they wouldn’t replace such a legendary actor in such an important role.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

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I doubt they release the current movies on disc again. They will probably release any new movies on disc, but I doubt there is another edition outside of a repackaging with new box art.

Broom Kid said:

I don’t think Disney’s going to be doing Special or Extended Editioning of Star Wars at all.

They’re more of a “remake it entirely” kind of company.

So keep an eye out for that in about 10-15 years, probably.

I’ve always thought they would recreate all the Star Wars movies in animated form. That could potentially be very cool.

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I want a radical special edition of Attack Of The Clones

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The radio drama adaptations are probably the closest we’ll ever get to what an “extended edition” of the trilogy would be like. It’s a neat concept to imagine those in movie form, but ultimately, the films are better off in their trimmed down state. ANH, in particular, is a very tightly paced film (except for the Jabba scene), and does an amazing job of telling a strong story in under 2 hours. Adding a lot of previously scrapped content into the film would likely only make it less effective.

But we can’t turn back. Fear is their greatest defense. I doubt if the actual security there is any greater than it was on Aquilae or Sullust. And what there is is most likely directed towards a large-scale assault.

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Unlikely. As you probably know, the first rough cut of Star Wars (A New Hope, alternatively) was an absolute nightmare. Basically, everything that was left on the cutting room floor was left for a reason. As for Empire and Return? Less unlikely but still highly doubtful. It depends on if George feels he has completed his vision or not. The way I see it though, the current versions on Disney+ and UHD Blu-ray are probably going to be the final cut.

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I’d like to see releases of the movies with proper colourisation. I think Disney have done wonders with the movies incidentally as prior to their purchase, Star Wars transitioned into CGI Movies as opposed to the original aesthetic of the OT. So fair play to them.

I also think GL is a legend too but Disney were proper shafted with the OT. New things added to them and a washed out image with lack of colours. If they change it now, no doubt bell ends like Mike Zeroh will do a series of 10min click bait videos to explain why GL is going to purchase the films back lol.

But for me, release a version that has the audio that GL intended it to be, Special Edition special effects improvements but without droids, Jawa’s falling of Ronto’s etc.