As we move deeper into the digital age, studios and distributors place more emphasis on portable digital media rather than hard copies. Services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon continue to push streaming over disc rental, digital downloads and Blu-rays over the purchase of DVDs. This means that many of our favorite films might soon be available on downloadable or portable digital platforms – and that includes the Star Wars series.
Film Divider (via Collider) recently posted an Italian TV spot in which Disney advertised a new digital service titled Disney Movies Anywhere, using clips from Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and A New Hope. This has prompted some speculation that the original Star Wars films will finally get a digital release, and we’ll all get to see the original (e.g. not Special Edition) movies in high definition.
As Collider points out, while the Disney Movies Anywhere platform certainly opens up that possibility, A New Hope is still owned by 20th Century Fox. That means that any new release of the original trilogy will have to be with their participation; Disney might own Lucasfilm, but Fox still has a say in some of this. The fact that Disney feels able to include clips from the series does raise hopes, though, as they seem to be promising the eventual availability of those films on their new service.
While it’s pretty likely that we’ll see a full scale digital release of the entire series before long – especially if it means the original trilogy and not the Special Editions – it’s going to be awhile before Disney can launch that. We will just have to live with our DVDs or even VHS tapes to continue to experience Star Wars the way we want to.
We can live in hope, of course. Star Wars fans seem pretty experienced with doing that.
