Bleeding Cool is claiming today that rumors are swirling about Disney maybe releasing the pre-Special Edition versions of A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.
I can certainly buy that Disney is interested in doing such a thing, maybe looking into it. But we also know the negatives are in bad shape, and there’s that whole thing with 20th Century Fox having distribution rights to all six through ’20 and ANH in perpetuity, and it would be expensive. Still, there is a demand, and it really harms no one.
What’s clearly ridiculous about this report is that they’d shuffle the prequels off the ‘Legends’ (with the EU) and redo them, which sounds like 100% pure speculation/wishful thinking from those who are seemling unable to just get over it, already. No, not everyone loves the prequels, but that’s a lot of effort to piss off the big part of your fanbase that does. And why redo movies that are already made, when you can make entirely new ones? (Ugh, Hollywood.)
The reality is reboots are fashionable. Everything gets rebooted eventually. Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc.
Doesn’t mean it’s a good thing, but with Star Wars, I think it’s only a matter of time. Disney, somewhere in the next 10-20 years, is going to do it (I should know better than to speculate, but reboots happen, and knowing the film industry, it’s practically being discussed in some secret boardroom meeting now)
Disney will want to put its own stamp on the franchise and Lucas’ vision will become history. While we may question it and say it’s pointless, the new generation of fans that the reboots draw in will look at us as the ones who must “Get over it”. It will be an interesting day when that happens.