Rare Star Wars Cut to Screen in London

Think you’ve seen the 1977 classic Star Wars? Think again. What you’ve likely experienced is one of the many altered versions released after its initial run, modified by George Lucas himself, culminating in the "special editions" of this iconic film. But there's new hope on the horizon — some fans will soon have the chance to see the original cut of the movie that Lucas left behind all those years ago.

This June, the British Film Institute will kick off their Film on Film Festival with a screening of one of the rare surviving Technicolor prints from Star Wars' first theatrical release, according to The Telegraph. This marks the first public screening of this print since December 1978, though it was previously available on VHS.

George Lucas began tweaking the film with its first re-release in 1981, and since then, Lucasfilm has exclusively screened various "special editions." The print set to be shown at the festival has been meticulously preserved at 23 degrees Fahrenheit for the past forty years, promising an almost flawless viewing experience.

Historically, Lucas has been firm in his opposition to showing the original cut of what we now call Episode IV: A New Hope, and he has publicly discussed his reasons over the years.

“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,” he told the Associated Press in 2004. “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.”

It's unclear why Lucas is allowing this particular screening, but fans are certainly not complaining about the opportunity to see the original cut.