Interesting new read from USA today: usatoday: 2007-01-19-sundance-notebook_x.htm

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Archiving seminar reveals 'Star Wars' tidbit?

An otherwise dry Sundance panel led to a potentially big revelation about the original Star Wars trilogy on Tuesday.

While discussing archiving and preserving film negatives, Phil Feiner, president of the company Pacific Title, was discussing work he did on the re-release of the Star Wars movies in the late 1990s. He believes Star Wars creator George Lucas has continued to tinker with the movies, adding as-yet-unseen new footage.

"There is new footage edited into them that no one's seen yet," Feiner said. "I don't know what he's going to do with it, but let me guess: six-disc boxed set."

There has long been suspicion that Lucas might try to further integrate elements of his prequel trilogy with the original tale of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. If true, it is likely to stir debate among Star Wars fans around the globe. Many were unhappy he altered the original versions, while others were pleased to see cleaner special effects and new scenes.

Pacific Title has a stellar reputation in Hollywood, previously restoring such movies as Vertigo, The Wizard of Oz and Sleeping Beauty.

Feiner says he worked for three years cleaning up the Star Wars movies for release in 1998. "We were then contacted by Lucas to go into another 100 shots that we hadn't done before. I basically said, 'Why are we doing this? You released the picture.' He said, 'Well, we want to go in and clean up stuff we hadn't done before.'"

That's when he picked up on a bombshell: "I heard through another source, some friends of mine up at ILM (Lucas' special-effects company), they were doing additional shots to get cut into a new version. I've never seen it, and I don't know anybody outside of George and his small cadre that have seen it. I'm just making an assumption that they're going to use this for some future release."

There has long been suspicion that Lucas might try to further integrate elements of his prequel trilogy with the original tale of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. LucasFilm spokesman John Singh said late Tuesday: "There are always a wide range of rumors flying around about Star Wars. There have been a lot of tests done over the years to help ILM explore new technology, but we don't have any plans for another Star Wars release.

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New shots huh
Very interesting anyone have any ideas on what it may be?

I of course expect responses from here from a lot of people to be pissed off.

I am OK with any changes. CG Yoda in TPM? OK with me. New lightsaber duel between Vader and old Ben? OK with me. A new OT scene with [insert PT character here]? OK with me.

I´m ok with any changes as well. I´m actually looking foward to it.
We have the original versions out on dvd now so this is just fun fun fun

It's interesting that the quote comes from someone at Pacific Title and Lucasfilm has pretty much kept mum over it. I had thought that the buzz for 30th anniversary would start with the Rosebowl and continue throughout the year but probably things will be quiet until C4.

The idea that there will be footage incorporated that nobody has ever seen before is pretty cool to speculate on but I'd be happy just to see Ep 4-6 get the same type of treatment that Ep 1-3 got, minus the questionable writing and goofy acting.

Thanks for the heads up and I guess we will just have to wait and see.

I'd really love to see the first three movies in the theater one more time but that's just me, if I was going to do anything for 30th anniversary I'd do that.

The removal of Luke's scream in TESB was a mistake, and it will be re-inserted in the new DVD.

There were no mistakes with the DVD set. There were only 'creative decisions.'

It would be distracting (and redundant as hell) if the new shot was something stupid like the Emperor disbanding the senate. Maybe it'll be something else, like CG versions of Star Destroyers cruising around the Death Star to replace existing shots or something.

Man all i really want is just for them to go through the OT and fix up special effects that arnt that special......boxes around those tie fightes n shit.....man its so annoying watching the scene in ANH where those ties attack the millenium falcon...AARRR, aswell as some of those lightsaber effects - lukes green saber, flat sabers in ANH, Vaders pink saber in ESB, plus id love if more ewoks bite the dust in ROTJ. Adding extra scenes would be a bonus. So im still hoping lucas will fix these problems 1st

Jesus H. Christ. Not long ago, everybody was bitching and moaning that the scream was added to the 1997 SE. Now we want it back? I don't get it.

I for one do not that scream back in during that part of ESB. I cringed when I heard it in the theaters.

Yup me too. Makes Luke sound wussy and scared instead like he didin't mean to fall. Really. very. dumb.

It was irony, ok.

Ah, I see. I thought that ETAndElliot4Ever was serious.

Well, there are three types of Star Wars fans when it comes to the changes that have been made: 1) love it, 2) hate it, 3) indifferent. So for those who hate it, well they can't bitch anymore because Lucas released the originals on DVD so they have what they want. Those who love it or who are indifferent either welcome or are unmoved by the changes so "win win" this time.

Actually those who hate it still bitch about it because "their" beloved theatrical editions aren't supped up and restored to pristine like the "current" sets are. They'll continue to bitch about it until "their" films are fully restored and on DVD.

To those who have been doing the complaining and bitching you know this is true. Hey the truth hurts sometimes.

Bitching is what Star Wars fans do best. And GL knows this. What better way to get free publicity for a re-release than by riling up the Internet Nerd Army?

Anyway, it's not like we haven't heard of this before. There were persistent rumors that additional OT scenes were filmed during the production of ROTS - and they were true. Some of the rumored scenes showed up in the 2004 versions (Ian McDiarmid in ESB; Hayden in ROTS) and some didn't (Palpatine dissolving the Senate in ANH; Bail Organa in Alderaan in ANH). Who knows what's left. You can be sure of one thing though - the 2006 versions will be changed once again.

Well i can say is i welcome the additional changes

I've always been fond of this rumor: web.archive.org: corona.bc.ca films details sw4take2.html

I also love the second story's depiction of how the Special Editions went down from a development standpoint.

Edit: Wow! In re-reading this (it's been years), I'm struck by the prediction of a "final" edition of the movies:

That website made so many rampant speculations that they were bound to get a few things right by default. Or am I the only one who remembers "Panaka, the evil Sith protege working undercover in the Queen's court"? Yeah, look how that one turned out. And who could forget Darth Kimball...

Yeah, I never gave the Episode I-III rumors from Corona much credence, but the two mentioned on the above link seem to have the veneer of some credibility.

I'm confused by this.

Is this guy talking about deleted scenes or completely new ones?

I mean, he worked on the 97 editions so shouldn't those "100 shots" have been on the 04 editions?

It almost sounds like he's not aware of the 04 release or something.

After hearing everything I guess what I see happening is a big announcement at Celebration IV in May. That gives LFL and Fox enough time to kick the publicity machine into high gear and send out the DVDs in time for holiday season Q4.

It kinda sucks, I figured that there would be alot more buzz going on about the 30th anniversary happening but I am thinking now that the big blitz will start in May. It's been REALLY quiet.

My 2 cents on the additional 100 shots? The DVDs were mastered prior to Revenge of the Sith being released but after principal photography so they really could be anything. Even if the average "shot" is a couple of seconds its still going to be probably a half hour of footage spread out through the movies.

What is realistic? Who knows? We've all had this conversation so many times.

Of all of the movies I think ANH would probably benefit the most from some new CG enhancements, more aliens in the cantina and maybe a little more energy in the ObiWan and Vader duel and overall just some faster/slicker spaceship and space battle shots. It's the only movie in my eyes that really looks antiquated in terms of the technology and budget at the time. The space battle at the end of ANH should look as cool as the one at the beginning of RotS (minus the buzz droids)

ESB I wouldnt really mess with at all. It's graphic, it's colorful and the story really moves. I am probably in the minority when I say that I WOULD want a CG enhanced Yoda on the Dagobah scenes, even if its just more articulation in his eyes and hands. Everyone will hate me for saying that but the eyes in particular look lifless compared to the eyes of digital Yoda.

ROTJ needs the most work, since chronologically it has to top everything else and also at that point I think GL was honestly burned out on Star Wars and just wanted to finish it. Here is where I would hope that Lucas and co have pulled out all the stops, I'm talking CG Rancor (honestly it's really not that menacing anymore) CG Luke and Vader medium/long duel shots, more stuff in the Endor ground battle and maybe overall extending the sets of the Ewok Village to look more expansive rather than shot on a soundstage. Id get rid of Lapti Nek and Jabba Rocks too.. those were just silly.

I personally don't want to see Biggs and Luke having a beer and talking about the Rebellion, C3PO ripping off the "Beware of Wampas" sticker in ESB, Emperor dissolving the senate and Jimmy Smitts crapping his pants on Alderaan before it explodes. I'd rather that Lucas just use the technology that exists now and just really puts the final final touches on all 6 movies, then leaves them alone

That's my take on it all.. but I guess we will wait until the spring/summer to find out. One thing is for sure, there HAVE to be changes made/additions made to get the general consumer to buy the DVDs one more time. Everyone pretty much has them now, so there has to be some new shiny marketing thing in there to get people to do it again.

Personally, if it was me and I had my druthers I'd hope that Lucas announces a theatrical release of the new and improved 30th Anniversary A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi for Holdiay 07... just like he did for the DVDs... there are 5 and 6 year old kids who loved the prequels who have never seen the first 3 on the big screen.

Hell.. if it was up to me I'd say release ANH in theaters in 2007, release ESB in theaters in 2011 and release ROTJ in 2013 but thats just me.

Anway, just curious to hear anyone elses thoughts.

Just as an FYI the guys at ILM stated that they will NEVER EVER mess with the Yoda in the OT. He is perfect the way he is and he will never get a CG replacement. So those of you hoping that this will happen keep on dreaming.

they also said they'd never release the original unaltered movies on DVD, that theyd never release the OT dvds until after Revenge of the Sith, that Phantom Menace would never come out on DVD until all 3 prequels were done. But if the money is right, they will do it.

I love the puppet Yoda, it reminds me of when I was a kid. If CG enhancing the puppet Yoda (not replacing) will help sell the character's performance more I think they should do it. It's just a puppet.

They probably won't though which is fine with me too. But when you see how articulate the prequel yoda is and then see sticks coming out of the back of him in Empire Strikes Back, it kind of takes you out of the story a little.

I certainly agree with you there. However, I think the Death Star battle at the end of ANH is just fine the way it is. It doesn't need to be just like the opening of ROTS. It's a completely different kind of battle (a few snub ships against one big battle station as opposed to the "stunning move" to kidnap the Chancellor from the galactic capital). But I do think the final space battle in ROTJ should have more stuff going on. Especially with the Falcon. I always felt, even since 1983, that those cool gun turrets on the Falcon that are used only once in ANH should have been in full use during ROTJ as Lando and company are flying around dodging laser fire and knocking off TIE Fighters right and left. And there are still a few shots in that space battle where fighters seem somewhat transparent and sort of pop out of nowhere.

I guess I should clarify my thinking on ANH space battle.. it's more of a technical thing, on the older shots which used the Dykstra camera the shots are slow and panning around models to imply movement. If you look at the shots added in the special edition (i.e. the TIE fighter behind Luke before Wedge shoos it, and a couple of the diving XWing shots) since the 3D camera is virtual you can position it and move it anywhere at any speed. Those shots are more fluid and have more movement than the 1977 model shots. I'd like to see that same speed and fluidity in all of the fx shots in ANH.

I'm kind of a purist in terms of story, but if they can do anything to make the ships look faster and move in a more dynamic way, or have the models or puppets behave more realistically with 3D and it helps the story and the characters, I say do it.

Also... at the space battle at the end of ROTJ there were shots of gunners in the Falcon's turrets, they just weren't used in the final cut. You can find stills of guys dressed in Endor soldier outfits manning the turrets. There were also some shots of General Madine in a frigate giving battle commands and cheering when the Death Star blows up. But ummm.. probably not such a good scene:

http://www.lightsabre.co.uk/Interviews/ ... owley1.jpg

Its possible they may add that sandstorm scene in Return of the Jedi...

I would be in favor of a digital removal of Carrie Fisher's bra in ROTJ.

I wouldn't mind some new shots here and there and some replacements for the weaker matte paintings, but I wouldn't like to have any more existing stuff completely reinvented like what happened to the Jabba Palace musical number for example.

It's hard for me to believe, that after all these years Lucas would still feel a need to add new whole scenes to the OT, like all the rumored Bail Organa\Palpatine\Imperial Senate\Yoda scenes in ANH; and it probably would be better, if he doesn't.

I've always wanted a Jabba dance number set to the disco song on the original soundtrack. But I know that will never happen.

And am I the only one who thinks the rancor looks fantastic the way he is?

I agree, T.

I was actually surprised how good the Rancor looked on the SE-OT DVD release in 2004.


The things that need fixing never get fixed. The things that shouldn't be touched often are.

Welcome to Lucas Philosophy 101.

Wow, I never knew that! Thanks.

If you want to watch (more structure of the Madine sequence) a fan-tastically made doc check out 'Returning to Jedi'


It can be viewed on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... rch=Search

No. I've always felt the Rancor was well-realized. I very much liked seeing it with the corrective matte work on the DVD.

I always remember that during the shooting of AotC, senate scenes were shot featuring Bail Organa designed for TPM...

Check out this link:

http://www.lucasarts.com/games/theforceunleashed/

The "Ultimate" DVD box set with new footage/bells/whistles will be released in Nov 2007 at the same time that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is released for Xbox360, PS3, PS2, Nintendo DS, etc.

So the marketing/news plan will follow the same exact format that we saw with Lego Star Wars II/The Original Unaltered Bonus DVDs:

* Build hype and anticipation for the game to be released in Nov 07
* Big announcement at C4 that the "new" DVDs are coming
* Cross promote the DVD release to drive sales of the game and vice versa
* Both game/DVDs release in Nov 07 on the same day

Sorry to be cynical but that is exactly what Lucasarts/Fox did to promote the most recent Lego game and there is absolutely no reason why they wont go to the well one more time. Which means there will be a total blackout on this from now until May and then a big press release saying "new DVDs are coming and by the way we've got this really cool game coming out that takes place after E3 and before E4"

In all fairness the game does look really cool, but do you all remember how much push there was for Lego Star Wars 2?

I think after 07 as the Star Wars brand goes into different media away from the films (TV, games, novels, comics, etc) Lucasfilm execs are going to use the films themselves to borrow equity for the new products. For example, how many people went to buy the OUT DVDs and walked out of the store with a copy of the lego game? How many people went into the store for the Lego game and came out with the movies?


My guess is there will be 6 new versions of the Star Wars movies for us to buy in November 2007.
I am not quite sure how I feel about it, but it sounds like they'll use that buzz to promote the video game.

I have no doubt that whatever this topic's about will be released simultaneously with TFU. I have a funny feeling though, that these versions of the movies may not be the "Ultimate" ones many have been expecting for a long time now.

Whats the bet characters from "The Force Unleashed" also show up in the New TV Series - at least the popular ones anyway whats the odds on those said "popular" characters showing up in the background on the New DVD's and/or being edited into the movies in the future...

It's never ending I tells ya!

Don't forget too there is the supposed complete scores box set that might also get released this November. I don't have the X-Box 360 but if I did I'd buy Forces Unleashed... it sucks it's not coming out for PC. Damn us PC users are getting shafted with game releases lately. I might as well invest in an X-Box 360...

Edit: I too am sure that Lucasfilm will keep very quiet about any info and news regarding everything this year for the game, DVD's and soundtracks until Celebration IV. After all that info will be supposedly the big highlight of the convention so they figured they aught to be careful on how much info is posted online. Only 3 months left anyways until we find out any more offical info for everything..

DanSh1138, could you please edit your post to make it clear from the start that you're speculating? Had me going there for a sec.

I did say "my best guess" but if you look at the marketing plan and timeline for Lego Star Wars II and the Limited Edition DVDs then I can only imagine that Lucasarts/Lucasfilm will do the same marketing plan for The Force Unleashed and the "new" DVDs. It's a guess, but judging past history I think it's pretty safe to say it's going to happen and I will be happy to eat crow if it doesn't.


I might be moving to LA in May, so if I do and end up at C4 maybe I will have some news.
I just wish someone had more news!

I believe your assumptions would be correct. They did it for Battlefront 1 and 2 also, so I expect the same.

But your opening line makes it seem as if your refering to official information on another site. I'm sure you'll be proven correct, just write that it's speculation at the start, because I had a hard time figuring out after going to that game site what you were refering to.