Star Wars: The Complete Saga (1977-2005)

[oldgame]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Wasn't the only reason the mono set was released, is because people hated the stereo set

The Beatles supervised the mono recordings. They were not invloved in the stereo recordings.

[Lyle_JP]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

Wasn't the only reason the mono set was released, is because people hated the stereo set?

Never heard that. The stereo set was wildly popular. The mono set is for Beatles fans that know the difference between the mono and stereo mixes, and prefer the mono.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

Never heard that. The stereo set was wildly popular. The mono set is for Beatles fans that know the difference between the mono and stereo mixes, and prefer the mono.

I think they were popular because they were stereo, people back then wanted their albums to fit their new equipment, much like people today want their movies to fit their new TVs.

I'm sure people were arguing that stereo sounded better even though it wasn't original just because they had an extra speaker to send sound to ...

[seannyd]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Heck of it is, it's a shame that Fox really don't own the rights to the movies (they only distribute them at LFL's behest, boys and girls) because they would've treated them right long before now.

Yes, but at what cost? If Fox owned Star Wars outright, I doubt we ever would have seen Empire Strikes Back as it was presented - nor would we have gotten Star Wars as Lucas initially imagined it.

Seems to be a fair trade off for now.

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by seannyd

Yes, but at what cost? If Fox owned Star Wars outright, I doubt we ever would have seen Empire Strikes Back as it was presented -

Fair trade for that...

Originally Posted by seannyd

- nor would we have gotten Star Wars as Lucas initially imagined it.

...not sure about that one

[Nailwraps]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Heck of it is, it's a shame that Fox really don't own the rights to the movies (they only distribute them at LFL's behest, boys and girls) because they would've treated them right long before now.

In defense, Fox co-owns IV for perpetuity.

[Falaskan]

Originally Posted by Nailwraps

In defense, Fox co-owns IV for perpetuity.

Only distribution rights, not actual ownership. Do your research.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Nailwraps

In defense, Fox co-owns IV for perpetuity.

No, they can distribute it for Lucasfilm in perpetuity. Like I said, if they actually owned it then we'd have seen movement on a proper restoration long before now, but they can't because they don't own it or any of the characters, names and indicia related to Star Wars.

[Nailwraps]

That's why I said co-own. They co-produced the film, they played a hand with it.

Incidentally, I've probably asked this before, and I'm starting to get over it so don't worry, but why is Fox can't simply work something with Disney to keep distribution rights for remaining 5 of the 6 films? Just a question.

Like for example; Disney owns the Indiana Jones films but Paramount still owns distribution rights.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by Nailwraps

.
Like for example; Disney owns the Indiana Jones films but Paramount still owns distribution rights.

Disney does not own the first four Indiana Jones films, Paramount does. They are Lucasfilm Productions but ownership remains at Paramount. Paramount also held the rights to all future Indiana Jones films but Disney made a deal to pay Paramount a fee for each future released film.

Paramount still needs Lucasfilm's final approval for home video and theatrical re-releases of those four but Disney does not get them.

Lucasfilm does however own the character and story rights so Disney has those. But, as stated, Paramount is getting something for any future films.

[disneywildcat]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

No, they can distribute it for Lucasfilm in perpetuity. Like I said, if they actually owned it then we'd have seen movement on a proper restoration long before now, but they can't because they don't own it or any of the characters, names and indicia related to Star Wars.

Originally Posted by Nailwraps

That's why I said co-own. They co-produced the film, they played a hand with it.

While Fox financed Episode IV and originally owned it in full, they now only retain the indefinite full distribution rights to Episode IV, as they gave up ownership of the film in order to distribute the prequels.

http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr...iness/fi-35475

Incidentally, I've probably asked this before, and I'm starting to get over it so don't worry, but why is Fox can't simply work something with Disney to keep distribution rights for remaining 5 of the 6 films? Just a question.

Because Lucasfilm self financed all subsequent Star Wars films, Fox's rights to the other 5 films are limited to theatrical and home video distribution based on its distribution agreement.

As Lucasfilm/Disney retained the television and digital distribution rights to the films produced after Episode IV, and Fox's theatrical and home video distribution rights to the rest of the films will expire in 2020, it makes no sense for Disney to continue to allow Fox to act as the home video distributor past 2020. After all, Lucasfilm/Disney owns all other rights to the six films and gets the majority of the profits (except whatever fees Fox collects from Lucasfilm for distributing the films).

[Geoff D]

Yep, once the deal expires there's nothing for Fox to 'keep' because the other five are not Fox's films and never were, unlike the original which they did indeed own outright until Lucas prised it out of their hands, as noted above. But they don't own any part of it any more.

LFL would be certifiably insane to actually want to deal with Fox to renew the distribution deal when Disney will be able to do it for them, and the way that Fox were swiftly airbrushed out of the digital versions is a clear indicator of that.

All that remains is the perpetual Fox distribution for Ep IV. Disney won't make any advances on that front until after the deal for the other five expires (Fox having less of a bargaining chip at that stage). Whether Fox give up their remaining involvement for a handsome fee or license out the movie to Disney is almost moot, because there won't be an EP IV-less boxset post 2020. Neither side is that stupid.

I wonder how long the deal with Warners for the Clone Wars has to run?

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yep, once the deal expires there's nothing for Fox to 'keep' because the other five are not Fox's films and never were, unlike the original which they did indeed own outright until Lucas prised it out of their hands, as noted above. But they don't own any part of it any more.

LFL would be certifiably insane to actually want to deal with Fox to renew the distribution deal when Disney will be able to do it for them, and the way that Fox were swiftly airbrushed out of the digital versions is a clear indicator of that.

All that remains is the perpetual Fox distribution for Ep IV. Disney won't make any advances on that front until after the deal for the other five expires (Fox having less of a bargaining chip at that stage). Whether Fox give up their remaining involvement for a handsome fee or license out the movie to Disney is almost moot, because there won't be an EP IV-less boxset post 2020. Neither side is that stupid.

I wonder how long the deal with Warners for the Clone Wars has to run?

Fox and Disney like money

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

Fox and Disney like money

Who doesn't, unless you're one of them darned Commies?

Point is, they will make a deal re: the distribution of Ep IV after 2020. No ifs, no buts. It's just a question of when and how much, and it will in no way affect Disney/LFL wanting to release the restored originals before then, just as nothing prevented LFL from issuing the 'Complete Saga' via Fox again.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Who doesn't, unless you're one of them darned Commies?

Point is, they will make a deal re: the distribution of Ep IV after 2020. No ifs, no buts. It's just a question of when, and how much.

Well we know the master has been struck, but we have no idea about the release or the version.
Time will tell I guess

[steve_dave]

I'm sure any physical release (whether it be original, special edition, super special edition, double super special edition, etc) after 2020 will be a "fragmented" coordinated release.

Fox, Lucasfilm, and Disney were able to work out a "fragmented" digital release: Episode IV being distributed on it's own by Fox, the remainder by Lucasfilm. But one complete collection under Lucasfilm. As IV is distributed by Fox, it is Ultraviolet enabled while the remaining films distributed "silently" by Walt Disney Pictures, so these are Disney Movies Anywhere enabled.

Episode VII: The Force Awakens is being distributed "silently" by Walt Disney Pictures as will any future Star Wars films. I'm willing to bet that due to content, the future Indiana Jones films will be distributed "silently" by Touchstone Pictures. All are Disney but Disney has to find the right "place" for each film.

[Geoff D]

Sure, but the point is more that a post-2020 physical boxset won't be so "fragmented", as everything will be present in the box as it should be. Even if Disney can't buy out the distribution rights, they'll cut a deal with Fox (via LFL who actually own the film, natch) to licence the movie out for that set.

The reverse happened with Fox and Disney for the international release of the Die Hard box sets because Disney have the distribution rights to DHWAV outside the US; Fox simply licensed the Disney-held movie for inclusion in their boxset. Warners negotiated with Sony to put Strangelove in their old Kubrick DVD boxset, and they did a similar thing with Universal to put Spartacus in one of the recent US Kubrick Collection Blu-ray boxes.

These things happen all the time, yet for some reason people love to think that Fox will throw a spanner in the works. Not gonna happen. Why not? dvdmike said it best: they both like money.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

Well we know the master has been struck, but we have no idea about the release or the version.
Time will tell I guess

Pure speculation here...

I'm assuming the master you are referring to is the one that was noted on Reliance's website under one of their employees' resumes that stated 4K "restoration" on Star Wars. This was around 2012 I believe - seemingly around or before the same time Lucas sold to Disney. It seems highly unlikely Lucas would have remastered the unaltered trilogy, so maybe Disney has decided to so but that would require another more work and another new master. Again, who knows, but just something I was thinking (wishing) about.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

You say that like disk media won't be produced in ten years. It will. Even CD's and Records are receiving production runs.

CDs are in severe decline and it's certainly possible that the format will almost completely disappear at some point in the future and before ten years from now. LP sales are substantially increasing, but from a very small base and it's still a tiny part of the market - annual sales for the entire industry are about what two big hit LPs sold back in the day.

For the first six months of 2015 in the U.S., only 41.1 million CDs and 9.2 million LPs were sold. At its peak in 1999, 942.5 million CDs were sold (full year). I only have numbers going back to 1982, but in that year, 243.9 million LPs and 192.3 million cassettes were sold (no CD sales yet).

For the first six months of 2015, 40.9% of the business was downloads, 35.4% was streaming and only 23.6% was physical. Physical is declining very fast. Long before ten years from now, physical will be a very tiny niche and hard to find. The physical retailers, like the late Tower Records, dropped LPs when there were still thousands of releases per year, once they dropped below 15% of sales. One day, Amazon is going to wake up to the fact that one of the reasons they lose money so many quarters is because they hold all this warehouse space containing product that never sells. Once that happens, they will dump products in formats that don't sell. They'll let the third parties handle those sales.

[iaragorn1]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

Vinyl is highly expensive to produce these days by many factors over a CD, and is a collectible product category of it's own, the packaging will be massive, etc.

It's no mystery why the vinyl is so much more expensive. It's quite common - go look at recent album and see the price differences. Vinyl is typically twice as much as the CD version these days, to begin with - and in this case, you are talking about a massive box set to boot.

The Empire Strikes Back double LP released in 1980 was one of the first records I ever bought. I haven't seen it in a while, but I never threw it out and it must be around somewhere. The cover is great with Vader just staring out at you against a sea of stars....

Originally Posted by chip75

I think they were popular because they were stereo, people back then wanted their albums to fit their new equipment, much like people today want their movies to fit their new TVs.

I'm sure people were arguing that stereo sounded better even though it wasn't original just because they had an extra speaker to send sound to ...

Which sides would we be on?

Originally Posted by Geoff D

No, they can distribute it for Lucasfilm in perpetuity. Like I said, if they actually owned it then we'd have seen movement on a proper restoration long before now, but they can't because they don't own it or any of the characters, names and indicia related to Star Wars.

I will miss the Fox Fanfares on future releases.