UPDATE: The Phantom Menace to Air on the Disney Channel in November. Has Disney Obtained the Rights to All 6 Star Wars Films?

Star Wars Saga

With Disney having fired up the converters on the Star Wars franchise in a big way over the past two years, here has been much speculation as to whether or not they will finally be the ones to release the Original Trilogy in its unaltered, pre-1997 theatrical form. A new Italian television ad suggests that Disney may have taken a big step in this very direction. More after the jump…

 

Since Disney’s 2012 acquisition of LucasFilm LTD and the Star Wars franchise, many Original Trilogy fans have been crossing their fingers in hopes that we might finally see a DVD/Blu-Ray release of the OT’s original pre-Special Edition edit. One of the big roadblocks to this, of course, has been the fact that 20th Century Fox holds distribution rights to the original 1977 film in perpetuity, as well as theatrical and home distribution rights to the other five Star Wars movies until the year 2020.

 

Despite this fact, there has been a sharp uptick in recent months of rumors that Disney was, in fact, preparing to release the original edits of the OT films. While no firm confirmation of this has been forthcoming, Film Divider has uncovered a rather intriguing clue in the form of a new Italian TV ad.

 

In fact, scepticism about the possibility of a deal with Fox has been used regularly to criticise and undermine reports that Disney were looking to reissue the old Star Wars movies.

 

This new ad from Disney, however, makes it very clear that Disney do have such plans. There is absolutely, definitely a clip from Episode IV in this new ad for Disney’s digital services. The studio is demonstrating that soon, you’ll be able to see the film through a Disney digital release.

 


 

 

Note that the ad shows not only a clip from Episode IV, but also clips from Episodes II, III and V.

 

Mind you, this doesn’t directly indicate anything about a planned release of the original edits of the Original Trilogy. It merely suggests that some sort of deal has been struck between Disney and Fox for the digital release of ANH and the rest of the Star Wars films.

 

However, one can’t help but note that if such a deal has indeed been worked out between the two studios, the primary barrier to a digital release of the long-awaited OT original edit would seem to have been effectively removed.

 

An interesting development, to be sure.

 

 

 

UPDATE: 

 

It looks like Disney will begin airing the Star Wars movies (or at least Episode I) on The Disney Channel sometime in November:
http://www.disneychannel-asia.com/DisneyChannel/showinfo/programmes/DCMovies/starwars.html

 

 

Disney Channel ad for The Phantom Menace

Although this ad comes from Disney Asia, it seems like we have pretty solid confirmation now that Disney owns the rights to the Prequel Trilogy at the very least.

 

Thanks to jjlb98 for the heads up.

 

+ posts

73 thoughts on “UPDATE: The Phantom Menace to Air on the Disney Channel in November. Has Disney Obtained the Rights to All 6 Star Wars Films?

  • October 8, 2014 at 10:35 pm
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    Yes, but will Han shoot first?

  • October 8, 2014 at 10:45 pm
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    All I can say is that the Episode 4 and 5 clip in the video are from the 2011 Blu-ray version.

  • October 8, 2014 at 10:48 pm
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    This is quite old news.

    It was reported a year ago ago that by the end of this year that there would be some sort of digital library:

    http://www.jedinews.co.uk/news/news.aspx?newsID=14008

    Which would mean the movies at the center. This has nothing to do with theatrical cuts of Episodes 1,4-6.

    From what I can gather Lucasfilm owns IV but whenever they release it Fox gets to distribute it. Same for the other films but that runs out around 2020 for all the films except for IV.

    I would think that hasn’t changed for physical media releases but for digital media they struck a deal since obviously it’s not going to be available on Fox media since Lucasfilm and Disney won’t allow that. That would be a separate negotiation.

    I would guess the status quo remains for DVD and Blu Ray while Disney gets to send out the digital library of the films in their current forms.

    Personally I very much doubt we would see the “original” versions anytime soon if ever. Lucas more than likely protected himself and the films in the sale. If they ever do come out (which is possible as we don’t know they can’t come out) they would be classified as out of canon versions as it were.

    So if the “original” OT comes out it’ll be called Legends.

  • October 8, 2014 at 10:58 pm
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    Disney will not do this to George until after he passes.

    • October 9, 2014 at 12:49 am
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      LOLZ… what about what he did to the OT fan base? They transferred the OT to 4k… it’s probably the unaltered edition. Or possibly both versions. We’ll find out this time next year.

      • October 9, 2014 at 5:27 am
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        I thought that the company that was doing that had put the conversion on hold for some reason.

        • October 9, 2014 at 9:03 am
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          No they finished already. It’s a print restoration… no way it’s the specialized editions… what’s the need to “restore” the 1080p files that became the OT specialized? I guess you could restore digital information but I’d tend to think Lucas arts takes great care of their digital prints and have a gagilioln copies of it.

          • October 9, 2014 at 9:13 am
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            The reason why we haven’t heard about it is because they will be for saving it for the 4K bluray release. I think they are going to use Star Wars 4k, Avatar 2, and Episode 7 to get the industry moving towards updating equipment to manufacture content for HDR & Ultimate HD… more colors/ contrast/ dimension to the image.

            The remaster was done to 16 bit… (most TV’s are 8 bit, some 10 bit panels are coming out this year… hopefully 12 next year. More bits= more displayed colors). That will mean that this version will survive several generations of TV tech… expect drastic changes to images you see on your tv at home over the next 5 years.

            TV’s are capable of outdoing the standards set forth by projectors @ the theaters. So the equipment is being used to make the color space for films in the theater… while the TV world people will have twice the color range & contrast… that’s a big problem. The theater industry seems to be dying off a bit. Everytime I go to see a movie I sit in mostly empty theaters, even for big debuts on RPX screens. Who’s going to pay to update all the projectors to 4k Christie? It would be awesome… but it’s not gonna happen until someone pushes the theater industry to upgrade. If people are seeing better images at home why would they go to the theater anymore?

          • October 9, 2014 at 1:14 pm
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            So many factual errors in that post that it hurts my head…

          • October 9, 2014 at 10:51 pm
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            Name one thing wrong. I’m a member on AVS and have been featured on the home theater geeks podcast. I know theater tech like no one’s business.

  • October 8, 2014 at 11:29 pm
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    Why does everyone say the original versions of the OT are not available on DVD???

    Not sure about the exact year, I think it was 2008 or so, the DVD box-set at that time included bonus dics with all three films in their unaltered versions. I bought this boxset and all three original films (NON-special edition) were included. Granted, they were raw copies, but isn’t that what everyone is bitching about—wanting the original films in their original form?

    I can appreciate the original versions like alot of other people but, the problem is, the original versions are all fucked up. You can see the matte lines around all the ships in space, you see the scratches on the film itself, and picture clarity is a major issue.

    It would have been cool if only the image, sound, effects were improved without changing content (i.e. adding CGI Jabba, Palace music, Ewok celebration, etc.)
    However, the Death Star battle scenes were improved significantly over the original versions.

    The biggest travesty of the special editions was changing Vader’s lines with a voice that was clearly not James Earl Jones (re: “prepare my star destroyer for my arrival” instead of the original line, “Bring my shuttle!” in E5).

    Who the hell did Vader’s voice for the special edition dubs?

      • October 9, 2014 at 12:05 am
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        Well then, what is all the excitement about? Watching flawed effects in high-def blu-ray?!?!

        It’s the eqivalent of seeing the strings hanging from spaceships in those old as shit science fiction movies.

      • October 9, 2014 at 12:17 am
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        Isn’t it strange no one ever mentioned seeing the matte lines back in the 70’s and 80’s. WTF?! Was everyone blind or did it just not show up on the big screen? I don’t remember noticing that kind of shit as a kid, otherwise, I would’ve been like, “that’s fake, looks like paper cutouts flying in space!”

        • October 9, 2014 at 12:44 am
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          They didn’t show on the big screen.

          • October 9, 2014 at 1:43 am
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            Yeah they released unaltered on DVD but it was worthless… a terrible transfer from the laserdisc edition which was a bad master to begin with. The VHS probably looked better.

          • October 9, 2014 at 10:58 am
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            Releasing the originals in that manner was a way for Lucas to save face, as in most wouldn’t see the purpose for all the complaining about the Special Editions.
            But that is a whole mother matter intirely.
            From aesthetics of effects quality to added scenes. I’m to the point of hoping I’m alive by 2020 to make my own edit of all 9 films with of course spinoffs and other projects to choose from, but for now I got my imagination.

            Lucas never wanted to get involved in the Ridley Scott Blade Runner sinerio, and of course he (Lucas) is never wrong. I don’t know how many editions Blade Runner is up to.
            I have three so far, I tend to run into them and get them for about 2 to 3 US dollars.

    • October 9, 2014 at 12:01 am
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      “It would have been cool if only the image, sound, effects were improved without changing content”

      Did they do this for the 1995 VHS release of the Star Wars Trilogy? I seem to remember how they made such a big deal about “remastering” and taking out the matte lines so that you could see it in its improved form but also its original “one last time”. Maybe I’m wrong about that. I remember they kept harkening “One…Last…Time.”

      • October 9, 2014 at 12:10 am
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        yeah, I remember those versions. the method of eliminating the matte lines was to darken the whole fucking picture.
        There are so many versions of these damn films its hard to remember which is what. I know some early “remasters” are so dark (picture brightness), all the Hoth scenes appear as really blue instead of the white art direction of the original.

    • October 9, 2014 at 3:52 am
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      James Earl Jones did the voice over. Why it sounds different is cuz it was recorded 10 plus yrs later.

      • October 9, 2014 at 5:58 pm
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        why would that be the reason? he didn’t sound different in ROTS

    • October 9, 2014 at 4:50 pm
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      “Granted, they were raw copies, but isn’t that what everyone is bitching about—wanting the original films in their original form?”

      Non-anamorphic DVDs that look like worn old VHS copies, and that you can only get as extras in a Special Edition box set?

      No, that’s not at all what fans are asking for.

  • October 8, 2014 at 11:47 pm
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    Would be about friggin’ time.

  • October 8, 2014 at 11:50 pm
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    No, that was JEJ. It was just an alternate take like the many versions of the audio that were mixed.

    “You can see the matte lines around all the ships in space, you see the scratches on the film itself, and picture clarity is a major issue.”

    The thing that is so underappreciated is how much work went into the SE’s to make the original VFX top of the line. What people don’t seem to understand is 2 things.

    1. The SE added live action with people in suits and costumes, models, miniatures, puppets as well as CG. It wasn’t all CG anymore than the prequels which had 10x plus the practical effects of the OT.

    2. The VFX of the OT including virtually all of Star Wars was redone using the original elements. They went back to the original film pieces and optically resomposited them with state of the art technology for the 1990’s. This was to not only make them bettter than they ever could be in the originals but because the damage on the O-Neg made their use nigh impossible. Obviously for the few instances of CG additions they were added through a combination of digital addition and scanning.

    The point is when people talk about great the untouched parts of the SE’s look they have to realize that was more than likely touched as well.

  • October 9, 2014 at 12:00 am
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    Yup I have the original in DVD, it is a black box set with star wars trilogy written in silver font on it. The image on the box set is Vader and Luke fighting…released in 2008

  • October 9, 2014 at 12:47 am
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    The unaltered OT was on the DVD’s… but that was just a version ported over from the laser disc transfer which was already terrible.

    They remastered the OT in 4k… probably the despecialized edition.

    • October 9, 2014 at 3:46 am
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      I doubt it. Disney respects George to much. I bet it was the 2011 Blu-ray version. Which is what George said was his final version. And so now it is…

      • October 9, 2014 at 7:40 am
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        We’ll see. Think about all the money Disney could make by releasing multiple versions… what do you think is more important to Disney? Money or some non existent obligation towards George?

        • October 9, 2014 at 9:42 am
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          Think about it… they are restoring the film negatives, not a digital remaster… so are you meaning to tell me they are going to restore all the film negatives into beautifully remastered 4k… and then stick in those 1080 p digital shots along side that? The film negatives were already restored for the 1080p transfer… I guess they could upscale but it was filmed to 1080p if I remember correctly. Or at least the effects are still stuck in the 720p / 1080 p world I believe. More power to whoever wants to sort that mess out… I’m almost certain they are going with a traditional re-print.

          Maybe multiple versions will be released but remember it’s the cinefiles doing the transfer… they want to see the unaltered OT as well I’m sure in 4k… as do many people who are completely unaware of this issue. A lot of people like my sister (not a star wars fan, but likes the movies) bought those blurays and started saying “what the hell?” at some of the more obnoxious new scenes.

          A friend of mine wanted to project the Star Wars OT & his loft… I told him he’s free to my discs but that they are the special editions. He asked me where he
          could find the Originals… I told him VHS is the best quality LOLZ.

          Believe me, there is demand. Disney would have to be willing to kiss away millions if they didn’t want to take the OT fan base’s money. It’s not even the OT fan base… think of all those people who grew up with the OT, weren’t totally nerdy about it, but want their kids to see it… since many people in that generation grew up on Star Wars being a cultural phenomenon are now raising children of their own. So they plop the disc in, all is kosher, then they see Han solo stepping on a very fake looking Jabba’s tail. I’ll guarantee “what the hell?” will be the reaction. It probably happened countless times and they probably thought they bought the wrong version or they are waiting for the version they want.

          So ok… here’s 4k Star Wars. Thanks very much, I’ll take it. Thanks for appreciating my multi-hundreds of dollars spent repurchasing all the variations of the OT & seeing the films in theaters repeatedly… now I finally get to see what I should have been able to have seen 5 or 10 years ago since Lucas was too stubborn to acknowledge why his most loyal followers felt shafted. Because you know… that totally didn’t happen. There was an unaltered version of the OT on the DVD’s… cool yea… a VHS quality print. Who here still watches VHS?

          To get a sense of how that feels… imagine Lucas was in charge of Star Wars. He decides 10 years from now to add new scenes to the prequels… adding wookie halloween & CGI a bunny costume onto Count Dooku. You don’t like that you say? Well how about we release the bluray & DVD versions of the specialized prequels… but if you don’t like the redone work 3 VHS’s will be included to watch the unaltered Prequels.

          How would you like that? Cuz that’s what Lucas did to us.

          • October 9, 2014 at 6:28 pm
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            I get that some people feel betrayed, but in my opinion they are HIS movies, not ours! If he put a CGI bunny in star wars when it first came out, people would have judged that scene for whatever it was and thats fine. We can watch our old copies if we hate the new changes, but HE is the storyteller and so if HE says it is important to the story he WISHED that he could have told in the first place…how can we argue or be mad at him for re-telling his own myth he made up? He doesn’t “Owe” us money and time spent to remaster old editions of movies that he don’t feel fit with his intended mythos any more than Apple corporation owes it to people to make an Iphone that looks exactly like a rotary phone. If Disney releases the original cuts that would be AWESOME, it would please a lot of people so i hope it happens- but I will always consider the current blu-rays to be Lucas’ definitive vision even if I don’t love all the changes.

          • October 9, 2014 at 11:04 pm
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            I’ll gurantee one thing… PT fans would have a major gripe about Count Dooku in the bunny costume.

            If he wants to alter his vision that’s fine… but I do have one contention to make… I beg to differ that the fans are not owed a version they want. Keep in mind… Lucas wouldn’t be in the position to alter his work had it not been for the fans purchasing 5x editions of each film. There is no demand for a rotary apple phone… but there is for the unaltered trilogy.

  • October 9, 2014 at 1:44 am
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    I’ve been thinking the unaltered original trilogy will get released for while now, especially since Oscar Isaacs spoke about how he wished George Lucas didn’t alter the films. I think that was all a plot to see how interest was for a release.

  • October 9, 2014 at 1:51 am
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    I prefer Adywan’s Star Wars Revisited. It’s what the Special Edition of ANH should have been.

  • October 9, 2014 at 2:20 am
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    Question: does Disney own the special editions to the OT?

    Can’t Disney just release a “2014-edition” special edition that removes most of the CG effects and satisfy fans that way? In other words, delete some of the stuff that angers fans (jabba, greedo shooting first, etc) but keeping some stuff that didn’t really bother anybody (extended x-wing flying sequences.)

    • October 9, 2014 at 2:51 am
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      That would be my hope as well, I do like some of the CGI work with the ships but man that Jabba is bad! And the dancing alien in ROTJ… godawful.

  • October 9, 2014 at 2:42 am
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    International rights vs domestic are probably way different- I wouldn’t read too much into it.

    • October 9, 2014 at 2:55 am
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      Reliance media works recently remastered the OT, why would they do that if Fox still owned the rights? Notice disney & SW both are on the site. I have a feeling Disney will put out a 4k bluray when they come out next winter.

  • October 9, 2014 at 3:30 am
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    No deal was struck……… Disney owns the copyrights to ALL 6 Star Wars films.

    On the very last VHS release of the OT all copyrights for all 3 films are held by Lucasfilm. Every release prior to this 5 & 6 are lucasfilm while Ep. 4 is Fox. The Blu-ray release also shows all 6 films copyrights are held by Lucasfilm.

    In 1998 before the release of Ep. 1, Lucasfilm was looking for a distributor for the PT. Fox did not want STAR WARS Ep. 1-3 being released by any other film company. George Lucas wanted the rights to Ep. 4. A deal was struck then between Lucasfilm & Fox.

    Fox got to release Ep. 1-3 and Lucasfilm obtained the copyrights to Ep. 4. This is explained in great detail in the book ‘The Secret History of Star Wars’. It’s been posted a few times in comments on this site before. Everyone should check it out for themselves.

    So when Disney bought Star Wars from George Lucas, They did in fact buy the copyrights to all 6 films. For the right to distribute Ep. 1-3 Fox gave George the copyrights to Ep. 4.

    Fox did not own Star Wars Ep. 4 at the time Disney purchased Star Wars. Since 2000 Lucasfilm has owned ALL rights to ALL 6 Star Wars films until they sold to Disney. Disney has been able to do whatever they want with Star Wars since “D-day” 2012.

    A lot of people seem to think that Fox still has a right to Ep. 4. No they do not, not in any way shape or form. Not since 2000. They only have a contract to “distribute” Ep. 1-6 until 2020. Check it out for yourselves friends.

    • October 16, 2014 at 3:13 am
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      Lucasfilm getting the copyright back in exchange for Fox getting the prequels is not new news.

      However there is a difference between copyright/owning the rights to the film and DISTRIBUTION deals/rights.

      Lucasfilm owns all six Star Wars films, but Fox has the exclusive distribution rights to both trilogies and the original film.

      That is, they can put their logo on the front of the films, and their people are supposed to coordinate any releases with theaters and retailers.

      That is what is being negotiated or completed now.

      A similar situation exists with Marvel and Paramount for Iron Man 3. Marvel shot and produced the Iron Man series, but Paramount distributed the film. When Marvel became part of Disney, they still made Iron Man 3, but Paramount got to put their logo on it.

      Why this gets confusing is while some companies are production companies and some companies are distribution companies, many of the big studios do both. So when Disney bought Lucasfilm and Marvel, they reason, why should someone else release our films? Even though any film with the Lucasfilm or Marvel logos has its money flowing back to Disney, they still figure it is in their interest (when possible) to get the distribution rights back to them as well.

  • October 9, 2014 at 4:29 am
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    My question is how are they gonna handle the opening titles? For me, the drum-roll of the Fox Logo leads perfectly into the loud music for the Star Wars logo. They’re so perfect for eachother that it’s hard to imagine the Star WArs fanfare being preceded by the gentle tinkling of the Disney castle. I know it’s a small detail but it’s gonna feel wrong when you hear it.

      • October 9, 2014 at 7:42 am
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        There’s actually faux Disney intro on youtube so you can see how the new intro will look possibly. I’m going to miss the fox logo too… I think they should keep it but probably too expensive/ not in Disney’s best interest.

        Perhaps we could get used to the Disney intro.

        The into darkness intro gives me the chills.

      • October 9, 2014 at 7:59 am
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        Disney’s logo and Lucasfilm’s logo will be the ones shown before Episode 7.

        I doubt Disney will put another logo on instead of theirs

        • October 9, 2014 at 8:24 am
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          The Bad robot logo will be there for sure… Here’s how I think it will go: Previews end, Disney logo comes up, music fades out over the bad robot logo (Bad robot is the production co on this movie right?)
          Then it goes silent… we get the “Long ago… etc” screen, then Star Wars blast/ crawl as usual. I could live with that… what dy’all think?

          I’ll have the bumps either way.

          • October 9, 2014 at 8:27 am
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            Oh I forgot the Lucas film part… Disney>theme fade over lucasfilm logo> theme continues fading and fades out mid bad robot logo>black silence for effect> A long time ago> BAM! Goosebump fest.

          • October 9, 2014 at 2:02 pm
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            I don’t know cuz why have Bad Robot on it when Ep. 8 wont be done by Bad Robot?

            That’s why I don’t think their logo will appear before the film, Idk.

            But I think JJ & co. are just hired hands on this one. Don’t get me wrong I would like to see the Bad Robot logo.

            I also think Disney will do with Star Wars what they did with Tron…In having it start with its own Disney logo…Such as an x-wing or ties flying by the Magical Kingdom.

    • October 9, 2014 at 7:50 am
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      X-wings flying over the Disney castle. I don’t think it will have the Bad Robot deal…JJ is directing but having 3-4 film companies involved will surely be to many logos at the beginning, IMO.

      • October 14, 2014 at 8:05 pm
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        Bad Robot will be there. Watch Star Trek for an example. The Paramount stinger is there followed by the Bad Robot stinger.

  • October 9, 2014 at 6:26 am
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    To the day I die… I’ll hope for a release of the theatrical editions in Blu-ray quality.

    All the nonsensical additions and edits removed. Star Wars restored.

    Still… I’ll settle for episode 7 being awesome. Though looking back at the collection it’ll hurt all the more knowing episode 4-6 aren’t truly complete.

    • October 9, 2014 at 7:45 am
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      I own the bluray Indy set… I’ve yet to see it but I saw it got a bad review for quality on AVS (I think they said the video transfer was bad… Jurrasic Park bluray looked bad to me as well… I think Spielberg’s quality control sucks/ though he does personally oversee remastering for discs supposedly?). You know which blurays look surprisingly good though? Alien & blade runner… man did they do a bang up job with those masters!

      • October 9, 2014 at 3:08 pm
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        What we need is a release set with as much care put into it as they gave Blade Runner.

  • October 9, 2014 at 11:58 am
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    I didn’t think the original negatives to at least Ep 4 and 5 even existed, they were in such bad shape a decade ago. And new interpositives made from the “restoration” destroyed a lot of the detail with “noise reduction”, especially on Tatooine. The botched restoration was covered in American Cinematographer years ago.

    It’s time for people to stop wanting to be 8 years old again when they saw it in the theater. The past is past. Honesty peoples best bet is to find a 16mm print from 1978 or a 35mm drive in print and convert and restore it as a fan project.

    A print so old it doesnt say “A New Hope” on it.

    • October 9, 2014 at 11:10 pm
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      It will be the original prints… look at the reliance media works page… note that they labeled it as a “restoration” project. No need to restore a digital copy of a film.

      I find it hard to believe that a film copy of the OT isn’t kept in good condition… even films as old as Lawrence of Arabia are getting the 4k treatment and looking better than ever.

  • October 9, 2014 at 2:50 pm
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    Common peeps let’s face the facts.

    The version we saw in 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982 were all different versions.

    Has it occurred to anyone that maybe the reason why the DVD versions of the OT are what they are. Is because that’s the only print they could save with the restoration?

    Does the original release even exist today?

    If Disney hasn’t done something with it by now they won’t until a) 2020 when Fox no longer has distribution rights or, b) Sometime after George Lucas passes away.

    George Lucas probably took steps to keep the 2011 Blu-ray release as the version of Star Wars that is released.

    • October 9, 2014 at 11:11 pm
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      Again… for like the 10th time… Reliance media works. Google it.

  • October 9, 2014 at 3:13 pm
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    Star Wars the way it WASN’T meant to be seen…

    The OT on a 5 inch screen, and the earlier versions that Lucas himself has not considered the definitive editions.

    I’m Pro Special Edition. Pro Prequels.

  • October 9, 2014 at 6:14 pm
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    Honestly the only way to make everyone happy is to just release a dvd set with the original AND Lucas versions (ala the alien box set). I know a lot a people really want this so I hope they get it. Personally, while i didn’t care for some things, overall I like the blu-ray cut! the edits did not impact my enjoyment of the OT. In fact I think the redone scene with the emperor in Episode V adds a lot to the experience

  • October 9, 2014 at 7:45 pm
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    I’m picturing the gnashing of teeth the day a theatrical version is released on bluray of the OT…just the way it was asked for, the way they were shown in theaters in ’77, ’80, and ’83, all cleaned up, proper widescreen format…

    …but with a Disney logo at the beginning instead of 20th Century Fox.

  • October 9, 2014 at 7:57 pm
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    Video is down? Watching from the Netherlands.

  • October 10, 2014 at 9:12 pm
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    Well, assuming it can be done I would like to see a new 4k scan of the OT. The digital transfer for the dvd and bluray release is a bit shoddy in my opinion. The special edition did make the OT movies look nice, but the transfer to digital was rather poor. The colors are inconsistent. For example, in Ep 4, sometimes explosions look achromatic, while at other times overly saturated (see the death star attack). Correcting these errors actually matters more to me than having a pristine copy of the unaltered trilogy, though that would be cool.

  • October 14, 2014 at 1:52 am
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    Here in Brazil, Disney XD aired the prequel trilogy and the Episode V – Empire Strikes Back.

    • October 14, 2014 at 2:38 am
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      Thanks. The fact that they skipped IV suggests that Fox indeed still owns it.

      • October 14, 2014 at 4:23 am
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        They didn’t air ROTJ, jeez… Check your VHS collection of the OT films… Fox sold Ep.4 to Lucasfilm in 1998, as part of the deal to get to distribute Ep.1-3. The last VHS box set for the 1st time ever on Ep.4 says copyright Lucasfilm. The book The Secret History of Star Wars explains all of this… Fox in no way has any say of what Disney does with Star Wars.

    • October 14, 2014 at 4:17 am
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      Thanks for the info, Paulo. 🙂
      What about Episode VI?

    • October 14, 2014 at 5:26 am
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      I never seen in Disney XD, Talon. But I will check it out.

  • October 14, 2014 at 4:16 am
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    Seems like it can’t be said enough………

    Lucasfilm OWNED the rights to Ep.4 since 2000. Check the last VHS box set to confirm this gents. When Disney bought Star Wars in 2012 they bought the rights to ALL 6 films. Fox in no way shape or form has any say with what Disney does to Star Wars. Fox only has the right to distribute the 6 films until 2020, but that contract could have been bought out. Nonetheless, Disney is only airing Ep.1, they are not distributing it.

  • October 14, 2014 at 6:29 am
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    I’m just going to leave a copy of this word right here…

    “Harmy”

    • October 14, 2014 at 7:42 am
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      I heartily agree with you, sir!

  • October 15, 2014 at 12:58 am
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    Because everyone knows how much kids love taxes, trade federations, trade blockades, senates, and political meetings…

    • October 16, 2014 at 7:41 pm
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      They certainly like Dora the explorer!

  • October 19, 2014 at 9:23 pm
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    The video has been removed …

    Dang …

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