In June, the UK will host a screening of one of the few surviving Technicolor prints created for the first release of Star Wars.
This was reported by the Hollywood Reporter, citing The Telegraph.
The film will be screened at the Film on Film Festival of the British Film Institute (BFI). This is likely to be the first public screening of the original version of Star Wars since December 1978. Then, copies of this film were used only for home viewing.
The fact is that George Lucas, the director and screenwriter of Star Wars, began to change the film during its first re-release in 1981. Some of these changes were subtle, while others were too obvious, which irritated fans.
For many years, Lucas refused to show the film’s original version. It will be screened twice on the opening day of the festival. A copy of the film has been stored for over 40 years at -5°C to preserve its image quality. The Hollywood Reporter expects the screening to sell out extremely quickly.