Sounds Like We’re A Bit Closer To Seeing The Original, Unaltered Star Wars Trilogy

The geek world imploded a few weeks back when it was reported that Disney is working on purchasing the bulk of 20th Century Fox. Shortly after this report came out, though, we were told that the whole thing might already be dead in the water, as talks between the two companies had apparently cooled.

Now, however, we’ve learned that we should ignore that second report as the notion has allegedly not yet been thrown out. According to Deadline, the two parties are still very much in discussions and Disney is apparently “progressing speedily toward” the acquisition. As we heard before, the plan is still for Fox to keep their sports and news properties, while the House of Mouse takes everything else in terms of film and TV.

“I know you want to talk about the legacies of those exposed in these sexual assault and harassment scandals, but I just want to start with a juicy rumor that is fast gaining steam in town today, that Disney is progressing speedily toward that rumored acquisition of Fox,” says Deadline’s report.

“The version I heard has the Murdoch clan keeping possession of sports and news properties, and the rest of TV and the film studio going to Disney. Radio silence right now from both studios, and given how Disney made the Marvel and Lucasfilm deals under the cone of silence, if this happens we’ll probably only know it when it’s announced. It is certainly being talked about today. Not surprisingly, the reaction around town is not enthusiasm, because of the uncertainty that comes with potentially reducing a major studio to content generators under the Disney silo system.”

Obviously, this deal would have major implications for the entire industry, and for many franchises, but one thing in particular that’s caught the attention of Star Wars fans is that if Disney were to buy Fox, they could potentially release the original trilogy in its unaltered form. And as anyone can tell you, that’s something we’d all love to see.

After all, George Lucas’ constant tinkering with those films has become a real pet peeve for longtime fans. Whether it’s blinking Ewoks, additional CGI or Darth Vader screaming “Noooo!” as he takes down the Emperor, the director has left everyone with a lot to debate over the years.

Since he sold Lucasfilm and moved away from Star Wars, it’s become clear that he would no longer have any sort of role in what happens to A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but we’ve still yet to see a re-release of the original, unaltered trilogy and there’s really no way to watch it. The best you can get right now is a laserdisc transfer, which looks rough, to say the least. If the Mouse House ends up taking over Fox, though, along with throwing characters like the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the things they may do is re-visit the trilogy that started it all.

Whether that be through a theatrical re-release, a home video release or something else entirely, is hard to say, but we imagine that Disney would surely address this in some way were they to go through with the deal. Then again, they may not believe it’s worth the money to restore the films at this point.

Regardless, having them purchase Fox would be great for Star Wars fans, as the studio being able to control the entirety of the franchise would surely be for the best, especially since the rights to A New Hope are contractually retained by Fox in perpetuity at the moment. Which is to say that if the Mouse House doesn’t buy them, they’ll never get their hands on those.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, though. This isn’t a done deal just yet and even if it does happen, there’s no guarantee that Disney would re-visit Lucas’ films. And even if they did, it might take them a while to do so.

Still, if they were to buy Fox, tell us, would you like to see them re-release the original, unaltered Star Wars trilogy? Let us know in the usual place!