Star Wars is going high-definition, and fans of the epic space fantasy can soon watch their favorite movies from their smartphones, tablets, and their HDTVs.
Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced on Monday that the Star Wars collection is making its way to digital HD. All six movies - from the prequels Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to the original trilogy films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - will be available in all markets starting Friday, April 10.
"Since the debut of the first film nearly 40 years ago, Star Wars has become a worldwide phenomenon with legions of fans from every generation," Alan Bergman, president of Walt Disney Studios, says. "It's only fitting that audiences enjoy this legendary saga and its many fascinating behind-the-scenes stories on a wide variety of platforms, and we're very excited to finally bring all six films to Digital HD for the first time."
Android users can preorder all six of the Star Wars Digital HD films from the Google Play Store for $100, or $20 each for those who want to purchase only some of them separately. Apple will also offer the collection on iTunes for the same price, although it doesn't seem to offer a preorder option. Amazon, however, is undercutting the competition by offering the entire collection for $89.99. Those who want to save a bit on their purchase can preorder from Amazon right now.
Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, says these films will not be the original versions but will be special editions containing updated sound and visual effects based on new cinema technologies as well as "very special bonus material that delves into the saga's rich history," including never-before-seen conversations between Star Wars artists who helped the saga's creator bring it to life. For fans who want the pure, unaltered editions, however, these new editions will also have a number of deleted scenes.
Moreover, 20th Century Fox still has sole ownership over the distribution rights to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope across all types of media in perpetuity and will retain rights for theatrical, non-theatrical, and home video through May 2020. This means Disney, which purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, could have difficulties releasing a complete set of all Star Wars movies, including the much-anticipated Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which is expected for release this year. George Lucas himself wanted to have nine films in the saga.
"Now, it seems like he can't have a total package of the story because one of the movies is with Fox, unless they can make some kind of deal [with Disney] to release nine of them," one Lucas associate tells Hollywood Reporter.
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