AppleInsider Staff
Walt Disney on Monday announced a completely digital re-release of the venerable Star Wars series, which will launch as a collection of all six episodes on April 10 through Apple's iTunes and other outlets.
From Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace to Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, each installment comes with bonus content and will be made available for download on Apple's mobile devices.
"We're thrilled that fans will be able to enjoy the Star Wars saga on their digital devices wherever they go," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. "These films broke new ground in technology, design, sound, and visual effects, and we've created some very special bonus material which delves into the saga's rich history, including new and never-before-released conversations between legendary Star Wars artists — the masters who helped George bring his iconic universe to life."
Along with an announcement on the official Star Wars website, Disney touted the upcoming release in an ad aired during the NCAA national basketball championship game on Monday night. While not mentioned in the commercial, each film sold under the Digital HD banner has been edited from its original theatrical version, much like "complete" Blu-Ray editions released after Episode III.
Fans can preorder individual episodes through iTunes for $19.99 each, though collection pricing has not yet been made available. Bonus iTunes Extras content includes new footage and deleted scenes. According to The New York Times, rentals will not be offered.
Amber Neely
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
57 Comments
YES!!! About time
And they're still the botched versions of the Original Trilogy, which means my LaserDiscs will stay around for the indefinite future.
the altered versions blow...but... THIS IS STAR WARS FINALLY DELIVERED ON ITUNES! yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes I pre-ordered episodes 4-6...It's interesting that episode 7 is going to be released this year and yet they still haven't made episodes 1-3 you heard me right, they still haven't made them yet...what we saw before wasn't canon, it was expanded universe stuff :D;)8-)
Well, I have hunch that Disney will clean up and release the unaltered OT to hype the release of The Force Awakens. I've held off buying the blu-rays.
The good news is that I already have the OT special editions on iTunes!!
We want the originals as seen in theaters in 1977, 1980 and 1983.