Fang Zei

OutboundFlight said:

Fang Zei said:

DominicCobb said:

Disney released their entire slate for the next few years. They’re going to alternate releases of each Avatar and Star Wars every December (2021 Avatar 2, 2022 new Star Wars, 2023 Avatar 3, etc.).

Makes way more sense now, thank you for the clarification. I went back and clicked the link in that article and see they pushed back Avatar 2 yet again. Anyone remember when it was going to hit theaters December of 2015 (the release window Episode VII moved right into) and was then slated for 2016 until Rogue One stared it in the face and it moved again?

I wonder if WB releasing Dune only a month earlier had anything to do with Disney pushing Avatar 2 back an entire year. Hopefully audiences give it a shot, I’d love to see the rest of Frank Herbert’s main series adapted for the big screen by Denis Villeneuve. I mean, we got five Michael Bay Transformers movies, didn’t we?

Meanwhile, I see Disney’s got a Marvel movie, a Pixar movie, a live-action Cruella movie and (via Fox) Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, all in those last two months of 2020.

Speaking of Spielberg, Indy 5 is still slated for July of 2021, and now that we know there won’t be another big screen Lucasfilm production released until a year and a half later I’s say the chances are good they actually hold to that release date this time.

The Avatar Sequels always make me chuckle. The first one was a huge success, but since 2008 a ton’s changed. We witnessed the rise of the MCU, and with it the “cinematic universe” which we now see with DC and Godzilla. Star Wars and Marvel have become insanely profitable. Avatar 2 should have come out in 2012 or something, back when it was still popular with the public. Once you have two great movies you got a franchise… but as it stands most people will look at Avatar 2 as just another “two-decade late sequel” like Independence Day or Blade Runner. One of which was good the other not- both of which struggled at the box office.

Concerning Lucasfilm- I am annoyed they are stuck to Star Wars. I know this is an unpopular opinion for a star wars site… but George Lucas created his two big franchises from nothing. Why does his company have to stick to just Star Wars? Why not make a new franchise and market it as the “third Lucasfilm property” alongside SW and Indy?

Or just make some Indy movies. How they recast Solo before they made another Indy is beyond me.

It’s funny you bring up the “cinematic universe” comparison, because those are the exact buzz words Fox used two or three years ago when it was officially announced that there would be four Avatar sequels.

It just occurred to me that the same amount of time will have passed since the original Avatar as Cameron took to make said original after Titanic was released.

DominicCobb said:

Fang Zei said:

DominicCobb said:

Disney released their entire slate for the next few years. They’re going to alternate releases of each Avatar and Star Wars every December (2021 Avatar 2, 2022 new Star Wars, 2023 Avatar 3, etc.).

I wonder if WB releasing Dune only a month earlier had anything to do with Disney pushing Avatar 2 back an entire year.

Really doubt that Disney would be worried that the sequel to (as of writing) the biggest movie ever will face rough competition against a remake of a box office flop directed by the guy who just made a long awaited sequel that turned out a box office flop (I’m really excited for it though). More likely than not James Cameron himself is delaying it (or, the same reason it’s been delayed for the last five years).

Oh, Cameron can only be happy they’ve been delayed again. It gives him that much more time to perfect their presentation. More Dolby Cinemas and Imax-with-laser theaters will have opened by that point. He’s been hyping the capabilities of Dolby Vision 3D, and I wonder if this might be the first cgi-heavy 3D production to be finished in natively rendered 4k-per-eye. Maybe by the time the last two sequels come out he will have finally brought his dream of glasses-free 3D projection tech to fruition, even if it’s only in a few theaters here and there.

It makes me wonder how these future Star Wars movies will be made, now that they won’t be constrained by having to fit within the pre-existing saga.

DominicCobb said:

Disney released their entire slate for the next few years. They’re going to alternate releases of each Avatar and Star Wars every December (2021 Avatar 2, 2022 new Star Wars, 2023 Avatar 3, etc.).

Makes way more sense now, thank you for the clarification. I went back and clicked the link in that article and see they pushed back Avatar 2 yet again. Anyone remember when it was going to hit theaters December of 2015 (the release window Episode VII moved right into) and was then slated for 2016 until Rogue One stared it in the face and it moved again?

I wonder if WB releasing Dune only a month earlier had anything to do with Disney pushing Avatar 2 back an entire year. Hopefully audiences give it a shot, I’d love to see the rest of Frank Herbert’s main series adapted for the big screen by Denis Villeneuve. I mean, we got five Michael Bay Transformers movies, didn’t we?

Meanwhile, I see Disney’s got a Marvel movie, a Pixar movie, a live-action Cruella movie and (via Fox) Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, all in those last two months of 2020.

Speaking of Spielberg, Indy 5 is still slated for July of 2021, and now that we know there won’t be another big screen Lucasfilm production released until a year and a half later I’d say the chances are good they actually hold to that release date this time.

Disney has announced the release dates for three untitled Star Wars films, which will be December of 2022, 2024, and 2026, much like the ST.

https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2019/05/07/disney-just-announced-three-new-star-wars-movies

Nothing else has been said about just what these films will be, whether they’re Rian’s, Weiss & Benioff’s, some of each, or something else entirely.

What I find curious is that IIRC Fox had set the release date for Avatar 4 in December of 2024, so I guess that’s getting moved. James Cameron said Avatar 4 and 5 wouldn’t get finished at all unless 2 and 3 do well, so maybe Disney is taking a “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” approach now.

Star Wars, meanwhile, continues to be a license to print money.

First Steven Spielberg doesn’t even bother including the later version of E.T. in the blu-ray release or the 4k, now Francis Ford Coppola (George’s friend going even further back) is including both the theatrical Apocalypse Now and Apocalypse Now Redux alongside a new third cut of the movie, all in 4k!

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

though the rumor says 4 discs per movie for the 4K sets and 3 discs for the BD

Right, I seem to have unintentionally caused some confusion when I said “three discs.”

The assumption is that the three-disc blu-ray and the four-disc 4k will have the same three regular blu-rays and the 4k will simply also include the final version on an actual UHD disc.

I doubt they’ll bother including a dvd copy.

Mocata said:

Because if they include things to make it one whole “Saga” with explicit links to the PT and the SW Story films it’s unlikely they want any weird stray threads lying around. It’s always been a Special Edition. It’s always been one interconnected series. George Lucas was a genius and this was all part of his original vision. Solo and Rogue One were smooth productions. It’s all one nice brand friendly package and all remnants of the old versions will be swept away.

But, again, what exactly is “three discs per film” supposed to mean other than that one of those discs is gonna be the unaltered version?

I mean, if Lucasfilm just considers it “bonus content” anyway…

RogueLeader said:

It blows my mind a little but I think you’re totally right, Dre. If anything, we would be more likely to get an official release of the OOT because of a few old school fans/professionals over at Lucasfilm who want to see it released, rather than Lucasfilm wanting to appease a fanbase hungry for the OOT, which doesn’t seem to be the case. I only say that because there sounds like some kind of effort internally to maintain/preserve the theatrical versions of the OT, based off a few nuggets of information, like Gareth Edwards mentioning watching it before/during Rogue One’s development, and them using material from Star Wars for the inclusions of Red/Gold Leader in his film. But I’m no expert on the matter.

Rian Johnson jokingly referred to the SE as “the cartoon versions” the week the 2011 bd was released. You may or may not be able to find that tweet now.

Abrams claims to have shown his kids the original versions when they were growing up.

Edwards didn’t watch the OOT, it was merely the newer 4k restoration of ANH done by Reliance MediaWorks. It was still presumably the SE.

If for no other reason than that it will inflate the price and all of the people who don’t care about the unaltered versions will still pay any amount for a brand new release of Star Wars day one, Disney will include the unaltered versions.

To DrDre’s point about how there’s a growing majority of SE/PT fans within the fandom, I would think many of those fans would still love to be able to see the unaltered OT in modern quality, to see the theatrical TPM and the IMAX cut of AotC. Even if they don’t actively want those things the way we do, I’m sure they would find it a nice bonus to have a historical archive of these films.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

I just emailed their customer service line.

Thank you!

I’m sure they’re fully expecting to get more questions about these screenings than they do for most other films.

It’s Star Wars, after all.

SilverWook said:

The 1997 and 2011 versions could inhabit one disc via seamless branching. Give the originals their own discs with plenty of room, and the third disc is every bit of deleted/alternate footage and maybe some vintage docs, hopefully restored?

They could follow Blade Runner’s example to the letter and have the first disc be the “final” version with whatever color timing and last changes George wants, the second disc be the 1997/2004/2011 versions all seamlessly branched (I’d want them to simply conform the color-timing to how it looked in theaters in ‘97), and the third disc be the unaltered version preserved as faithfully as possible.

Based on this recent article’s source’s claim that it will be “four discs per film for the 4k, three discs for the regular blu-ray,” I think the less ideal but more realistic prediction is that the three discs will be the final version, the unaltered version, and the extras, respectively, and the 4k version will be those same exact regular blu-ray discs but with a fourth disc that’s the “final” version on UHD.

I’d love to be wrong, though.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

Like before?

Well, it was slightly different in 2015. The day before the digital release dropped (which was the same week as Celebration IIRC) there was a report citing a “source” within LFL that the Han/Greedo scene had been altered yet again, this time back to its original pre-SE edit.

That report may yet turn out to be true. It could be a change that’s being saved for the 4k remaster.

Anyway, yeah, it wasn’t an OOT rumor that time. But Greedo shooting first is arguably the most controversial change George has made to these films. Changing it back to its original state would be a big deal all on its own.

moviefreakedmind said:

It’s important to note that the article’s source didn’t specifically say that we should expect the OOT the way that every other rumor has. They kind of hinted at it, but again, the point was more that there were 4K restorations happening, not that we’d get the original versions. That, to me, makes the article a bit more credible since it isn’t as speculative.

Yeah, but they also mention that Lucasfilm is thinking at least three discs per movie and that this Skywalker Saga release will “please fans.”

For the OT films, just what in the world could that possibly mean other than the unaltered version on one of those discs?!

SilverWook said:

I take it nothing of note was announced at Celebration?

It would appear not.

But just like before, we’re getting a suspiciously timed article coinciding with Celebration.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

I contacted them out of curiosity. Not that I could go. All DCP, all SE

With whom did you speak? I’d be curious to ask (if they know) whether the OT dcp’s are 4k or just the same old same old.

“As we said a week ago, it makes sense, given that Episode IX ends the 9-film “Skywalker” portion of the Star Wars Saga, that Disney would want to put all of the films (including Solo and Rogue One) into a new box set on Blu-ray and 4K next year. This is one of those subjects were our industry contacts run deep and there’s much we just can’t say. And the reason we can’t is that many things are still in flux and being decided.”

That’s from Bill Hunt’s Friday post at The Digital Bits.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/041219-1200

Meanwhile, the article from The Digital Fix, which cites an unnamed UK-based source within Lucasfilm, seems to indicate the current plan as four discs per film for the 4k (three discs for the bd).

https://www.thedigitalfix.com/film/content/105409/exclusive-skywalker-saga-4k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

So even if standard dynamic range 1080p is the best we end up with for the OOT, I can’t imagine them doing that many discs per film and not having any of them be the unaltered version.

Just thought I’d bump the thread in light of AFI Silver here in the DC area showing I-VIII next month.

Apparently they’ll all be shown on DCP.

I’m curious if the OT will be from the newer master (not curious enough to actually buy a ticket of course, it’s still the most recent revision either way). Didn’t someone on these boards go to one of the “Roadshow” screenings of the OT a couple years ago and claim that the colors, grain etc looked noticeably different from the Lowry master?

I was just about to say “Surely there was a trailer at Celebration and why isn’t it up on the official youtube channel yet?” But yeah, as others have said, makes more sense to wait until that teaser for IX has been out there for a little while.

I want to say there was a Star Wars novel with that title as well, but that could be my memory playing tricks on me.

Every possible title for VII, VIII and IX had been thought up by someone at some point.

Wasn’t there a no-budget fan film made prior to October of 2014 called Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Wasn’t there an actual Star Wars novel (Legends now, I think) titled The Last Jedi?

moviefreakedmind said:

Fang Zei said:

ChainsawAsh said:

That’s what he’s saying - disc 1 would be the SE in 4K, disc 2 the SE in 1080p, disc 3 the OT in 1080p, and disc 4 is extras (in 1080p). The standard BR release would just drop the 4K disc.

Exactly, which would once again be giving the two versions unequal treatment (both versions get 1080p but only the SE gets released on UHD).

Honestly, I wouldn’t complain at this point. If I got a good restoration of the original trilogy in 1080p all from original film elements done right, then I’m going to be a happy camper. If that’s what this release turns out to be then I hope that people don’t boycott it based purely on that.

Oh, I’d look at such a scenario glass half full, to be sure. More than half, even. There’s a big debate in the AV community right now as to whether or not HDR is inherently revisionist for older movies anyway. I’ve even heard it argued that the dynamic range of regular sdr blu-ray is already exceeding that of the original prints of many older films as well.

I’ve also heard it argued, scientifically, that 35mm film prints of movies probably never exhibited anything higher than 720p in terms of real perceivable detail anyway. The story doesn’t even change much if we go back to the camera negative. Even Robert A. Harris has argued that The Godfather films wouldn’t stand to gain much from being seen at their full 4k resolution.

The counterargument, of course, is that a restrained use of HDR (or just no HDR at all) combined with the higher resolution and wider color gamut UHD affords would actually bring us closest to how the OOT originally looked in theaters.

It’s also the principle of the thing. Both versions should be made available on the most recent format and not just the SE.

But considering I skipped the GOUT and the 2011 blu-ray, yeah, I’d probably pick this up.

ChainsawAsh said:

That’s what he’s saying - disc 1 would be the SE in 4K, disc 2 the SE in 1080p, disc 3 the OT in 1080p, and disc 4 is extras (in 1080p). The standard BR release would just drop the 4K disc.

Exactly, which would once again be giving the two versions unequal treatment (both versions get 1080p but only the SE gets released on UHD).

The part about “Four discs per film for the 4k, three for the standard blu” made my heart sink a little, since that might mean they’re once again going to give the two different versions unequal treatment, with the 4k UHD only including the SE in 4k and relegating the unaltered version to 1080p.

When we have actual 4k transfers of these movies made by the fans and LFL actually has the ability to do us one better with a professional cleanup from a scan of higher quality elements only they possess, it would be a real shame if they gave us the OOT only to lock it into a level of quality from 13 years ago. Deja vu, man.

Again, this is assuming anything in this article isn’t total clickbait bs. The timing makes it highly suspect.

So we’re actually going back to a planet from I-VI? Wow, we were so close to making it through the ST without doing that.

timdiggerm said:

Well, and it’s centered around May 4th, aka “May the Fourth Be With You”

I noticed it was in early May and yet that went completely over my head!

Anyway, I might try to ask the relevant person over there if they can tell me with any confidence which format the movies are being shown in.

I saw Search for Spock and Voyage Home back-to-back at AFI Silver the week of The Man Trap’s 50th in 2016. I asked the box office person whether they were actual prints and they asked someone and said that they were, which ended up not being true for SFS (it was digital and from the same subpar master as the bd), but Voyage Home was a European 35mm print with the prologue and it looked gorgeous!

I was going to bring this up in the 4k restoration thread!

AFI Silver has shown the ‘97 prints as recently as a few years ago IIRC, so it’s possible they’ll project TPM and the OT-SE on actual film.

TPM’s 20th seems to be the only reason they’re doing this marathon next month.