Fang Zei

One thing Bill Hunt disregards in his latest post is that an OOT restoration might not be based on the o-neg.

It could be that, like Blade Runner, the o-neg will be used for the current version but other sources (like interpositives and separation masters) could be used for the unaltered versions. This would still produce something much better looking than any fan-restoration could hope to achieve with a 35mm print.

GlastoEls said:

So we have:

Making Star Wars on the YES side.

Bill & Pablo on the NO side.

?

I can’t see why Pablo would think George has any say in this, but he works for Lucasfilm so what the hell do we know?

Maybe there actually was some kind of agreement not to release the original versions when he sold everything to Disney. He’s one of their biggest shareholders now, so it’s not like Disney can just completely disregard his wishes (but then again they threw out his treatments for the ST). There was even that rumor a couple years ago about how Fox doesn’t feel comfortable being involved with it while George is still alive.

Then there’s the John Landis quote about George telling him that Disney is going to put them out “the way they were,” and that was only a little over a year ago. His story would certainly seem to conflict with Pablo’s.

Suffice it to say we’ll want some kind of clarification from the panel in Orlando. It’s at least encouraging to read confirmation after all these years that the pieces of the o-neg replaced for the SE were indeed put into storage and not trashed.

Wazzles said:

I’m still holding out hope that they’ll at least comment on it during the panel. If all they have to announce is a 4k SE, who will really care? I mean, sure it will be better for fan preservations, but i don’t think the general public will care all that much.

My thoughts exactly.

I mean, if they announced that a 4k remastered SE was hitting the new UHD format this year it actually would be kind of a big deal if for no other reason than the fact that Star Wars has never been released on any home video format this early in its lifespan.

But even then, who cares?

The new format is growing faster than anticipated, but it’s still a new format. A 4k UHD of a remastered SE released this year wouldn’t come close to the $80 million the blu-ray made in its first week, much less the '04 dvd which made more than $100 million on its very first day.

Besides, aren’t they teasing some “big surprises” for this panel? Granted, that could mean literally anything. Maybe it has nothing to do with a new release of the films. But I can’t see news of a 4K SE - and nothing more - generating much excitement.

JawsTDS said:

Fang Zei said:

https://twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/834885989583622145
Oh, God.

You don’t think…

I feel like this guy pulls stuff out his ass sometimes, merely to shut people up… and I really hope he’s wrong.

I would certainly hope so. But it’s worrisome after almost five years of Disney ownership that he’s even under the impression George holds any sway over this.

https://twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/834885989583622145

Oh, God.

You don’t think…

In any event, I can totally see now why Jason is being so vague.

Do we know the story of how this person got caught? I’m also curious how we even know about this.

lovelikewinter said:

Cobra Kai said:

I went through that site shortly after seeing TFA just out of curiosity, and I was shocked to find out just how much of the movie had been leaked. He posted a pretty detailed description of the Han death scene in February of 2015 and then by May, they had pieced together almost the entire plot with descriptions of all the key scenes.
This gives me hope…

Disney found out who leaked to him and fired that person. He won’t get anything that juicy ever again, and I’m sure people were told not to talk to him at all.

Seriously? Wow, I had no idea.

moviefreakedmind said:

I agree with everyone so far. They have recently been good about not posting potentially fake stuff just for views. The problem with sharing who their sources are in cases like these is that it endangers people’s jobs, but I wish he’d have given us a little more to go on.

EDIT: Notice that he says the tips and evidence have been piling up “over the last month”, so this isn’t just a reflection on the last few years of rumors and coming to the conclusion that they must be true.

I mean, we haven’t heard anything over the last month, have we?

Like you say, he’s really making it seem like he knows something we don’t.

bump

http://makingstarwars.net/2017/02/rumor-unaltered-original-star-wars-trilogy-re-released-year/

SilverWook said:

DrDre said:

The site makingstarwars.net posted a rumor about the release of the OOT for the 40th anniverary:

http://makingstarwars.net/2017/02/rumor-unaltered-original-star-wars-trilogy-re-released-year/

They state: “Several sources have let us know it was coming and it appears to actually be on the way this time.”

Considering makingstarwars.net has a track record for generally posting reliable rumors, should we be hopeful?

They have a checkered history though. Take a big chunk of salt unless proven otherwise.

Yeah but he led with “we don’t run those rumors” and “the tips and evidence have been piling up,” which at least gives me hope.

Of course his sources could just be giving him their own opinion based on no solid evidence.

I wonder why he feels the need to be so vague about it. Is he worried about getting someone fired?

SilverWook said:

Don’t most UHD titles come with a Blu Ray disc already?

Well that’s the thing …

If we’re talking a multi-disc release with the SE and unaltered on separate discs, do they include two more regular blu-rays? Even if they did, the price would be significantly higher. I could almost see them forgoing the “combo” approach and making you choose.

… Or, they keep it to just the most recent version remastered in 4k, leaving the OOT and the '97 version completely off the table, and debut it on both formats (regular and 4k blu) to go along with TFA and RO. Then they could include a regular blu (which would still look better than the 2011 discs) in the package as well. They could even put out the PT on the new format the same day. Being stuck in 2k hasn’t stopped all these other movies from reaching UHD.

Honestly, we’re getting ahead of ourselves until we know anything is happening at all this year.

I’d like to think they would finally do justice to the unaltereds this year. I just can’t see anyone caring about yet another release of the SE, even if there are more changes to sift through, even if it’s from a new 4k master you can watch at full res with hdr.

But a remastered OOT? People will put their money where their mouth has been all these years and buy it day one. A multi-disc package that doesn’t include regular 1080p versions might even sell a guy like me a UHD player just so I don’t have to double-dip later on.

Even if they only release it on regular blu, the people who’ve upgraded all their hardware to 4k will begrudgingly purchase it. Like I said, this would still piss those people off and Disney would be smart to let Fox put it out in 4k.

Who knows what the hell will happen. We’ll see.

Couldn’t have said it better, CHEWBAKAspelledwrong.

Disney “could be gracious enough to” let Fox release the hypothetical OOT on UHD day-and-date with the 1080p blu.

Keeping the UHD in their back pocket for after 2020 would actively piss off a lot of people now that I think about it.

SilverWook said:

The crashed X Wing looks a tad out of scale. 😉

And damn, someone at Celebration better be telling us we’re getting all that alternate footage down the road.

Kinda awkward doing it only a couple weeks after the initial blu-ray goes on sale, though.

joefavs said:

Has anyone suggested that Disney might put out a regular Blu-ray (of either the OUT or a new master of the SE) this year and then a UHD release after 2020? They’d be able to cash in on the anniversary and have something exclusive for when Fox’s distribution deal runs out. Plus the ST will be complete by then, so it could be box set city.

That’s been a big theory of mine as well.

The timing is certainly right. They could get away with it being a 1080p-only release this year, for the 40th. Next year, not so much. But I would still hope the unaltered trilogy eventually makes it to the 4k disc format as well.

DominicCobb said:

Interesting. This wouldn’t be surprising if Johnson hadn’t already said he wouldn’t shoot anything in the format. Wonder what changed.

Funny, I never heard about him saying that. Was it before principle photography started in earnest? It may very well have been a last minute decision.

I won’t link to the slashfilm article I got the news from as even the photo of the camera has what some could consider to be a spoiler, but Imax’s twitter confirmed today that some of Episode VIII was indeed shot in their format.

Just thought I would share the news here in case anyone was wondering (I certainly was).

Now to see if I’ll actually be able to watch it both full-sized and in 2D as shot or if Disney is going to unnecessarily force the 3D version on the two of the Smithsonian’s three theaters that have already converted to the laser system. I certainly don’t see them paying to send a 15/70 print here when the only remaining Imax film theater is right across the National Mall from one of the lasers.

Wazzles said:

TV’s Frink said:

Wazzles said:

I sometimes watch the SE’s too.

Why?

For the heck of it. I watched Empire out of curiosity and found it surprisingly watchable. The Laserdiscs and look great (for Laserdisc) and sound absolutely incredible. I also find them interesting from both an historical and technological standpoint.

At least Irvin Kershner gave his blessing for the SE of Empire.

I also find the SE historically significant in its own way. A movie series of such popularity has never been so radically altered before or since. ANH SE long held the record (if it doesn’t still) for the highest-grossing January release in U.S. box office history.

SilverWook said:

Too bad there isn’t any big convention coming up where the OT question could be asked. 😉

I thought I remembered hearing about someone asking Kathleen Kennedy about it at one of the conventions after the Disney buy-out. But IIRC her answer was very neutral and diplomatic.

crissrudd4554 said:

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong said:

imperialscum said:

The way I see it, Disney should at least give a clear statement whether they plan to release OOT or not. At least Lucas was clear on this matter.

Except he wasn’t. He released it two years later, albeit in shitty quality.

Yes but he changed his mind again by the time the BDs were being done. There was an article that was published after the BDs came out about a fan at I believe a Q&A thing who politely asked Lucas why the original cuts hadn’t been included in the BD set. Keep in mind they had preceded the question by complimenting Mr. Lucas’ work and saying they were fans. According to the article Lucas rudely responded with ‘Grow up. They’re my movies’.

That quote’s validity was questionable IIRC. George did also say right around the same time “the original versions are too expensive to restore right now,” whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

Wasn’t the validity of that quote disputed?

We should also remember that George changed his tune circa 2010 from “the original versions aren’t my vision for the saga” to “they’re too expensive to restore right now.” Ridiculous a statement as that was, it’s at least from before George sold everything to Disney. It’s not his money being spent anymore, it’s a humongous mega-corporation’s.

Plus there’s got to be something to that story John Landis told back in 2015.

I’m willing to at least wait until the big convention a couple months from now before I start declaring it a hopeless cause.

It’s arguably less hopeless now than it has been in several years. Lucasfilm obviously didn’t put out a gag order regarding the 4k restoration if Gareth Edwards talked openly about watching it.

Something is happening.

But if the convention comes and goes without a single word on the subject, that’s when we can start complaining.

Anakin saying that instead of “lightsaber” makes me think “Jedis” might’ve been intentional.

You think they’ll ever edit TPM so Jake Lloyd doesn’t say “Jedis” in his conversation with Liam Neeson?

Or was that intentional on George’s part?

I seem to recall Rick McCallum saying “Jedis” in one of the bts featurettes for one of the prequels.

crissrudd4554 said:

Fang Zei said:

crissrudd4554 said:

If something does happen this year and it’s not a repackaging of the 2011 discs I think it’ll be a 4K restoration release of ANH only. Waiting til 2020 doesn’t really matter in that films case. However restored unaltered cuts of ESB, ROTJ and the PT sounds likely after 2020 since Lucasfilm/Disney will now have full ownership of them plus 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of ESB. Just theory of course.

1997 only being ANH’s 20th didn’t stop them from releasing Empire and Jedi also.

Yes, I realize the rights to ANH will never revert to Lucasfilm, but I’m pretty sure Fox can’t release something new without getting LFL’s approval first. Otherwise they would face the wrath of Disney’s lawyers.

I’ve heard it argued that Fox effectively owns ANH since they control the distribution rights forever, regardless of what we’ve heard about them “gifting” it back to George in the 90’s in exchange for distribution rights on the PT. I feel like we still don’t know the whole story behind that. Zombie’s article on the subject, written in 2008 well before the Disney deal, suggests Fox did indeed hand the copyright over to Lucasfilm in the late 90’s: http://fd.noneinc.com/secrethistoryofstarwarscom/secrethistoryofstarwars.com/buyingstarwars.html

I know Fox would still need approval, I was just saying since they control the distribution rights for that film there’s no need to hold out til 2020 for Lucasfilm/Disney to get a 4K remaster of that film out on BD. The other films on the other hand I could possibly see them waiting it out til 2020 since Fox won’t be an obstacle. However as you pointed out there’s still likely elements to this whole ‘rights’ situation that hasn’t been explained so at the moment it’s all speculation.

What I forgot to say was that Disney probably wouldn’t want just one movie getting its own release without the other two as well. In fact, they would probably want all six getting reissued even if the only big deal is that IV-VI finally include the remastered original versions.

CHEWBAKAspelledwrong raises a good point. Streaming is only going to grow in the next several years as physical sales continue to decline. If Disney waited until 2020 to release anything new at all for I-VI they would risk losing people’s interest. I really can’t think of anything they could come up with to generate sales on reissues, other than the obvious.

Disney is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can either give us the goods now and let Fox have their cut, or wait it out for several years and throw away the money they could’ve been making.

I’m still very curious to see how UHD will factor into all of this. Fox has supported the new format since day one, but Disney is yet to officially announce anything. If it were up to me, Lucasfilm would do a 40th anniversary release Blade Runner style, with separate SKU’s for regular and UHD blu. That way, people like me who still haven’t upgraded their hardware would be forced to buy the regular blu-ray in the meantime and the uhd version would still be there years from now when Disney’s regained the rights.

Or maybe Disney will simply keep the UHD in their pocket until 2020, but I find that unlikely since more and more people are upgrading to 4k and would be pissed to see I-VI (well, at least IV-VI) withheld when TFA and RO will likely be released on the format in the next year or so.

But the least likely scenario to me is having the same old 2011 discs reissued again and again for the next three years. The master is 13 years old at this point, we know they’ve done a new 4k master of some kind, and a 4k home video format exists. If there is any kind of new release announced for this year I would be shocked if it didn’t have some new disc-based content.