Greedo Shoots First Again! Why Disney Probably Won’t Release An Unaltered Original ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy

The past forty-eight hours have been a huge whirlwind of emotions for many Star Wars fans. For years they’d hoped and dreamed for an HD release of the unaltered, original cuts of the Star Wars trilogy. As we reported yesterday, the folks at Comic Book seemed convinced that this was a possibility, based on a number of unnamed sources. No longer would they be subjected to CG Jabba The Hutt, Greedo shooting first, and Vader’s gratuitous “Noooo!” as he throws Emperor Palpatine off the ledge. Star Wars fans around the world rejoiced in unison at this revelation, and for a day, the internet was set ablaze with hope.

Sadly, it seems as though this may have been but a fleeting dream, and the folks over at Badass Digest are more than content to throw cold water on the situation with the reason as to why this simply could not be the case.

Here are their findings: Disney doesn’t actually own the rights to the first six Star Wars films.

So who does? Well, in order to understand that we need only look to the iconic logo and song that play prior to the explosive Star Wars theme.

This little revelation is enough to make any fan throw their hands up in the air in frustration. Of course Fox owns the rights to Star Wars. That logo is just as an important part of the Star Wars experience as the rolling text at the beginning. But if that’s the case, then what does Disney own?

Disney actually owns Lucasfilm, and according to Badass, Lucasfilm (and thereby, Disney) won’t even get the rights to Return of the Jedi or The Empire Strikes Back until 2020. And the deepest cut of all? Fox owns the original Star Wars forever.

To top everything off, the article states that Fox is unwilling to go against George Lucas’ wishes until after he passes (His wishes are not to release the untouched original Star Wars trilogy).

Don’t throw all hope to the wayside. There is still a chance for Disney and Fox to come to some sort of an agreement, for each studio loves money as much as the next. But while this is possible, the credibility of Comic Book‘s source seems to be up in the air. Screen Rant is quick to point out that Comic Book didn’t even acknowledge Fox’s owning of the original Star Wars trilogy, so it is unlikely their claims are true.

Thoughts on this debunked rumor? How likely do you think it is that Disney and Fox will come to an agreement?