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Walt Disney Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox have announced the upcoming release of The Star Wars Digital Movie Collection, making the movies available online legally for the first time. The box set is being made available for preorder today and will be released globally on April 10.
The six films can be purchased individually or as a set at leading digital retailers; while official price lists haven’t been released (each retailer can set their own), based on early pricing we’re seeing, most will offer each film for $20 and the full set for $90-$100. Participants include Apple’s iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, M-Go, Sony’s PlayStation Store, Verizon’s Fios, Vudu, and Microsoft’s Xbox Video.
Because so many digital retailers have been given the rights to offer the movies, there is a race to offer incentives for customers to choose their platform. For example, Microsoft is offering an R2-D2 Xbox Live avatar and a Star Wars pinball pack for the Pinball FX 2 game.
The Star Wars films were first released on VHS, to be followed later by DVD and Blu-Ray. While they’ve been available illegally online for a long time, they’re now finally being offered as digital downloads and on-demand streams.
The complete collection includes the following:
STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace
- Conversations: Doug Chiang Looks Back
- Discoveries From Inside: Models & Miniatures
- Legacy content includes “The Beginning”; The Podrace: Theatrical Edit; plus eight deleted scenes.
STAR WARS EPISODE II: Attack of the Clones
- Conversations: Sounds In Space
- Discoveries From Inside: Costumes Revealed
- Legacy content includes “From Puppets To Pixels: Digital Characters In Episode II”; State Of The Art: The Previsualization Of Episode II; and “Films Are Not Released, They Escape”; plus Episode II Visual Effects Breakdown Montage and six deleted scenes.
STAR WARS EPISODE III: Revenge of the Sith
- Conversations: The Star Wars That Almost Was
- Discoveries From Inside: Hologram & Bloopers
- Legacy content includes documentaries “Within A Minute: The Making Of Episode III”; The Journey Part 1; and The Journey Part 2; plus six deleted scenes.
STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A New Hope (20th Century Fox)
- Conversations: Creating A Universe
- Discoveries From Inside: Weapons & The First Lightsaber
- Legacy content includes “Anatomy Of A Dewback”; Star Wars Launch Trailer; plus eight deleted scenes.
STAR WARS EPISODE V: The Empire Strikes Back
- Conversations: The Lost Interviews
- Discoveries From Inside: Matte Paintings Unveiled
- Legacy content includes “A Conversation With The Masters” (2010); “Dennis Muren: How Walkers Walk”; “George Lucas On Editing The Empire Strikes Back 1979”; and “George Lucas On The Force: 2010”; plus six deleted scenes.
STAR WARS EPISODE VI: Return of the Jedi
- Conversations: The Effects
- Discoveries From Inside: The Sounds Of Ben Burtt
- Legacy content includes “Classic Creatures: Return Of The Jedi”; “Revenge Of The Jedi Teaser Trailer”; Return Of The Jedi Launch Trailer; “It Began TV Spot”; “Climactic Chapter TV Spot”; plus five deleted scenes.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first new film in the Star Wars saga in a decade, is coming to theaters on December 18, 2015. Anticipation and excitement are already building, and let’s face it, this collection isn’t going to dampen that one bit.
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