The original cut of the 1977 film “Star Wars: A New Hope” was screened in London on June 12. Kathleen Kennedy, current president of Lucasfilm, introduced the film and assured viewers that they were not viewing an “illegal” version of the film.
‘Star Wars’ Original Cut London Screening
In the original 1977 theatrical cut of “Star Wars: A New Hope” Han Solo shot first at Greedo, and Jabba the Hutt was only mentioned by name and did not visually appear until “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” Since the 1990s, when George Lucas produced special editions of the “Star Wars” trilogy, the original version of the film has rarely been shown in public.
Lucas told the Associated Press in 2004 that he was “sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it, but I want it to be the way I want it to be.” The special edition version released in 1997 was edited to show Greedo the bounty hunter firing first at Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. Another change that was unpopular among fans was the CGI addition of Jabba the Hutt.
Those looking to watch the original theatrical cut can only do so with an out-of-print VHS tape release or a DVD bonus feature from 2006. Many fan-made edits that attempt to restore the film to its original cut have circulated online.
Senior Curator of fiction at the BFI National Archive, James Bell, said,
One of the ambitions of the BFI Film on Film Festival is to screen original release prints that transport audiences back to the moment a film was first released — to give audiences of today the special emotional connection that comes when viewing the very same object seen by a film’s original audience.
Kathleen Kennedy on Original Cut Screening
According to Comicbook.com, Kennedy made a special apperance at the BFI London Film on Film Festival. Disney granted the BFI permission for the original version of the film to be screened. There are no plans to screen the original cuts of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” or “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.”
She introduced the film by joking about the legality of the showing and stating the audience members had a “remarkable opportunity to see what she verified as the only print of the 1977 film.” She continued by telling them she was not sure “there’s another one quite like it.” Although she guaranteed the authenticity of this screening, she also confirmed that there has been some debate on what constitutes the original first print:
There was endless conversation about where everything was and what was, in fact, the first print.
Kathleen Kennedy
There’s so much tinkering that’s going on over the years, and things that George decided, I’m going to change this, I’m going to try that out over there, and then everybody kind of lost track of what it was.
Watch a clip of the introduction shared by X user, @JacobStolworthy below.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy also recently denied rumors of her retirement and confirmed the next “Star Wars” trilogy in a new interview.
Source: Comicbook.com
Have you seen the original cut of the first “Star Wars” film? Let us know in the comments and on social media.
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