The Original First Print of the 1977 Classic ‘Star Wars’ Returns to a Theater Near You

“For an entire generation, people have experienced Star Wars the only way it’s been possible…the Special Edition. But if you’ve only seen it this way, you haven’t seen it at all.”
all.”

Finally, the motion picture event the way it was meant to be experienced, the original, unaltered version of the 1977 classic movie Star Wars is officially returning to your galaxy for a limited time only to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

This will be a rare opportunity to see the classic revolutionary sci-fi epic by George Lucas that launched a massive franchise with its groundbreaking effects, mythic story of hope, and iconic characters like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Darth Vader.

StarWars.com posted on its official website and clarified that this will be the opening day print of the film, referencing a “newly restored version” of the “classic ‘Star Wars’ (1977) theatrical release.”

Part of Lucasfilm’s yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, a newly restored version of the classic Star Wars (1977) theatrical release — later renamed Star Wars: A New Hope — will play in theaters for a limited time.

Switch on your targeting computer and keep your eyes on StarWars.com for more details, including when and where to buy tickets to this once-in-a-generation event.

Disney initially revealed earlier this year that it would be bringing Star Wars back to the theaters, raising faint hopes on social media that it might actually represent the long-awaited holy grail of many “Star Wars” fan.

Over the decades, following its initial release, Lucas continued to tinker with the film; so only a few lucky moviegoers in 1977 and early 1978 were able to see the first theatrical print until recently, when it was shown on the big screen this summer in London, as part of the British Film Institute (BFI) festival in June. The event featured an introduction from Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who confirmed that it was “in fact, the first print.”

“For a whole new generation who have yet to experience it on the big screen, and for everyone else, to experience it again.”

For the film’s 20th anniversary, Lucas released the Star Wars Special Edition, which added numerous new digital effects and, in many cases, removed some of the Oscar-winning original effects from the film. This had been the only high-definition release of Star Wars available to own on home media or streaming for decades. The same is true of its sequels, with the last time the original prints were released being as a special feature on a 2006 DVD set, which are technically not laserdisc rips but made from the same master tapes as one of the Laserdisc editions.
Besides being letterboxed they also suffer from “temporal smoothing” , i.e. added motion blur and was notorious among fans for having nothing done to really restore it. It led to a subculture of fan restorations like Harmy’s Despecialized Edition and the more recent Project 4k77.

The lucky few who saw the BFI screening noted that this version is rawer, with noticeable differences in special effects, some dialogue, and even the look of the set, with some finding it charmingly different and others noting how much it differs from the “Special Editions” they grew up with, shattering some illusions while also highlighting the film’s groundbreaking impact.

A vlogger for Cinema Savvy, George Aldridge, who says he’s seen A New Hope at least 100 times said the screening was “incredibly special,” but likewise made him realize “there are so many great changes to the Star Wars films; it’s the ones we dislike that have always overshadowed them.” He, too, noted the print was so radically different that “it felt like watching the film for the first time.”

This special BFI presentation, along with rumors and leaks over the last few months online, led to conversations and theories about Disney and Lucasfilm working on a remastered and fully restored version of Star Wars. The recent leaks of video clips with screenshots floating around show new, highly detailed scans of not only the original Star Wars film but also The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, implying the entire OG trilogy is being fully restored. And the best part? The leaked information claims that these restorations are being done properly, using original film negatives and with an effort to preserve grain and color grading.

The perhaps the most notabel change from the original version along with a number of the filmmaking differences from the 1997 Special Edition, was a scene that involved Han Solo and a bounty hunter named Greedo in the Cantina scene early in the film. Lucas altered the timing of their blaster shots to make Greedo fire first and miss, so Han wouldn’t appear as a cold-blooded ruthless smuggler but instead as someone acting in self-defense, with later versions trying to find a compromise where they shot. The scene sparked a decades long “Han shot first” controversy, having fans taking to social media with campaigns to change it back.

Lucas has been firm over the years that the Special Edition is his true vision for the film, speaking to the Associated Press in 2004 about his feelings:

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. 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 if this 2027 showing and the London festival showing are indicators of Lucas relaxing his stance a bit, or if Disney just bypassed him. Most likely Disney’s executives at Lucasfilm have something to do with it, knowing it would lead to a huge financial gain.
Or, it could be that Lucas told People Magazine back in October of this year; perhaps he’s simply managed to let go. “Of course I’ve moved past it,” he said. “I mean, I’ve got a life.”

One personal thing I’d like to share before I close this article out, my mother recently passed away a few weeks ago, so this is dear to me.

I first saw Star Wars during a February 1978 release, as part of a double feature with Young Frankenstein on the big screen inside the back seat of an old yellow Chevy Nova that my father said had three transmissions, with my parents at the now-demolished 100 Twin Drive-In in Fridley, Minnesota. I specifically remember holding my two Target purchases, Hasbro’s Chewbacca and C-3PO action figures, in my hands as I watched the entire film. If I close my eyes hard enough, even today, I can still see my six-year-old self watching the scroll being projected on the drive-in screen, with my parents visible out of the corners of my eyes in front of me. I even remember the single speaker hanging on my dad’s window that played the good old one-speaker mono sound of drive-ins. That was a magical moment in my life, one that I’ve never forgotten, and

The 100 Twin Drive-In, Fridley, Minnesota did indeed feature the print that we all will be seeing in 2027. “This will be a day long remembered” for me when I see it with my father for the first time in 50 years. Until then, may the Force be with you….

Look for tickets and showtimes for the 2027 re-release on StarWars.com.