George Lucas’ Rare First Print Screens After Decades

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made a surprise appearance on opening night of the BFI Film on Film Festival in London, where the ultra-rare, original first print of George Lucas‘ “Star Wars” was being screened. The BFI’s shocking discovery of the print and the announcement that it would be screened publicly caused a stir among “Star Wars” fans earlier this year, as Lucas has always been vocal about his dislike of the print and famously went on to tinker with the movie.

In the original print, the 1977’s movie subtitle “Episode IV: A New Hope” is not included in the opening crawl and the famous scene set in the Mos Eisley cantina scene features Han Solo shooting the bounty hunter Greedo. Lucas changed the scene in a future edit so that Greedo shot first, absolving Han of wrongdoing. The choice led to one of the “Star Wars” fandom’s most legendary phrases: “Han shot first.”

Lucas has always defended his right to tinker with the original cut of “Star Wars,” notably once telling the AP about the first print: “I’m sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it, but I want it to be the way I want it to be.” As a result, some “Star Wars” fans were uneasy about the original print’s discovery.

Kennedy told the crowd at the BFI Film on Film Festival that she was in attendance in order to “legitimize” the original print being shown amid concern from “Star Wars” fans that it would not be what Lucas wanted (via The Independent). BFI chief executive Ben Roberts said it was a “miracle” the print was in good enough condition to screen publicly.

“It’s incredible folklore,” Kennedy said. “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.”

Kennedy went on to say that anyone who comes into the Lucasfilm fold to create a new “Star Wars” project is shown Lucas’ 1977 movie because it’s “the gold standard” of storytelling. She added: “I would say this is the film everyone starts with when we start talking about story, George’s intent and what it is we’re trying to build off of.”

The “Star Wars” franchise is currently coming off the acclaimed second season of “Andor” on Disney+, and Kennedy is in London as a new movie, Shawn Levy’s “Starfighter” with Ryan Gosling, gears up for production.

“I really think that now we’re in a position where it’s broadened the possibility of stories and filmmakers we can bring in to tell stories that mean something to them – it doesn’t necessarily have to connect to every little thing thats been done in ‘Star Wars’; it can actually be a standalone story that then builds into many many other stories,” Kennedy explained about the future of the franchise.