Saga Every seven years...

new versions of the movies are released. We've seen new versions released in 1997, 2004, and 2011. Is this truly just coincidence, and if not, will this trend continue?

 

With Disney at the helm, I suspect it will follow their moratorium philosophy.

 

Under Disney, Star Wars is essentially dead. You should consider it no more alive or capable of drawing natural breath than Anakin in the Vader carapace or Han in carbonite. Where's a de-thawing Skywalker child when you need one?

 

7 is a lucky number.

 

Moratorium makes "Special Edition only" seem like total availability in comparison.

How?



Keep in mind that the "Disney Vault" is only for animated movies.

 

I dunno. Me being cynical.

I am looking forward to three more movies. I'm as intrigued as the next guy. Which is to say: very.

It's just... Disney, man. They're strongly protective of their own interests and very greedy with it. They also have a lot of the same myopic stinginess that comes with big corporations that have been around, like, forever.

The next three movies could actually be the most esoteric and beautiful of the bunch. Think "Fantasia". Think Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain". I'm not saying we'll get anything quite that extreme, but some of the imagery and story content could be quite similar.

One timing pattern I expect will hold -- though, hey, this is an ever-changing world, so I might be completely wrong -- is a sequel movie released every three years. So, whenever they finally get the first one out, the next two will follow, exactly three years apart, with a May/June release. Probably. Or not.

I'm not sure what hope I'd hold out for the other stuff, though. Star Wars is now under the aegis of Disney. They do things differently at that place. At the moment, they seem fond of cancelling things (e.g., 3D releases, Clone Wars TV series). Before we get more Star Wars, we get less Star Wars, apparently.

 

It's not Disney that has left me cynical. It's J.J. Abrams.

 

I think the films are done being changed, at least major changes. Unless GL wants to make some more edits, which is highly unlikely.

If there are more changes, it will probably be correcting issues in the OT or PT, like remedying a poor effect like the 2004 ROTJ lightsabers being kinda fixed in 2011

 

Fox owns the distribution rights for ANH in perpetuity, and the other five films until 2020. We won't be seeing new versions until that changes.

 

Right you are! But we may see more Lucas changes. Hopefully we won't see Disney changes ever!

 

Extremely unlikely that we'll see any more GL changes, content-wise - I think he really is done with it all. All I can see are minor technical fixes & adjustments when the Saga is released on new formats.

Really can't see Disney ever making any sort of changes to the content, the six films are just properties to them, they don't have the same artistic & obsessive attachment to them as their creator's. By the time Disney obtains the rights, they'll be 'old' films anyway, barely worth bothering with.

Disney remakes of Eps I-VI, on the other hand...

 

• The 1997 "special editions" were done to stimulate interest in the release of TPM and allow them to trial some CGI techniques.

• The 2004 was for the DVD release.

• The 2011 was for Blu-Ray release.

So unless there happens to be a new format hit the mainstream before 2018, i don't see any marketing potential for a release.

I assume we may see some re-runs of the 6 films on cinemas in the build up to Ep VII being released but that's just simple commercial sense.


As for Disney cancelling other SW projects, is this not to allow them to align their strategy going forward for the franchise and to ensure that storylines are also aligned. I wouldn't be shocked to see a pull back on EU until the story arcs for EpVii-iX are drafted.

 

Playstation 4 is set to support the 4K format - much as PS2 did for DVD, and PS3 for Blu-Ray. Both platforms gave the new formats a massive helping hand in pushing them into the mainstream, although DVD hasn't quite gone the way of poor old VHS in Blu-Ray's wake. We'll see.

 

I hope we get additional releases that have Han shoot first and removes Vader's "NOOOO" in Jedi and returns Shaw as Anakin.

I'll also bet that we get BR versions of the OT to stimulate interest in the ST.

Disney knows that the original movies is what created the Saga, not the special editions. Those versions are the ones that changed cinema.

 

Assuming Fox sells the distribution rights.

 

They could always work out a deal. Disney isn't going to sit on it to spite Fox when it can serve to promote the ST.

 

Doesn't mean Fox would be willing to part with the rights (and who would blame them?). Look at all of the Marvel properties (owned by Fox, Sony, etc.) that Disney doesn't have access to.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with ANH in 2020.

 

I never said that they would part with the rights, just that they could work out an agreement. Some money is better than no money for Fox and Disney will want to promote the ST....thy have common interest.

 

Except that, with the rights in the hands of Fox, Fox makes 100% profit. They can cash in on the Episode VII hype without making any deals. If they do make a deal of some sort with Disney, they would be losing money. It would be stupid on Fox's part to share the rights; if they were smart they'd milk them as much as they possibly could until 2020 or whenever it is that they are forced to give them up.

 

Except that Fox can't make DVDs or release the films without Disney's permission.

 

It's going to be wierd seeing the films without the Fox opening!

I think we'll see either a fox/disney partnership or a buyout before 2020.

 

There's actually a clause that states that? As far as I'm aware Paramount still makes money off of the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America DVDs and Blu Rays, despite them being Disney properties...

But maybe you're right. I haven't really paid any attention to the financial details of the Lucasfilm transition.

 

I don't get it here. If Disney is now the owner of the franchise and the movies, like Lucas was before, why couldn't they make changes if they wanted to (I agree with the rest) ?
Unless of course there was a specific provision in the contract when Disney bought Lucasfilm...

What do you mean by "by the time Disney obtains the rights" ? Distribution rights ?

Really ? Are you sure about this ?

Anyway, I don't see why there couldn't be further modifications if Disney/Lucasfilm wanted to (although as Darth Nub mentioned above, it's very unlikely). Disney/Lucasfilm owns the movies, not Fox. The movies belong to them.

Has Lucas made such a specific deal with Fox and Disney ?

 

Just as Lucasfilm owned the films and Fox had distribution rights, now Disney owns the films and Fox still has distribution rights. Companies with distribution rights have just that, distribution rights. The company that owns the film decides if it gets released/distributed. If Fox could sell the SW movies on their on thy would have don't you think?