hanshotfirst1138

I don't know shit about fuck, but I do know fuck-all about shit.

My Other Self

I'm sure everyone here knows their home video distribution agreement, but that's not to say they didn't come to terms with Disney for this set to be released ala WB and Batman.

milo bloom

This is freaking Disney - if you don't think they could work out a deal for the most recognizable brand in the world (second only to Coca-Cola, I'd wager) then you're out of your wookie lovin mind

rocket1312

I'd say things like McDonalds and Nike and Apple (among others) are probably more recognizable than Star Wars, but what do I know.

Either way, why does everyone think that Disney and Fox have to hammer out some sort of deal on these? The deal is already in place. You know that thing that expires in 2020? That's the distribution deal. Now if Disney doesn't want to honor that deal, or wants to make changes to it, that's another thing altogether. Either way, I can't imagine Fox saying "Woah, woah, woah. We don't want none of your Star Wars money. There's no way we're releasing this."

Pizza

Hopefully the original versions will get released as MODs. Certainly, there isn't a big enough interest to release them on DVD and Blu-ray. They're old versions of old movies after all.

slop101

You sound dumb (and wrong), so let me spell it out for you; Fox owns THE MOVIES. The characters, concepts, etc belong to Lucasfilm/Disney. Disney could probably remake STAR WARS if they wanted. But they can do nothing with the actual 1977 STAR WARS (or any special edition variation) itself. The actual movie - the thing you look at when you watch a movie - is owned now and forever by Fox. Nobody can release STAR WARS the motion picture from 1977 (and all special editions) except Fox. This is a fact, not an opinion or a guess. No one else can release that movie except for Fox. Same deal with the others, but only until 2020. Point being, whoever is putting out this rumor as Disney's deal doesn't know what they're talking about, therefore full of shit.

C'mon, don't be an asshole - you know exactly what I mean, and that I full well know it wasn't originally designated as IV (I actually saw it in the theaters in '78). But I have to call it something other than "Star Wars" to differentiate it from the others.

Apparently, they don't It's not about coming to terms - it's about Disney not ever owning the first SW movie.

rocket1312

That's just not true. The first film was the only one Fox even produced. The others were essentially independent films. Fox owns the distribution rights and nothing more.

slop101

Distribution is the movies, Fox owns the movies, and nobody can show those movies without their permission. (as far as being the only ones allowed to release them however they want) nobody can RELEASE SW except for Fox - and they have all of them until 2020, and it is the first film that they get to keep forever after that. What are you not getting?

Obi-Wanma

The changes, etc. done to the films over the years were done by Lucasfilm, not Fox. Lucasfilm still has the rights to do that, Lucasfilm is just Disney now. Fox does not have creative say in what is released. Disney/Lucasfilm does. So if Disney wants to restore the original films and let Fox distribute them, they are completely within their rights to do so within the terms of the existing agreement.

slop101

Yes and no.
Disney can't stop Fox from releasing anything. Disney can't make Fox release anything. Fox owns these movies in that no one else can release them in theaters or home video. The movie itself - every frame of it - is owned by Fox. The characters and ideas and merch are all owned by Disney, but the actual motion picture of STAR WARS is now and always will be owned by Fox. It's a crown-jewel for them and they are going to hold onto it as long as laws allow. They might very well release the unaltered SW, but Disney will have no actual say in that decision.

Obi-Wanma

I find this particular statement very hard to believe, because for years, they've been releasing what Lucas tells them to release, when he tells them to release it. Whatever the terms of the agreement were between Fox and GL are the same terms that are in place now, just substitute Disney for GL. It was Disney that canceled the 3D re-releases after one film, not Fox, because it was Lucasfilm doing the work on the conversions, not Fox. If Disney had chose to continue to work on those, Fox would have released them.

stvn1974

This is also wrong. The only way FOX can release the films is with Lucasfilm's approval. Lucasfilm is owned by Disney. It is like the music of the Beatles, EMI owns the the music but can't release anything without Apple's (The Beatles) approval.

Jay G.

Yes and no. When people talk about a studio or someone "owning" a movie, it's typically the copyright we're talking about. Now copyright can be broken down into a lot of associated rights, and while Fox originally owned the copyright to the original Star Wars, Lucas was able to reserve a lot of associated rights for himself, like merchandising rights, sequel rights, trademark on the title, etc. Basically all Fox had was copyright (technically), and distribution rights.

For all subsequent films, Lucasfilm retained copyright and only licensed out distribution rights to Fox for a limited amount of time.

Prior to the prequels, Fox relinquished copyright of Star Wars to Lucasfilm, only retaining distribution rights. This is thought to have been part of the deal Fox put together to secure (time limited) distribution rights for the prequels.
http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com/buyingstarwars.html


So Lucasfilm, now part of Disney, "owns" all the films in the sense that they own the copyright to all of them, while Fox has the much more limited distribution rights, although they have the distribution rights to the original in perpetuity.

So, when deciding to release the unaltered originals, the decision would come from Disney. Fox will need to be involved of course, and Fox could refuse to distribute them. However, Fox itself can't force the unaltered originals to be released, since they don't own the films. Fox can only distribute what Disney gives them to distribute, the actual decision to release them has to come from Disney.

Guru Askew

When Disney bought Marvel they automatically got all the rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four from Fox so I'm sure this is completely legit.

In all seriousness though, LucasFilm has always approved and/or produced the stuff Fox released on video. That doesn't change now that they're owned by Disney.

Under new management LucasFilm can absolutely make different decisions than the ones made under Lucas. Not only can they give the go-ahead to Fox to release these versions, they can also produce the things.

To use my X-Men/F4 example above, Disney obviously doesn't wanna share anything with Fox (or Sony with Spidey) but they're still seeing some money for those films as well as from the merchandise. Disney absolutely has a lot to gain by approving these releases via Fox and making sure they're done right. They'll make a ton on OT-based merch and it'll generate a lot of good will that will extend to the Disney films and TV stuff even if Fox is actually pocketing the lion's share of video money.

Anubis2005X

"Bring my shuttle..." YESSSSSS

Supermallet

I don't know when you became so belligerent, but you are in fact the one who is wrong. Fox owns distribution rights only. Disney can do whatever they want, cut a check to Fox along with a profit sharing deal, slap a Fox logo on the Blu-rays next to the Disney logo, and call it a day. Now Fox COULD say "Sorry, we don't want to release more Star Wars on Blu-ray," but that would be throwing free money away. At this point, Fox should be clamoring for Disney to do anything with the OT because they know Disney will put up all the money and Fox has to do nothing but collect checks.

This has been widely discussed in the wake of Disney purchasing Lucasfilm, so either you weren't paying attention or you're being rude just for the sake of being rude.

hanshotfirst1138

Excuse me for living.

I know what you were talking about, it's just that renaming it was the beginning of the Titanic-sized revisionism iceberg, and I'm a bitter man.

There was always the possibility that I was wrong and was talking out of my ass. It's been known to happen so frequently, it wouldn't have surprised me .

b2net

I heard there is a Blu-ray of Star Wars... who knew...

Hokeyboy

PhantomStranger

A lot of hay was made that Fox and Lucasfilm altered their standing deal when Lucasfilm allowed Fox to distribute the special editions in the 90s. The only people that truly know the arrangement are lawyers for Disney, Fox and Lucasfilm.

hanshotfirst1138

No, there isn't. Star Wars-that is it, Star Wars, not anything else-is the name of a film which was released in 1977. It has never been releases on Blu-Ray. I don't know what that...thing on the on Blu-Ray is, but it's not that film.

Giles

stop the name calling folks.

Shazam

You... Gungan!

stvn1974

That is the single most offensive thing I have ever read on the internet. Who do I complain to to get you banned?

mcnabb

As for the OOT, the day Disney bought Lucasfilm I knew this release would eventually happen. I understand there is still legal wrangling that makes it complicated, but you don't pay 4 billion dollars to let something sit there and not be able to release it.

And I love that Disney has catered everything in the past 2 years to the OT fans who grew up with the movies. Lucas pretty much gave us the middle finger since 1997, and the PT fans (especially at TFN) have stood by him with every stupid change he has made.

Now they are the one's getting the cold shoulder. Every interview with anyone associated with Episode 7 talks about how they are using Practical Effects, and they never mention the PT movies either, or the fact that the EU will not jive with the new movies. They are essentially saying the Saga is Episodes 4,5,6,7,8,9 now, and that 1-6 Tragedy of Darth Vader is a distant memory!