Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy was on hand last night at the BFI Film on Film Festival in London for a special screening – the incredibly rare original first print of George Lucas’ 1977 original “Star Wars” movie.
The BFI made the shocking discovery of the print and announced plans to screen it earlier this year – a print Lucas has famously spoken about his dislike of.
The original print features no ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’ subtitle, and the Mos Eisley cantina features a scene in which Han Solo shoots the bounty hunter Greedo first – a scene Lucas edited in future versions so that Greedo shot first.
Lucas has long stood up for his right to edit his original cut of the film, but his edits have led to divisions in the fandom. Kennedy, addressing the crowd, said she was there to “legitimize” the original print being shown:
“It’s incredible folklore. Even when I came into the company, there was endless conversation about where everything was, and what was in fact the first print? And it’s quite remarkable, what you’re going to see is in fact the first print, and I’m not even sure there’s another one quite like it. It’s that rare.
There’s so much tinkering that’s gone on over the years, and things that George [Lucas] decided, ‘I’m gonna change this, I’m gonna try that.’ And then, everybody kind of lost track of what it was.”
BFI chief executive Ben Roberts added that it was a “miracle” the print was in good enough condition to screen publicly. The “Star Wars” franchise is coming off the acclaimed second season of “Andor” on the Disney+ service.
Source: Variety
