They have already stated that they have held back hours upon hours of footage from this dvd set to be used on a mega set of 1-6 , probably in HD-dvd, in a few years. This is why they kept deleted scenes of the dvds being released tommorow. Consider this qoute from Lucas ...

Q: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?

GEORGE LUCAS: "Just because the market has shifted so dramatically. A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with."


IMO, Lucas is releasing them now while dvd is at it's highest point. Lucas is the biggest name that is all for digital technology and I'm sure he is saving the super set for HD-dvd. Why not double dip and release these dvds now and make twice as much? [/b][/quote]
The real reason he waited so long is because Lucas owns about 90% of the VHS standard. VHS tapes just don't make money anymore, so he released on DVD. He did get a good portion of Fox's share of DVD though, rumors are it is around 7%.

To spell this out, the DVD body/forum/alliance/standard makes about $3 from every DVD sold (made) in the US. That money is spread out amoung the members of the body. That would mean on every dvd sold, even if his share is 5% (which it is confirmed to be above) Lucas would make $.15. Sounds like pocket change, but with millions of dvds selling every day, he makes tons. Not to mention the money he makes off the box set itself.


Edit: and the reason there are no deleted scenes is because GL doesn't want them to be seen. nothing else. The only one of note is the famous "biggs at anchorhead" scene which has only been seen once at a star wars fanfest, and GL said it would never be shown again.

 

The real reason he waited so long is because Lucas owns about 90% of the VHS standard. VHS tapes just don't make money anymore, so he released on DVD. He did get a good portion of Fox's share of DVD though, rumors are it is around 7%.

To spell this out, the DVD body/forum/alliance/standard makes about $3 from every DVD sold (made) in the US. That money is spread out amoung the members of the body. That would mean on every dvd sold, even if his share is 5% (which it is confirmed to be above) Lucas would make $.15. Sounds like pocket change, but with millions of dvds selling every day, he makes tons. Not to mention the money he makes off the box set itself.


Edit: and the reason there are no deleted scenes is because GL doesn't want them to be seen. nothing else. The only one of note is the famous "biggs at anchorhead" scene which has only been seen once at a star wars fanfest, and GL said it would never be shown again. [/b][/quote]

Still, he released on dvd while he can still make money from it instead of skipping the format and waiting for a higher quality standard. You are probably correct that Lucas would make somewhere in that range % and dollar wise on single dvds. You obviously know more about the actual figures than I do. He is however, making more than .15, like you said, because it is only available right now in the box set. It is not a coincidence that they also released Indy the same way. Buy them all or none at all.

Now I have more time to elaborate on the deleted scenes.

The reason they don't have a special section on the bonus disc for any deleted scenes was explained at Comicon. Lucas is too busy getting ROTS finished to work on these dvds in great detail. This is one of the reasons he didn't get the dvds out a little quicker anyway. Is it is too conveniant, afterall, that these dvds are being released right before the last SW movie comes out? This is the beginning of probably the last Star Wars marketing campaign.

Lucas only shows reluctance to put the original 1977-1983 cuts out for the digital medium. As he said it is not his vision of the films and he had to live with them at the time. In fact, if you listen to the commentaries on the new dvds he doesn't even acknowledge the changes in the scenes. He has, however, never stopped people from seeing most of the deleted scenes, instead using them every here and there. He openly talks about them and why they were cut on the new dvds.

The Biggs/Anchorhead scene is available on the Lucasarts: Behind the Magic cd-rom. Lucas also talks about why this scene was cut in the ANH commentary. I am suspect that we will see this scene on the HD-dvd set in a deleted scenes section because one of the guys who worked on this box set said they considered making it like the Alien quad but decided to hold things back on purpose.

Now on disc 4 of the box set there are deleted and alternate scenes all over the place. Why would Lucas ok the ESB "teaser" be placed on the disc while it still shows the C3PO/Wampa deleted clip? BTW, thats the one every fan has wanted to see forever, not the Biggs scenes which can be downloaded off the internet . Before saying it's only a minor detail and that Lucas probably doesn't care about it take notice that the 1997 SE trailers on disc 4 all have been changed to show the new Jabba(04) and not the one we saw him use in 97! George seems to notice and change every little detail.

The Empire of Dreams documentary shows a horrible "laugh at" deleted scene of C3PO and Luke driving around in the speeder looking for R2 in ANH. Lucas even
comments on how bad it looks. Luke is shown in ROTJ on Tatooine with a blue lightsaber?!? It also shows alternate clips of Obi-Wan/Vader fighting with different dialouge, as well as different versions of the Han/Leia kiss scene on Bespin. The above two are major scenes that George doesn't seem to mind showing ....

Other than that what else can be held back for a future "archival release"? Episode 1 had a lot of deleted/unfinished scenes on the second disc so I don't know what else they might have. Attack of the Clones had an hour or so of footage cut that never made it to the dvd according to Rick Mccallum. I'm sure much of this could also be used later on if they want to.

The truth is that in 2007 we will have a HD format(s) and Lucas has worked his whole career for the studios to make high quality digital technology available. 2007 will also be the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. I don't know what he'll change for episodes 1,2,3 but I don't think episodes 4,5,6 will be changed at all. The reason for me to think this is because these new transfers were all done at around 2000 scan lines, not 4000 like the Bond films recently underwent. With HD-DVD providing 1080i these films are all ready for the next jump.

I know a lot of people hate the changes he has made but I honestly wasn't bothered by any of them, minus maybe the Greedo scene. It still loooks a little too choppy to me. Other than this little complaint this set is great. On a 50 inch HDTV these films almost look as good as the LOTRs which is saying something. They did a fantastic job cleaning the picture! The transfer also has little visable edge enhancement, unlike the episode 1 dvd.

 

"In just one day, Tuesday, $115 million worth of Star Wars Trilogy DVDs and the LucasArts videogame Star Wars Battlefront was plucked off retail shelves worldwide, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment said Wednesday. Today's (Thursday) Daily Variety pointed out that most of the $115 million goes to Lucas's companies which pays a flat fee to Fox to distribute all the home video versions of the Star Wars movies except the original one. (It was not explained how profits are shared for the current set, given the fact that the original film, Episode 4, is included with Episode 5 and 6.) The three-film set is priced at $69.98, but it has been discounted by many retailers. (Amazon has it listed for $41.99.) "

 

Lucas Interview

He mentions that if you want the original, it's out on VHS.


And check out what this Star Wars fan did to his del Sol.

Why?

 

All I know is I'm watching it right now, Episode IV. I forgot how much I wanted Chewbaccas Laser Crossbow!!!!! Maybe it's the beer talking. I can't wait to get back and get my 54 inch HDTV out of storage and watch this with the home theater setup.

 

Okay, I watched all three now. Very good. The only thing that bothered me was the Force Ghost thing with the new Anakin ghost. Didn't sit well.

 

yea, i thought that would be a problem. why would it be the young anakin and not the older one? its weird watching skywalker look at his dad as a young kid

 

It kind of gives you a look to what his appearance is going to be in the next movie. The bonus disk shows you "The Return of Darth Vader" and has a little bit of footage and insight into the next movie.