George Lucas’ constant tinkering with the original Star Wars trilogy has become a real pet peeve for longtime fans of the franchise. Whether it’s blinking Ewoks, additional CGI or Darth Vader screaming “Noooo!” as he takes down the Emperor, Lucas has left everyone with a lot to debate over the years.
Since he sold Lucasfilm and moved away from Star Wars, it’s become clear that the writer/director would no longer have any sort of role in what happens to A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but if you were expecting the new regime to make their own alterations, you’d best think again.
Talking at Star Wars Celebration a couple of weeks ago, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy had this to say about leaving the trilogy alone.
“I wouldn’t touch those, are you kidding me? [laughs] Those will always remain his.”
Honestly, that’s probably for the best, but does this mean that the original, unaltered versions will never see the light of day? Rumours have swirled for years that they could be released on DVD and Blu-ray, and there’s a big enough demand for them that they’d be a big hit for Disney. Then again, it’s possible that releasing those (against Lucas’ wishes) could be something that Kennedy is equally as uncomfortable with, not to mention that they’d have to work with 20th Century Fox on such a thing as the studio still owns the distribution rights to the original films.
With all of that in mind, chances are that Star Wars fans will have to accept the original trilogy in its current form – for the foreseeable future, at least.
