There's a lot of reasons why people are excited now that Disney has finalized its acquisition of 20th Century Fox. In addition to claiming the rights to Marvel properties and some of Fox's greatest films, the House of Mouse now has all of the movies in the original Star Wars trilogy.
Here's why it has taken so long for Disney to get all of the Star Wars movies. When Disney purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012, the studio didn't immediately get its hands on all of Star Wars. According to ScreenRant, the terms of the initial agreement stated that the rights to The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and the prequel trilogy would revert to Disney in 2020. A New Hope is not included in the package since the first film would stay with Fox in perpetuity.
Interestingly, Fox had staked a claim on the first Star Wars movie because they had partnered with George Lucas on A New Hope. However, things will undoubtedly change now that Fox itself is officially part of Disney.
So will we finally get the unaltered Star Wars trilogy on Blu-ray by next year? Although it's an exciting possibility, it's probably best not to hold your breath. The report points out that Lucasfilm already had the chance to release the original trilogy as it was back in the day but have chosen not to do so. In addition to that, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has made it clear that she has no intentions of touching Lucas' movies. Restoring the unaltered versions is not in Kennedy's priorities right now and probably won't be in the next few years.
The odds of getting the original theatrical cut might be low but people are still hoping for the best. After all, Disney could get the chance to release the full Skywalker Saga once Star Wars: Episode IX premieres late this year. We're certainly crossing our fingers in hopes for this but again, it's best not to get your hopes up too high.
Related: 20th Century Fox Fanfare and Unaltered Star Wars Trilogy Returning After Disney/Fox Merger?
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