Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy Says She Won't Touch Original Theatrical Cuts Of Star Wars

Robbie Fox4/27/2017 8:20 PM

Inverse- When Kennedy was asked directly by Saunders if George Lucas’s “vision of the final cut he left us with” would be altered — heavily suggesting a reissue of the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars trilogy — Kennedy broke into friendly laughter and said, “I wouldn’t touch those! Are you kidding? Those will always remain his.” This seems to also nix reports that a new 4K theatrical re-release (special edition or not) will hit theaters for the 40th anniversary of the original 1977 film.

It appears Greedo’s shooting first for the foreseeable future. Fuck.

I don’t have that much of a right to complain, because I grew up on the special editions from the 90s. For me, Jabba was always in New Hope, the Wampa always ate in Empire, and Yub Nub was always absent from Jedi. I’ve now grow old, had the chance to watch the original cut of the trilogy thanks to Harmy’s Despecialized Edition, and am outraged. The special editions of the original trilogy aren’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, they’re just unnecessary. The minuscule changes are fine. If you want to add a door in the background of the Death Star, be my guest. If you want Greedo to shoot Han from point blank range and miss, jump into a fucking Sarlacc Pit.

Disney not releasing the original cuts is disappointing, but barely surprising. All we can do is hope this is misdirection for a massive release including the Holiday Special on Blu Ray.

Just for laughs, here’s my least favorite change:

Star Wars (1977)