WI: No Star Wars Special Editions

They wouldn't have made a total of $251 million at the US box office, that's for sure.

At the time they were made (1997) re-releases, which had been part of Hollywood's backbone for ages, were going out of style due to VHS being massively popular. That year a re-release of The Little Mermaid made only $27 million, and the following year a re-release of Grease made only $28 million. I doubt the 20th anniversary re-releases would have been so successful if Fox and Lucas hadn't incorporated CGI into the new versions; that made a big-screen trip worthwhile for an audience that would otherwise buy an old videotape to watch the film instead.

I doubt Lucas's reputation would have improved that much, since there was FAR more hatred for the prequels than there ever was for Greedo shooting first or "Jedi Rocks".
 
George Lucas did the Special Editions to raise money to make the prequels, without them he would have to raise money from either the studios of outside investors who would have wanted some creative control and a big share of the merchandising revenue.
 
They wouldn't have made a total of $251 million at the US box office, that's for sure.

At the time they were made (1997) re-releases, which had been part of Hollywood's backbone for ages, were going out of style due to VHS being massively popular. That year a re-release of The Little Mermaid made only $27 million, and the following year a re-release of Grease made only $28 million. I doubt the 20th anniversary re-releases would have been so successful if Fox and Lucas hadn't incorporated CGI into the new versions; that made a big-screen trip worthwhile for an audience that would otherwise buy an old videotape to watch the film instead.
What if he just released the restored films on VHS and Laserdisc with a 20th anniversary logo and restrospectives in the beginnings of the tapes?
 
?? Didn't Lucas do exactly that a couple of years before the Special Editions? Weren't there some 'restored editions' put out on VHS?
 
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