One of the most polarizing things to ever happen to Star Wars was the Special Edition releases of the Original Trilogy, with George Lucas’ decision to go back and make huge adjustments to A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi drawing huge ire from fans, especially when these have become the so-called ‘official’ versions of the movies, with the availability of the original theatrical cuts being one of the most sought-after items from franchise diehards for years.
Director’s Cuts have become more and more commonplace in recent times, with filmmakers like Ridley Scott and Zack Snyder returning to their projects to either add or remove footage, and the result can often be a superior version of the movie, as we’ve seen with Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven and Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
With a franchise as big as Star Wars, a huge amount of footage gets shot that never ends up in the finished version of the movie, as mega-budget blockbusters tend to constantly evolve throughout production, with The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker being no exception.
However, in a recent interview promoting the release of the ninth and final installment in the Skywalker Saga, director J.J. Abrams admitted that he has no interest in returning to the well and putting together Special Edition releases of the most recent Star Wars trilogy.
“I don’t think so. I respect anyone who feels like they want to go back and adjust and add, I get that. But I also feel like it’s not the way I think about projects, which is to say I feel like you’re done with a thing, and that’s what it is. Maybe in 20 years I’ll feel differently, but I can’t imagine feeling different about it.”
The Star Wars trilogy that started with The Force Awakens has undergone some notable setbacks, including the passing of star Carrie Fisher, the incredibly divisive reception to Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi and the departure of original co-writer and director Colin Trevorrow from The Rise of Skywalker, which no doubt had a huge impact on how the three movies ultimately interconnected as one story. George Lucas’ Special Editions have come under enough criticism over the last two decades, and Abrams would be wise to leave the Sequel Trilogy as it is, regardless on how the fans have received it.