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Empire: "John Landis says Disney is releasing Theatrical Star Wars cuts"

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M

marrec

Banned
http://comicbook.com/2015/09/19/disney-to-re-release-theatrical-cuts-of-the-original-star-wars-t/

Comicbook.com said:
Empire is reporting: "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." Landis then added, the information was provided to him by his oldpal George Lucas.
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Empires Tweet

I mean... I don't know what kind of credibility John Landis has here, but you'd think he wouldn't just outright lie about this kind of thing? Disney doesn't have much to lose on this either as long as Lucas isn't throwing a fit about it.

Bobby"WetBlanket"Roberts has a different take:

BobbyRoberts said:
So either Landis heard Lucas wrong, or Lucas misinterpreted what Landis was asking, or Lucas simply doesn't really know what's up (he also previously said Kasdan/Abrams threw out all his story ideas when it turns out that's not actually the case, either) and is just kinda guessing.

The whole thing is weird and annoying.

Like, even if you take it at face value, this story is three people removed from anyone involved with Lucasfilm (which is crazy since one of those people is George Lucas, but that's the world we live in now). So basically, best case scenario, it's an old guy casually bringing up a detail he remembered from a conversation he had awhile ago with another old guy who apparently doesn't give a shit about what's going on at a company he doesn't really deal with anymore.
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B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
from the discussion in the Star Wars OT in community side:

Disney can't just put out Lucasfilm product without Lucasfilm involvement. They own Lucasfilm, yeah, but Lucasfilm would still have to actually provide them the product before they could distribute it.

Lucasfilm apparently did not restore the original theatrical versions. The 4K versions reportedly are some sort of "split the difference" version, where some changes are reverted to original form, and other changes are left alone (or further revised). This information was revealed essentially on accident by Devin Faraci, who assumed the 4K versions would be the basis of the digital releases on iTunes, and wrote up an article without actually checking to see if those versions were in fact what got released, and then had to mea culpa afterwards and explain how/why he fucked the story up.

Now, it's entirely possible Lucasfilm could, if they wanted, alter this 4K remaster to look exactly like the theatricals. But they'd have to actually do that first, and they're likely not going to spend the money to do that after having just spent the money to get these things remastered in the first place.

So either Landis heard Lucas wrong, or Lucas misinterpreted what Landis was asking, or Lucas simply doesn't really know what's up (he also previously said Kasdan/Abrams threw out all his story ideas when it turns out that's not actually the case, either) and is just kinda guessing.

The whole thing is weird and annoying.

Like, even if you take it at face value, this story is three people removed from anyone involved with Lucasfilm (which is crazy since one of those people is George Lucas, but that's the world we live in now). So basically, best case scenario, it's an old guy casually bringing up a detail he remembered from a conversation he had awhile ago with another old guy who apparently doesn't give a shit about what's going on at a company he doesn't really deal with anymore.
 
M

marrec

Banned
BobbyRoberts said:
from the discussion in the Star Wars OT in community side:

Disney can't just put out Lucasfilm product without Lucasfilm involvement. They own Lucasfilm, yeah, but Lucasfilm would still have to actually provide them the product before they could distribute it.

Lucasfilm apparently did not restore the original theatrical versions. The 4K versions reportedly are some sort of "split the difference" version, where some changes are reverted to original form, and other changes are left alone (or further revised). This information was revealed essentially on accident by Devin Faraci, who assumed the 4K versions would be the basis of the digital releases on iTunes, and wrote up an article without actually checking to see if those versions were in fact what got released, and then had to mea culpa afterwards and explain how/why he fucked the story up.

Now, it's entirely possible Lucasfilm could, if they wanted, alter this 4K remaster to look exactly like the theatricals. But they'd have to actually do that first, and they're likely not going to spend the money to do that after having just spent the money to get these things remastered in the first place.

So either Landis heard Lucas wrong, or Lucas misinterpreted what Landis was asking, or Lucas simply doesn't really know what's up (he also previously said Kasdan/Abrams threw out all his story ideas when it turns out that's not actually the case, either) and is just kinda guessing.

The whole thing is weird and annoying.

Like, even if you take it at face value, this story is three people removed from anyone involved with Lucasfilm (which is crazy since one of those people is George Lucas, but that's the world we live in now). So basically, best case scenario, it's an old guy casually bringing up a detail he remembered from a conversation he had awhile ago with another old guy who apparently doesn't give a shit about what's going on at a company he doesn't really deal with anymore.
Click to expand...

I'm 100% willing to trust your take on this more than Empire's so...

If this is the case, then the most plausible option is that this is Lucas talking about shit he doesn't know about right?
 
G

Gordon Shumway

Banned
give_it_to_me_stephen_colbert.gif
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
marrec said:
If this is the case, then the most plausible option is that this is Lucas talking about shit he doesn't know about right?
Click to expand...

I think there's multiple ways Landis could have either misunderstood what Lucas was saying, or that Lucas had a mistaken idea of what was being done with those 4K masters. Or any combination of those two.

I mean, I can see a conversation between Landis and Lucas where it comes up, and Landis is like "So it's the real version, right?" and George Lucas says "yes," meaning the versions he released on blu-ray.
 
M

marrec

Banned
Although, what's the source on Lucasfilm NOT restoring the original theatrical versions? I haven't been following this close enough, to be perfectly honest, so why could they prepare a 4k Lucas Cut version for home theaters as well as a theatrical cut for re-release (besides the cost, obviously)?

BobbyRoberts said:
I think there's multiple ways Landis could have either misunderstood what Lucas was saying, or that Lucas had a mistaken idea of what was being done with those 4K masters. Or any combination of those two.

I mean, I can see a conversation between Landis and Lucas where it comes up, and Landis is like "So it's the real version, right?" and George Lucas says "yes," meaning the versions he released on blu-ray.
Click to expand...

Ah... that would be dreadfully trite and anti-climactic were that the case lol
 
A

Azure Dream

Member
HUELEN10 said:
But why? Canonically, Greedo shot first, right?
Click to expand...

And Sonic always had green eyes, yes.


I want them to do this, but I think some people are going to be shocked at how much the originals will show their age. I do want them to provide a purely original version, but it would be nice if they could also put together a conservative Special Edition. No additional characters or scenes, mainly replacing mechanical things like matting artifacts, some of the iffier special effects, etc.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
marrec said:
Although, what's the source on Lucasfilm NOT restoring the original theatrical versions? I haven't been following this close enough, to be perfectly honest, so why could they prepare a 4k Lucas Cut version for home theaters as well as a theatrical cut for re-release?
Click to expand...

It's possible that the version Faraci knows about is a "new" Special Edition (which would be our fourth, I believe) while Lucasfilm also prepped a version that reverts changes back to their original form, but it seems unlikely that somehow people knew about the 4K versions, and knew about the content of those versions, but didn't know that there was a super-secret project underway to simultaneously work on a version that reverted all the changes.

But it's possible, I guess.

I mean, I'd loooooooove love love love to be wrong about this shit. But it seems a little out there.

There are some people out there pushing the idea Lucas has some sort of final cut clause that was part of the deal, but I'm not certain that's actually the case. It seems to be a bit of speculation that's just been accepted as fact. I also have a hard time believing he'd sell the whole thing and risk the sale not going through because he can't get over the idea the original versions of his films might see a blu-ray release. It seems a lot more likely such a clause didn't even exist, especially consdering what we DO know of the sale involves Iger basically pushing him into giving over all his notes first. So Iger can get him to come off his most precious commodity - new ideas - but couldn't budge him on the theatrical versions? I don't buy it. Especially since Lucas has already released the theatrical versions in the 21st century once already. (shitty quality, yes, but he still did it)
 
E

Ecotic

Member
I wonder if it will be superior to those fan-made theatrical cuts. I don't know if those were ever finished, but they seemed to be putting in a monumental effort to find any and all sources available to 'repair' the originals. Weren't the originals degraded or didn't exist? If so Disney might be having to do the same process as those fans.
 
M

Maengun1

Member
Unaltered orginal trilogy on blu ray = instant buy. I was only 9 when the "special editions" came out, and while I'm pretty sure I watched the movies on VHS at some point before that, I never owned them and I don't even really remember them in that form.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
The good news is, with Landis running his mouth, chances go up that enough noise might come from this that Lucasfilm has to end up actually addressing it. If people start expecting the release before the holidays, and wondering why they can't pre-order after hearing this story once it's spread around, they're gonna have to get in front of that, I'd think.

Unless of course there's not much response to what he said, at which point they can be like "I guess people really don't care that much, huh"
 
T

Timeless

Member
Azure Dream said:
I want them to do this, but I think some people are going to be shocked at how much the originals will show their age. I do want them to provide a purely original version, but it would be nice if they could also put together a conservative Special Edition. No additional characters or scenes, mainly replacing mechanical things like matting artifacts, some of the iffier special effects, etc.
Click to expand...
I don't get why Star Wars is alone in this. I get that George Lucas orchestrated Star Wars to be different, and he personally is different from many artists in that he wants the art to change rather than remain static.

But why do fans like it? How come there's no CGI Jaws, or version of The Matrix with better CGI, or Toy Story with newer models and textures? Is it that Star Wars is aimed at kids? How come Disney's so conservative with its restorations of its old kids' movies?
 
M

marrec

Banned
BobbyRoberts said:
The good news is, with Landis running his mouth, chances go up that enough noise might come from this that Lucasfilm has to end up actually addressing it. If people start expecting the release before the holidays, and wondering why they can't pre-order after hearing this story once it's spread around, they're gonna have to get in front of that, I'd think.

Unless of course there's not much response to what he said, at which point they can be like "I guess people really don't care that much, huh"
Click to expand...

There's no way at this point they could make the deals necessary for a wide theatrical release of the original cut before Episode VII right? Unless of course they've been working on this for awhile.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
marrec said:
There's no way at this point they could make the deals necessary for a wide theatrical release of the original cut before Episode VII right? Unless of course they've been working on this for awhile.
Click to expand...

Well, it's sort of an open secret that there will be six-film marathons of the movies in December at AMC chains (and probably Regal and Cinemark, I'd imagine). Fox and Disney have made deals already regarding all six films (that's why you can buy them on iTunes), so it's possible said deal also includes streaming and/or special theatrical screenings.

At that point it might just be a matter of what's on the DCP Lucasfilm/Disney sends the theaters. Could be the 4K remasters. Could be a hypothetical "theatrical version" made from those masters.

...or it could simply be the same digital files that you can get on iTunes.

PerezDeCorcho said:
While we're at it, fuck Yub Nub

That shit shouldn't be what's playing at the end of an epic trilogy
Click to expand...

Yeah, but it's not the end anymore. I remember people making the argument that "the end of Star Wars needs something way more grand, not a teddy bear dance party" - but that argument doesn't apply now. Because that movie is going to have a direct sequel. It's not the end of anything but Return of the Jedi now. And as such, a teddy bear dance party fits pretty much perfectly for the end of that movie.
 
H

Hero_of_the_Day

Member
BobbyRoberts said:
Lucasfilm apparently did not restore the original theatrical versions. The 4K versions reportedly are some sort of "split the difference" version, where some changes are reverted to original form, and other changes are left alone (or further revised). This information was revealed essentially on accident by Devin Faraci, who assumed the 4K versions would be the basis of the digital releases on iTunes, and wrote up an article without actually checking to see if those versions were in fact what got released, and then had to mea culpa afterwards and explain how/why he fucked the story up.
Click to expand...

Weird shit. Were there any more details to this? I would love a version that had the updated effects and fixed errors while getting rid of any added or altered scenes.
 
T

thefit

Member
Ugh How much longer do we have to wait I mean at this point some of the original fans have died are dyeing off and it still hasn't happened. Make it happen fuckers!
 
G

Guri

Member
BobbyRoberts said:
Yeah, but it's not the end anymore. I remember people making the argument that "the end of Star Wars needs something way more grand, not a teddy bear dance party" - but that argument doesn't apply now. Because that movie is going to have a direct sequel. It's not the end of anything but Return of the Jedi now. And as such, a teddy bear dance party fits pretty much perfectly for the end of that movie.
Click to expand...

I still think Victory Celebration is more powerful and beautiful. I get what Yub Nub represents, but it just doesn't have the same effect in me. However, no extra scenes and Sebastian should be back.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
Hero_of_the_Day said:
Weird shit. Were there any more details to this? I would love a version that had the updated effects and fixed errors while getting rid of any added or altered scenes.
Click to expand...

Here's the entirety of what Devin learned, and how he ended up having to cough a bunch of it up because he didn't check the iTunes versions before writing up the story.

That's basically it.

Something I learned recently about the entertainment enthusiast press - sometimes (often, actually) they will report on stories and never actually email/call all (or any) of the relevant people. I heard from a poster here that they'd been told by a manager that they were going to start taking pre-sales for The Force Awakens in mid-October. Later, I sent a bunch of emails to theater managers asking when they'd been told pre-sales would go live. I got responses from two theaters in my own state, and one from Texas, all with the exact same date. So I posted it up on Facebook, and it got picked up by more than a few websites.

None of those websites actually called to verify anything. In fact, one of them mentioned that they thought about calling Lucasfilm/Disney, but decided against it because they were pretty sure they'd get a no comment. But they never then called any theaters, or theater representatives (or even messaged me, the guy they kept quoting) themselves. Most of them simply rolled with the assumption some sneaky mole from the inside smuggled out valuable information to a guy they knew, and the whole clandestine affair just miraculously became a story. Because that's how people just naturally believe this shit gets out. It couldn't possibly be that someone simply asked questions and got answers from multiple people.

So far as I can tell, Empire reported on a thing Landis said Lucas said "awhile ago" - but nobody following up on the story has attempted to contact Lucas, or Lucasfilm, or Disney. Even if it's nothing but a "no comment."

Hopefully someone at one of the trades will pick up on what Empire's reporting, and at least take the step to contact someone (either the company who did the restoration, or Lucasfilm/Disney themselves, or even Fox, for that matter) to find out what's the truth behind this statement.
 
Y

YuShtink

Member
Hero_of_the_Day said:
Weird shit. Were there any more details to this? I would love a version that had the updated effects and fixed errors while getting rid of any added or altered scenes.
Click to expand...

I can sort of attest to it, at least if what Lucasfilm is telling my company is true. They're asking us to restore a Star Wars documentary we did for them a little over a decade ago (before I was with the company). The doc was originally only mastered in SD, and contained a lot material from the original print purposefully - it has the original scrolling text without the Chapter IV: A New Hope, and a lot of the original FX shots where we specifically didn't use the newer versions to show viewers what it REALLY looked like back in 77.

So now they asked us to restore the doc to HD. Only problem is that that when we asked them for new HD transfers of the original print shots, they came back saying that they don't have them. We've been doing everything we can and pestering them for months but they just won't dig the fuckers up and give em to us. No idea what the real reasoning is. Maybe it even has something to do with this announcement. Anyway, we might be stuck with just up-rezzing the SD shots they gave us originally through Smart Rez. Will look ok, but it's still a bummer.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
YuShtink said:
I can sort of attest to it, at least if what Lucasfilm is telling my company is true. They're asking us to restore a Star Wars documentary we did for them a little over a decade ago (before I was with the company). The doc was originally only mastered in SD, and contained a lot material from the original print purposefully - it has the original scrolling text without the Chapter IV: A New Hope, and a lot of the original FX shots where we specifically didn't use the newer versions to show viewers what it REALLY looked like back in 77.
Click to expand...

Is this the "Empire of Dreams" doc that was on the bonus disc of the first DVD release?
 
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