Disney Cancels Plans To Release 4K Remaster Of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK In Theaters

Disney Cancels Plans To Release 4K Remaster Of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK In Theaters

We recently found out that Disney was set to release the remastered 4K Version of The Empire Strikes Back in an effort to tempt Star Wars fans back into theaters in the UK, but plans have now changed...

By MarkCassidy - Jul 03, 2020 06:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars

Last month, it was announced that Disney was planning to release a remastered 4K edition of what many consider to be the greatest Star Wars movie of all time, The Empire Strikes Back, in VUE Cinemas around the United Kingdom in an effort to entice fans back into theaters, but that's no longer happening.

According to Variety, the Mouse House has decided not to go ahead with the release, which would have marked the first time a Star Wars movie from the original trilogy had been screened to cinema audiences in 4K.

This has less to do with the COVID-19 pandemic than you might think, however, as a standard 2K version of the movie is still scheduled for next month. Apparently, talks broke down with exhibitors in the last few weeks which resulted in plans to show the UHD version of the film being scrapped.

Empire - which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary - is said to be the first of a number of titles Disney has offered to UK exhibitors, but with everything up in the air thanks to a recent spike in coronavirus cases, it's impossible to predict how things are going to play out.

What do you guys make of this change? Any interest in checking out the standard version of The Empire Strikes Back again in theaters? Let us know in the comments.

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Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 7/3/2020, 7:11 AM
Can somebody explain how 4K remasters actually work?

You can't make a blurry image clear with technology. So how can you increase the number of pixels in footage from 1980?

Surely the maximum number of pixels you can get from that image was recorded by the camera in 1980? Can you just take any piece of footage and convert it to 4K with enough work? Even footage from 100 years ago?
BokChopper
BokChopper - 7/3/2020, 8:00 AM
@Nightwing1015 - don’t think it quite works like that. Technically, ESB was filmed using 35mm film which can be scanned up to around 12k I believe. However, if the film isn’t shot ‘sharp’ in the first place it won’t make it sharp - kind of like Superman the Movie which was recently released in 4K but shot with a soft focus lens.

Basically the lens does determine a lot so really old movies are unlikely to ever be super sharp but ESB will be good.

Most modern movies which are big blockbusters aren’t true 4K but a 2K digital intermediate blown up to 4K.

This is my understanding anyway - I’m not in the business or anything.
dragon316
dragon316 - 7/3/2020, 7:57 AM
Unless it’s original unedited version I don’t care
L0RDbuckethead
L0RDbuckethead - 7/3/2020, 8:02 PM
@dragon316 - First thing you've said on here that makes sense. Proud of you.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 7/3/2020, 8:06 AM
People complain about special edition changes but I can't think of many bad changes in Empire. The terrible changes are mostly in ANH and ROTJ.

I actually much prefer the Emperor actor change in Empire. The puppet always looked pretty laughable to me
Darkknight2149
Darkknight2149 - 7/3/2020, 10:28 AM
@Nightwing1015 -
Boba Fett's voice. Temuera Morrison is a great Boba Fett actor (he did a better job in the video games), but in Empire Strikes Back, his delivery and inflection were completely off. It actually changed the meaning of some of his lines, making it sound less like he's standing up to Vader and more like he's pleading with him.
batman001
batman001 - 7/3/2020, 9:24 AM
I was honestly looking forward to going to see it on the big screen since i've never seen any of the original trilogy films on the big screen
PewPewPew
PewPewPew - 7/3/2020, 10:49 AM
Ah Mark, so sorry. Wilding posted an article about this topic three hours after yours, so your article is being removed 😒
RolandD
RolandD - 7/3/2020, 11:20 AM
@PewPewPew - I saw both and started here to see if this was mentioned. When I clicked out of this article, it appears that Wilding's article got pulled.
SuperSomething616
SuperSomething616 - 7/3/2020, 1:08 PM
Not sure where this has come from? I literally have an email from Cineworld stating they are planning on showing this... it's on their slate...
Ozzyboomerang
Ozzyboomerang - 7/3/2020, 3:29 PM
This website finally had some balls to stop Josh removing someone else's article he copied?
s9538798
s9538798 - 7/3/2020, 10:58 PM
Going to watch ESB in the Dutch Pathe cinema. Was hoping for 4K but watching the movie after '80 and '97 is a welcome one. Do hope that Zavvi alters their ESB 4K-UHD L.E. Steelbook to either the original poster image or the new Matt Ferguson art poster of the 40th Anniversary.
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