A not so long time ago, on the very website you're reading right now, we covered a persistent rumor that Disney could be on the verge of releasing a new version of the complete six film Star Wars saga to Blu-ray and other viewing platforms. While not much has been said officially on the matter, it's still a subject that kicks around from time to time, and today it seems that it has gathered some more steam.
Film Divider has posted and translated an Italian advertisement for Disney, and what’s rather striking about it is that it contains footage from the previously released Star Wars movies.
At face value, it looks like a standard advertisement for Disney's content being housed at one single location on the internet, as opposed to an Italian version of the Disney Movies Anywhere program. However, the presence of a clip from Episode IV: A New Hope - the only Star Wars film 20th Century Fox owns outright – suggests that things might be changing from a rights standpoint, and could be a sign that the Star Wars Saga just might have a complete home after all.
This is rather big news if true, but the most important question still remains unanswered: would we see re-releases of the Special Edition 2.0 versions of the Star Wars trilogy, or could we finally get the high-definition, unaltered original theatrical cuts we've always hoped for? Also, could this release lead to more tinkering with Episodes I – III, in order to fulfill continuity and George Lucas' god complex? These are both issues we should be taking into consideration when really weighing the future of the original Star Wars films from the 20th Century Fox days, and they should be addressed sooner than later.
One would think that Disney could have easily just slapped a standard Star Wars logo without any other labeling when it came to editing this advertisement, but the fact that they didn't makes us wonder if Disney is trying to deliberately tell the world that they're in the Star Wars game for keeps. What lengths they're going to go to display this is up to those in charge, and it'll probably be a long, hard road before any sort of confirmation is given.
Star Wars: Episode VII hits theaters on December 18th, 2015. Star Wars: Episodes I – VI are either on your Blu Ray, DVD, or VHS shelf, depending on how much of a purist you are.
