Ever since George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Disney, fans have been hoping that we might see the original, unaltered trilogy re-released in some form. As you surely know, over the years, Lucas continued to tinker with the movies, often upsetting many with the changes he made. Some of those alterations were minor (Ewoks suddenly being able to blink), while others were major enough to cause serious backlash (Han shooting first) or ridicule (Darth Vader’s “Noooo!” as he dispatches of The Emperor).
Well, according to a new report, we could see the original Star Wars movies in their unaltered form released at some point in 2017 to celebrate the franchise’s 40th anniversary. These will be the original edits of the 1977, 1980, and 1983 cuts of the first Star Wars trilogy, meaning that fans can finally watch A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as they remember them from their childhood. A lot of younger viewers probably won’t care about that, but for those curious to check them out, this will be a great opportunity to see what Lucas originally came up with all those years ago.
Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but Disney clearly has big plans for Star Wars‘ 40th anniversary, so this re-release on Blu-ray and Digital HD makes perfect sense. And, if it is indeed happening, expect it to be announced at Star Wars Celebration in a little over a month from now.