It took almost five years, but we finally have some comments on this 4k job from the people directly involved.
Thanks for sharing, Dre.
I would bet on they’re also doing individual packages for each title. Collectors’ edition packaging (steelbooks, retailer exclusives) seems to be where it’s at right now in physical media.
Since TLJ and Solo are already out there in 4k, it might actually make more sense to only release the other eight movies individually for now. They could even make that the way you get the unaltered versions, say it’s a limited edition just like the GOUT. Then later on they could do a streamlined box set that’s just the final versions of I-IX, no OOT, no Rogue One or Solo.
I just don’t see how an announcement of only the SE (and the prequels and TFA/RO) in 4k would be met with any other response than “who cares?”
Disney should be smart enough to know that this is it for Star Wars on physical media and that they might as well put together the definitive collection for all time.
If they want to do it this year, they can just leave a little extra space with a cardboard placeholder for where Episode IX will eventually go.
I remember Collin Trevawhatever had said he was going to shoot IX in 65mm. Has Abrams kept this decision in place?
Short answer: no.
Longer answer: The first official photo (the only official one so far if I’m not mistaken) from the set was tweeted out by JJ himself back in early August the day they started principal photography. It very clearly shows a Panavison 35mm film camera, one of the very same used to shoot TFA in fact (it has “VII” and “IX” etched into the side in the yellow wireframe font). In the photo you can even see the lcd display viewfinder which shows that the camera’s capturing a native 2.35:1 image just like the majority of TFA and TLJ.
So, they definitely won’t be shooting the whole movie in 65mm judging by the photo, probably not even the majority. Abrams shot the escape from Jakku scene in TFA entirely in Imax, with the picture filling the screen if you saw the movie in that format. Johnson shot some Imax for the Ahch-To scenes and some taller aspect ratio stuff for Krayt (it’s unclear if this was also actual Imax or some other format) but opted in the end to keep the Imax version 2.35:1 throughout the entire movie just like the normal version.
I’m sure Abrams will probably shoot some of IX in Imax as well, although there hasn’t been any official word AFAIK. He may even mix in some 5-perf 65mm stuff as well (that’s the normal 65mm Trevorrow wanted to shoot all of IX in).
https://www.reddit.com/r/starwarsspeculation/comments/a12nte/star_wars_ivii_4k_release_next_year/
I know it’s an anonymous Redditer, but a 4K release is an eventuality, and a release leading into Christmas and IX makes sense.
One can dream it will contain the theatrical when it happens, whether this year or later. There really is no excuse from a technical/financial perspective not to release the original cut when SW hits the format.
That last part is worth repeating. IIRC, the 2011 blu-ray packages didn’t make as much money in their first day/week of release as the dvd did back in 2004.
A large reason for that, I think, is because the only perk of owning the blu-ray aside from being able to watch the prequels and yet another revision of the SE in HD was the deleted scenes that were gonna end up on youtube anyway. I think there were a lot of people who remembered 2004 and said “fool me once,” although many here bought it anyway hand over fist for the extras.
None of those selling points were enough for me then, and a 4k HDR SE certainly won’t be enough of a selling point for me without the unaltered versions. I suspect I’m not alone in that regard.
There’s plenty of stuff to dislike about the SE without citing Luke screaming the Emperor’s scream as he falls in Cloud City, one of the few (the only?) changes George actually reversed in later re-revisions of the OT.
It’s weird to think that George offered the Episode I director’s chair to other people (Zemeckis, Ron Howard, Darabont et al), all of whom turned him down and said he should direct it himself.
The GOUT debacle was what finally did it for me, and I bought more tickets to each of the prequels than I’d like to admit.
It’s a 67 year old novelty then.
An old gimmick is still a gimmick.
I suppose sound and color and widescreen aren’t gimmicks since they actually became the norm, whereas even now 3D is only used on a small percentage of movies released each year. Many people don’t like wearing the glasses, paying the extra bucks to wear the glasses, and prefer watching their movies in 2D anyway. 3D has stuck around this time because it’s so obviously being used by the studios to squeeze a few extra bucks out of the people who didn’t get their 2D tickets ahead of time for (insert name of big franchise tentpole) on opening weekend. If they can figure out the glasses-free tech then I can maybe see it becoming more the norm, but that’s years away.
HDR, on the other hand, probably will become the norm a lot sooner than that, at least going forward for new releases. We’ve even seen it used on a few catalog titles already. It’ll be interesting to see how it gets used on I-VI and if they consult with George on the final grade.
Alita: Battle Angel
Gemini Man
The Irishman
Captain Marvel
Shazam!
Avengers: Endgame
The first movie I ever saw in 3D* was Up in the Summer of 2009. When Avatar came out at the end of that year I ended up seeing it three times, all in 3D. They were all at the same multiplex but the first two times were in smaller auditoriums so it was the 16:9 version. The third was in a bigger theater and was in scope. Avatar ended its run just as they were opening their new LieMax.
Since then I’ve tried keeping my 3D screenings to stuff captured with stereo camera rigs, but there have been a few exceptions and I must admit the post-conversion quality has come a long way.
Speaking of post-conversions, LotR is another “original trilogy” that’s been floated for dimensionalization. It’s probably dependent on how much WB feels like spending the money, but now that Jackson is done with his World War I documentary and FotR’s 20th anniversary is right around the corner I could see him pressuring them to make it happen.
Again, Cameron’s influence will probably be the single biggest factor in all of this. If the Avatar sequels make a big enough splash and we get another Hugo or Gravity or Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, then Disney will probably see the potential for a 3D OT.
*not counting seeing T2 3D at Universal Orlando in the Spring of 2003
The one big financial incentive Disney had for doing a 3D conversion of the OT seems to be gone now since I don’t see them doing a ‘97 style re-release in theaters. The only real reason to do it at this point is simply so that it can exist in that format alongside the other movies, but the in-theater saga marathons the day before Episode IX seem to be the only time and place for it. Even then, I would think most people buying a ticket to that sort of thing would probably prefer to just watch these things in 2D.
I felt kinda sorry for the people who went to the I-VII marathons a little over three years ago who got I-VI in 2D and were then forced to watch VII in 3D. I wonder how Disney handled things for I-VIII a couple years later.
Wouldn’t 4K be more or less pointless for TFA and RO? Movies like that are always mastered in 2K to begin with.
Rogue One’s DoP Greig Fraser confirmed that the movie was finished in 4k, but it’s unclear at what exact res the vfx were rendered at. There’s still a decent percentage of the movie that’s entirely in-camera, and they used the Alexa 65 with Ultra Panavision lenses which means there was still a good 6k worth of detail for those shots even after they cropped a little off the sides to make it 2.40:1.
TFA turned out differently, at least going by what I’ve read. Abrams’ editing process didn’t give the vfx people enough time to render out the shots at as high of a res as they otherwise could have, and since that’s most of the movie I think it’s effectively stuck in 2k.
Yeah, I don’t think I know a single person who even owns a 3D TV. Might have been cool to see those 3D versions theatrically, but I really don’t have any interest in watching them in my living room.
Anyway, I was sure we’d at least get TFA and R1 in UHD for Christmas since there was no new movie in theaters, even if the OT was a long shot. Since that came and went, I’m not expecting anything before IX comes out on disc. Hopefully they’ll do it so that I won’t have to re-buy too much. Be a shame if IX came out in a steel book that matched TLJ but then three months down the road we find out that the only way to get TFA in 4K is in a boxed set. I might hold out on the disc for the first time and just go digital for IX if we haven’t heard by then what’s going on with TFA.
What makes you think they won’t just put out TFA and RO on 4k this year?
It made at least some sense not to do it this past holiday since they needed to push Solo after it underperformed in theaters. Speaking of which, it wouldn’t at all surprise me if Disney does eventually include more of the Lord and Miller footage in an eventual re-release, if only to help recoup their losses. Maybe that’s something they could save for the inevitable over-priced franchise collection, just as the OT deleted scenes were exclusive to the “complete saga” blu-ray.
It doesn’t help that there hasn’t been a new 3D set on the market for a couple years now. Maybe the Avatar sequels will revive the market. That there were two different home systems didn’t help much. Active 3D sets requiring more expensive glasses that need batteries. 4K sets actually do 3D better with no loss of resolution.
I was amazed to find out there was an outboard 3D converter gizmo for 2D sets. It uses the old red/blue system, but from what I’ve read, it works pretty well once calibrated.
I’m not a fan of how the “passive” method was implemented at home, with the fpr filter always there over the display and making everything look like you’re watching it through a screen door.
Years ago, Samsung was working on a tv that would’ve used the “active passive” version of RealD’s tech, but it was deemed too expensive.
Maybe Cameron will pressure the industry to figure out a solution in time for Avatar 2’s home release a little over two years from now.
All of this 4k talk has made me completely forget about the 3D versions of I-VI.
TPM got a theatrical 3D re-release in early 2012 but never made it to 3D blu-ray. The stereo conversions of AotC and RotS were finished shortly thereafter but have only been seen at fan conventions.
Then there’s the OT, which they were doing tests on as early as 2007 but was never finished.
TLJ and Solo didn’t even get a 3D blu release Stateside, probably because Disney put out the UHD versions day-and-date with the regular blu’s and wanted to push that as the premium SKU. I’m guessing there’s simply more of a market for home 3D in the UK than there is here.
Peter Suschitzky, Rocky Horror’s DoP, would later go on to shoot ESB. He recently lensed After Earth for M Night Shyamalan, which makes a pretty good case for him working on a Star Wars movie again.
We’ll be waiting with great antici…
…pation.
I wonder if Lucasfilm will wait until May of next year before doing any new physical release of I-VI just so they can have the technicality of fully regaining all distribution rights to Empire, Jedi, and the prequels, or if it makes zero difference at this point whether or not the profits go through 20th Century Fox first since it’s all owned by Disney.
Since Fox owns the distribution rights to ANH in perpetuity, will Disney simply take it away from them and give it to Lucasfilm or would that violate copyright law?
Some people have wondered if Disney might throw the Fox fanfare in front of the ST movies, but I find this unlikely since Fox had nothing to do with their production or even their release. What I’d much rather they do, once they finally retire the 2004 Lowry master and do the 4k SE, is bring the “finished” version of I-VI (including ANH) in line with the ST and simply keep it to the metallic Lucasfilm logo with no sound. I’m not a fan of the current digital and broadcast versions’ using the ‘97 shiny LFL logo with an edit of the cue from the very end of ESB’s end credits in lieu of the Fox fanfare on all of the movies except ANH.
Since nothing from before 2014 is canon anymore aside from I-VI and TCW, I’m wondering if we’ll ever see a NuEU story that gives us an explanation for how Leia and the others were able to justify taking time away from helping the Rebellion just so they could rescue Han from Jabba. Unless that was Leia’s call to make in the first place.
It’s been twenty-one years since I read Shadows of the Empire, so I don’t remember now if it was brought up.
One thing I found curious (and this is going off my fuzzy memory of watching it after downloading it from google video a full decade ago, so I could be remembering wrong) is that IIRC the copyright © at the end of the end credits was 20th Century Fox, not Lucasfilm.
The newspaper comic strips were also copyright Fox IIRC.
Now that Disney’s buying Fox, there’s presumably nothing keeping them from throwing it in on future releases.
Edited to add:
And I now see I talked about this very subject in this very thread almost two years ago.
Restore the unaltered OT and they can legtimize the SE in Episode IX all they want.
I’m just hoping the scope of the conclusion will feel like it caps off the entirety of the saga. I’m okay with seeing ghost Hayden yuckin’ it up with Luke in the interest of that. Preferably not attempting to look young, with the long locks. Doesn’t have to be made up to look old necessarily, though.
Did I miss this ghost Hayden rumor earlier when I was avoiding this thread for the first thirty or so pages, or is that just pure speculation on your part?
Another thing I’ve been meaning to ask about is the difference in how this 4k project of the trilogy is being scanned in to begin with versus how it was done for the previous go around (SSE, ESB Grindhouse, RotJ).
On the original TN1 35mm project page, I remember seeing a photo of a print being scanned in using a homemade scanner that was basically just a DSLR. IIRC this resulted in light leaking through in certain shots (the Death Star conference room comes to mind).
For the 4k projects, I’m assuming actual professional grade scanning equipment was used?
I don’t think anybody does it the old way anymore, if the ability to do so even exists at all. Might as well carp that they didn’t edit the film by physically splicing it together.
Nolan still does it the old way. Ironically, the 35mm segments of his movies had to be digitally processed anyway just so they could go through the Imax DMR blowup conversion. Since Nolan insists on color-timing his movies photochemically, this meant scanning in the 35mm interpositive and digitally blowing that up instead of working from a scan of the negative itself.
For Dunkirk, nothing was shot on a gauge of film smaller than 65mm, so the roughly 25% of the movie shot in 5-perf was blown up optically to 15/70 without going through the computer at all.
I don’t think we’ll see it until after George is gone. I get the impression that it is largely out of respect that they haven’t done anything with it. Whether you agree with it being released or not I think it’s pretty obvious that releasing it would be a pretty big F U to George from Lucasfilm considering how adamant he was about it not being made available.
Agree to disagree and all that. I think George has nothing to do with it. After all, the debate over the changes he made to the OT was a very large part of what he was washing his hands of when he sold the company.
I think it mostly had to do with Fox’s ownership of ANH, which will soon become irrelevant.
I stand corrected, then.