{"id":104367,"date":"2025-10-28T01:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/104367\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T01:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T01:31:07","slug":"which-version-of-star-wars-is-disney-re-releasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/104367\/","title":{"rendered":"Which version of Star Wars is Disney re-releasing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2027, Disney and, depending on how The Mandalorian and Grogu<\/a> goes, movie fans will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars. To ring in 50 great years of arguing over what a parsec is, Disney is bringing 1977\u2019s Star Wars to IMAX. However, it\u2019s unclear which version of the film will screen, and both Disney and IMAX are playing coy about it. In August, Disney told Polygon<\/a> that it was \u201cnot confirming the format of the film at this time.\u201d More recently, in IMAX\u2019s October investor presentation<\/a>, the company also Force waved around the question, stating that Star Wars: A New Hope 50th Anniversary was coming to screens in 2027, but did not specify which one.<\/p>\n

The state of Star Wars has been in flux since the Empire struck back. In 1981, Director George Lucas added the subtitle, Episode IV: A New Hope, to align with his first sequel for Star Wars\u2018 re-release, and in 1997, he overhauled the entire trilogy, adding digital effects, deleted scenes, and Greedo shooting first. The 1997 special edition has been the basis for all subsequent re-releases. Still, the pre-\u201cSpecial Edition\u201d version, which would be some form of the 1981 re-release cut, hasn\u2019t been restored since the 1995 home video release, which Lucasfilm advertised as the \u201clast time\u201d those cuts would be available. However, the 1993 LaserDisc restorations appeared as bonus features on the 2006 DVD release, and then nothing.<\/p>\n

Obviously, some would love to see a cleaned-up version of a pre-digital Jabba the Hutt reintroduced into circulation. Over the summer, the British Film Institute screened an IB Technicolor British release print of the film made for the initial 1977 run\u2014a print so old it doesn\u2019t even include the A New Hope subtitle. Though one critic for The Telegraph<\/a> said the unaltered version \u201clooks terrible,\u201d others were happy to see Han shoot first again<\/a>. Maybe, in 2027, we\u2019ll be allowed to make up our minds about it.<\/p>\n

Steven Soderbergh says getting his completed Star Wars script rejected was a “first” for Disney<\/a>Disney passed on a Star Wars movie from Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh<\/a><\/p>\n

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