Star Wars fans can rejoice. After 47 years, the original cut of the 1977 Star Wars film once hated and banned by George Lucas is receiving a theatrical screening.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the British Film Institute’s Film on Film Festival happening in June is slated to open with a screening of Lucas’ 1977 classic. The last time this version was shown was in December 1978. The film still remains one of the few original Technicolor prints that exist. Back in the day, Lucas was quite adamant about not screening the original and when he was asked about it by the Associated Press in 2004, he said at the time, ““The Special Edition, that’s the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it’s on VHS, if anybody wants it. I’m not going to spend the — we’re talking millions of dollars here — the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn’t really exist anymore. It’s like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I’m sorry you saw a half-completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I’m the one who has to take responsibility for it. I’m the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they’re going to throw rocks at me, they’re going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished.”
Being that this is the first time the original print would be publicly screened sin 1978, the studio has now allowed the screening of various Special Editions. As for why it wasn’t allowed to be show, Lucas had tweaked the print with starting with the first theatrical rerelease of Star Wars in 1981. Those in the UK this summer have the chance to see the unaltered, historical Star Wars this summer.
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