Here’s some good news for the “Han shot first” crowd. original cut of star wars (1977), the film known today as a new HopeComing back to theaters. We first learned this in August Some? The film version will be released again in 2027 to mark its 50th anniversary. But now we know that this will actually be the version everyone saw before George Lucas made questionable, CGI-heavy changes in the 1997 special editions. The re-release will hit theaters on February 19, 2027.
In a brief update posted Friday to the official Star Wars website, Lucasfilm made it pretty clear that this will be the original cut. It described it as “a newly restored version of the classic Star Wars (1977) theatrical release”. gizmodo The report states that it has received further clarification that this will actually be the OG one before those “improvements” were made to the Special Edition (and subsequent re-releases).
Those mid-’90s edits included early CGI effects that essentially served as a testing ground before Lucas moved on to the prequel trilogy. It also added a CG Jabba the Hutt/Han Solo scene (originally filmed with actor Thomas Declan Mulholland as Jabba) that was cut from the original version.
Perhaps most infamously, Lucas had Greedo shoot Han first in the canteen scene. Hardcore fans did not like this change. It smoothed out some of the rough edges of Han’s debut. This gave him a shorter, less dramatic journey of becoming a reluctant hero who grew up as the story progressed. It seems as if Lucas was hinting, “Okay, Han may have started off as a jerk, but he wouldn’t mindlessly shoot a bounty hunter! Think about the kids watching!”
But in my opinion, return of the jedi The worst changes occurred in 1997 and thereafter. Although I didn’t mind the new celebration music and the location montage at the end (others disagree), it also added that cringey and out-of-place musical number in Jabba’s palace. But I hated the change Lucas made for the film’s 2011 Blu-ray release: Darth Vader’s overly telegraphed “Nooooooooo…” as he makes the extreme decision to throw the Emperor into the Death Star’s reactor shaft. Come on, George: it’s more powerful for the audience to see Vader’s thought process displayed on his silent helmet. But if Disney sticks to the 50th anniversary plan, we’ll have to wait until 2033 to see the unblemished version of that film in theaters again.
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