Star Wars DVD Cover Art Leaked

An anonymous reader writes "Everyone already knows that Star Wars is coming to DVD. In related news, the Digital Bits reports that the proposed cover art for the upcoming Star Wars Trilogy box set was "accidentally" leaked over the weekend by design company Neuron Syndicate. The images were pulled, but not before copies were made. Three versions of packages for the Star Wars Trilogy can currently be viewed at French fansite KamuiWeb. If only those were packages of the original versions of these childhood classics...."

Comments

remember folks...

[real_smiff]

Don't buy this DVD, Han shoots in self-defense and Lucas is a twit. Use this cover for your own LD or Digital TV rip.

(half serious ;)

I doubt they were really unknowingly leaked....

[methangel]

...I think that George Lucas wanted to show the fans that they were indeed actually going to be released. Still, I'll believe it when I see it on store shelves.

Re:I doubt they were really unknowingly leaked....

[Chess_the_cat]

If you need a supposed leak to know that they were going to be released on DVD then...I'm not quite sure how to finish that sentence. My point is, OBVIOUSLY they were coming to DVD.

3 designs shown

[mr_mozz]

"Basically, there are three different versions - the "Final Conflict" box (featuring Darth Vader's helmet - my personal favorite), the "Imperial Collection" (featuring various images from the film including a Star Destroyer) and the "Jedi vs. Darkside" design (the most colorful but least classy of the three)."

I quite like the "Jedi vs Darkside" design myself.

Versions?

[Mad_Rain]

There appear to be 3 different versions of box art - you think that might be for different versions of the DVD? One 4:3, one widescreen, and one unedited version? Or am I still asleep and dreaming? ;)

More cynically, it's Lucas trying to make more money off the people. Wow, that first cup of coffee makes all the difference in levels of cyncism.

Re:Versions?

[jayhawk88]

Are you kidding? Lucas got us for no less than 4 different releases of the original trilogy on VHS. He practically invented this "Release, then release again with minor changes" strategy.

By the time it's all said and done, you're going to have:

Original Trilogy Special Edition
Original Trilogy Special Edition Light and Dark Side Edition Box Sets
Original Trilogy Special Edition Rebel and Imperial Edition Box Sets
Original Trilogy Special Edition Jedi Master Box Set With New 15 Minute "Making of The Battle of Yavin" featurette
Original Trilogy Special Edition Lord Vadar Private Collection Box Set With One of 15 Collectible Trading Cards
Original Trilogy Special Edition Master Yoda Box Set With John Williams Commentary Track
Original Trilogy Special Edition "The Force" Super Complete Box Set with Stone Engraved Luke and Vadar Bookends, Leather-Bound Jedi Initiate Training Manual and Never Before Seen 9 Minute Deleted Footage of Han Offering to Take Luke and Ben to Alderaan For Free and Being Nice to C-3PO in the Hallway On The Way to the Bathroom

And then they'll start releasing the Original Trilogy Original Edition...

re: versions?

[ed.han]

someone needs to explain to production houses that it's perfectly possible to have 4:3 and 16:9/letterboxed formats on the same disc if they're double-sided: i own a few discs sthat do that. this practice of having to have the pan & scan (spits) and widescreen versions as separate is ridiculous.

and i'm pretty certain lucas wants us all to forget the original theatrical release ever existed.

ed

Re:Versions?

[ClubStew]

Or am I still asleep and dreaming?

Yes. Lucas is an asshole that doesn't care about the viewers. That's been discussed many times before on /. with a pile of evidence that shows he doesn't really care. He's all about the almighty dollar!

And as much as I dislike modern Disney, at least when they release movies on their 7-year schedule with "touch-ups", they have the original versions boxed as well. At least then we have a choice.

Re: versions?

[LoadStar]

someone needs to explain to production houses that it's perfectly possible to have 4:3 and 16:9/letterboxed formats on the same disc if they're double-sided: i own a few discs sthat do that. this practice of having to have the pan & scan (spits) and widescreen versions as separate is ridiculous.

It's possible, but no more practical than having two discs (a double sided DVD is, more or less, just two single sided DVDs bonded together).

Additionally, consumers have proven they do not like the double sided discs - generally, most consumers tend to feel that the double sided nature of the discs means they're more susceptible to damage, since there are now two sides of the disc containing data to get scratched, instead of just one.) Plus - it gives the consumer the feeling that they are getting more value - they're getting two discs instead of just one (regardless whether the one disc contains the same amount of information as the two discs).

Lastly, having them on seperate discs allows you to loan out one disc while retaining the other, should you so choose.

Re:Versions?

[Bonewalker]

Yeah, and if people are willing to pay it, I say Lucas is a genius.

I wish I had created something, anything, that I could sell over and over, and people would just keep buying and buying.

It would sure beat the hell out of what I am doing now.

Who cares?

[mrn121]

I don't understand why it is a big deal when cover art is "leaked." What can I possibly do with this information that I am suddenly privy to? I can see why rips of the actual DVDs leaking would be damaging, but c'mon... Deathstar, Vader... weren't these just images that we EXPECT to be on the DVDs? If the cover-art were something unexpected (like a photo of the Dixie Chicks making out with George Bush), maybe THAT would be news, but even then... what difference does it make what a box for a product that I will be able to purchase one day LOOKS LIKE?

Box art?

[Muttonhead]

Box art? Slashdot used to talk about bytes and bits and all the cool nerdy geek stuff. But box art?

Lucas Too

[Walrus99]

It seems like Lucas and other movie companies are beginning to realize what record companies have known for years; by providing new media you can sell the same product over and over. First we had LP's, then 8-tracks then cassettes, then CD's, then super CD's, ... Now we have Beta then VHS, then DVD, ...

I still have my old LP collection and a betamax copy of "Star Wars" that I taped off HBO twenty years ago.

Re:Lucas Too

[tekunokurato]

Dude, fans have been demanding the DVD for years. As much as I can't stand the guy and he's a merchandising jackass, this is the ONE piece of sw product people have pushed him for and which he wasn't releasing quick enough.

Re:Lucas Too

[Boing]

Well, even with switches like going from eight-track to cassette, we were ostensibly getting "more" each time we purchased a copy in the new medium. It used to be that the "more" was just better quality, which is a bit questionable when you're being asked to pay another eighteen bucks for the equivalent of a 32kbit/s improvement in sound on something you already own.

But DVDs have changed the landscape. I buy DVDs as much for the special features as the movie itself sometimes. I'm actually getting new value for my money, as opposed to just an improvement on existing value.

Now, we're seeing CDs slowly start to come with extra features, like an extra disc with music videos or something. People are realizing that they don't care about the quality differences between the newer formats that much, so the studios have had to come up with a real way of getting new revenue. And this is a Good Thing.

Is it just me?

[FS1]

or is anyone else holding tight to their "virgin" and unaltered original vhs tapes of Starwars 4-6?

Incremental Video Purchasers

[A55M0NKEY]

I can forgive those who bought boxed sets of Star Wars IV, V, VI since the movies were all completed before ( at least I ) had access to one of those new fangled VCR things, and then buy the DVD boxed sets to get the advantages of the better format.

I can understand those who buy the Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III VHS/DVD/Whatever as they come out. ( Same goes for LOTR ). But what about these ppl that buy the videos as they come out and then turn around and buy the boxed set? That's just nuts.

Personally, on such items, I wait and get the boxed set in the best format available at the time, but not the first release. That release is inevitably chopped off at the edges to fit your TV. I wait for the letterboxed editions of movies, Directors Cut if possible, when buying boxed sets. As for Star Wars IV, V, VI, those are best in letterbox pre 'enhancement'.

Re:Box art...

[Fortyseven]

Box art...to fucking Star Wars. Last I read there was an obsessive geek/nerd attraction to that series. I MAY BE WRONG, HOWEVER.

Why not multiple versions?

[oneiros27]

It doesn't cost that much to press a disk. My understanding is that the packaging is the most significant cost of a DVD. Why not give people a boxed set that has both the 'remastered' and the original versions?

Or release two sets, one with, one without, as there are bound to be those people willing to spend more money on it. [I probably wouldn't for Star Wars, but I would have for the Red Dwarf releases ... it's just not the same without the model shots]

Star Wars, Schmar Wars

[Simon Garlick]

Really, does anyone actually care any more? I queued up, multiple times, for the original cinematic release like most proto-geeks of my generation, but surely I'm not the only one who realised upon seeing Episode 1 that we were getting fucked in the ass without even the common courtesy of a reach-around?

Inconsistency

[ObiWanKenblowme]

Unfortunately none of the 3 versions looks anything like the cover art for Ep I, II, and presumably III. I know, I know - you all hate anything that has come out since 1983, Lucas is a no-talent hack, LucasFilm forces everyone to buy multiple versions of the same movie, yadda yadda yadda. Frankly I don't care. I enjoyed the originals, I enjoyed the special editions, and I enjoy the prequels - if not as much, then still enough to want to have the entire set of 6 with matching cover art! Guess I'll have to wait until '05 for the big box set and sell the old(er) ones on eBay...

You haven't seen THESE versions

[gosand]

The COVER ART of a DVD pack of movies WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN is not exactly "stuff that matters".

I am sure I haven't seen THESE versions of the films. They'll have some fucked up modifications that will ruin them even further. Lucas is a twit. You want to screw around with the movies that MADE you, fine. But give the fans the originals that they deserve. Lucas has lost all credibility with those last two pieces of garbage movies. He is just being a prick. Take a look at how he has been suckling the teat of his successes in his IMDB filmography .

Re:pretty easy decision...

[irving47]

I can give him a pass on that because he actually FILMED the scene in question with a stand-in with the full intent of putting in that scene with that dialog.
The cantina scene looks like a crappy cgi hack.

Hey Lucas!

[pair-a-noyd]

You won't get a penny of my money until you publish the ORIGINAL versions on DVD. I bought the original trilogy on VHS (VHS sucks btw) but at least it was unadulterated.

Us old timers don't like the bastardized versions.

It worked then, and that's what we want.

I'm really starting to think...

[jcoleman]

...that the editors only post stories about Star Wars so that the irritated minority of SW "fans" can bitch and whine about the Special Editions and how the quality of the prequels is not the same as the classic trilogy and Lucas is going to screw us all by releasing and rereleasing it over and over again and blah blah blah.

That's the way it's going to be no matter how much you complain, no matter how many petitions you sign, and no matter how much you think Lucas is a sellout. Please do those of us who still ejoy Star Wars a favor and take your petty little geekery to the starwars.com forums. Thank you.