Despite, or perhaps because of, George Lucas' constant editing of his beloved Star Wars movies, fans have long desired a re-release of the original films. However that's never really happened for a number of reasons, but the biggest is that 20th Century Fox maintains the rights to Episode IV: A New Hope in perpetuity, meaning in all forms of media forever. The only way a re-release could work is if Disney and Fox struck some kind of accord, and maybe that has finally happened.
While attending a horror Q&A in Orlando, FL, John Landis revealed that Disney is finally going to re-release theatrical versions of the original Star Wars trilogy, presumably for home release. He supposedly heard it directly from Lucas himself, which lends this a lot more credibility than the rumors that have been going around for the last twenty years about a re-release.
The timing for this is exactly right, as Star Wars has already blown up in popularity once again with the upcoming movie. Just look at the phenomenal response to the "Force Friday" merchandise event. Fans have been clamoring for an untouched, crystal clear version of Star Wars forever, one that doesn't have a cheesy digital Jabba or other distracting changes. So despite their already being multiple home releases of Star Wars out there (including these which you should buy right now) you can bet they'll shell out more for an original cut.
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
