Not-so-special edition of Star Wars to screen for the first time in 47 years

Moviegoers across the pond are getting something American movie fans have been clamoring for nearly half a century. 

Not-so-special edition of Star Wars to screen for the first time in 47 years
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Star Wars is never really done, is it? Since 1977, as soon as George Lucas finished his little space opera, he has been tinkering with it. First, the title went from Star Wars to Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope. The next thing you know, Greedo is shooting first, and everyone’s saying “maclunkey.” Star Wars has existed chiefly in its “special edition” form since 1997, when the original trilogy was refurbished and re-released, introducing the world to a very necessary scene wherein Han Solo steps on Jabba the Hutt’s tail. However, the original cut with the original ILM effects, like Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber or the whereabouts of Sifo-Dyas, is a mystery lost to time—mostly because George Lucas pulled the original prints from circulation and never included them in his many firmware updates.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, as part of the British Film Institute’s Film on Film Festival, the BFI will screen one of the few surviving Technicolor prints from Star Wars‘ initial theatrical run this June in London. The print has not been screened since 1978, according to The Telegraph, because, by 1981, Lucas had unveiled his first new version of the film with a longer title, and the Technicolor print was encased in carbonite (a temperature-controlled environment to keep it at 23 degrees). This may break the dam and finally convince the Disney empire to make the original Star Wars trilogy available and bring balance to the fandom. Or maybe they’ll do a six-episode Sifo-Dyas Disney+ mini-series. It’s one or the other.

 
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