Rumor: Disney to Re-release Theatrical Cuts of Original Trilogy
By Elaine Tveit
On Twitter last night, Empire Magazine tweeted some potentially big news: According to director John Landis (The Blues Brothers), Disney will be re-releasing the theatrical cuts of the original Star Wars trilogy on home video.
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Check out the tweets below.
At a Q&A tonight John Landis dropped that Disney are finally going to re-release the theatrical cuts of the original Star Wars trilogy.
— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) September 19, 2015
Apparently George mentioned it when last they spoke. Somebody put Yub Nub on. Let the celebrations commence!
— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) September 19, 2015
While this is certainly cause for an Ewok-style celebration for many fans, I wouldn’t start yub nubbing just yet. There are still a few things to consider. For one, the fact Twentieth Century Fox still owns the rights for all six Star Wars films through 2020 (via /Film), making a distribution of the original cuts by Disney impossible unless the two companies were able to make a deal to the contrary. Also, according to Making Star Wars, there is a possibility that George Lucas still has some rights over Star Wars releases as director, meaning only he can approve final cut changes.
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After all of the changes he brought to the original trilogy through subsequent special edition releases, why Lucas would want to approve a re-release of the theatrical cuts isn’t clear. Unless he just doesn’t care as much anymore, which wouldn’t be surprising given he’s moving on with his life beyond Star Wars.
In the end, as with all rumors, temper your hope with the realization that this one may just be that: a rumor.
To understand the dangers of believing rumors, here’s an example. Netflix recently reached out to Dork Side of the Force to confirm: The rumored release of the saga Star Wars films on Netflix is untrue. See what I mean about tempering your hope?
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