News Star Wars The Original 1977 Star Wars (Yes, That Version) Is Returning to Theaters in 2027 The details are as fuzzy as the movie’s surviving prints, but you will be able to see the original version of Star Wars in theaters again. By Matthew Byrd | Published on December 5, 2025 Photo: Lucasfilm Comment 0 Share New Share Photo: Lucasfilm Earlier this year, we learned that 1977’s Star Wars will be returning to theaters in 2027 as part of a massive 50th anniversary celebration. At that time, though, we had no idea which version of that movie was going to be shown in theaters. There are quite a few, you see, and the arguments over which version is best and which should be considered the “standard” are as long as they are annoying. However, against considerable odds, it appears that the version of Star Wars that is returning to theaters is the original, original version of the movie. Yes, the version of the movie that has been softly buried for quite a few years and remains the subject of much discourse in a fandom that hasn’t exactly shied away from discourse. According to StarWars.com, a “newly restored version of the classic Star Wars (1977) theatrical release” will “play in theaters for a limited time” starting on February 19, 2027. The wording of their update was fairly vague, though it certainly seemed to suggest that they were referring to the original version of the 1977 movie rather than any of the recent remasters of that film that feature quite a few updates and changes. Well, io9 has since confirmed with Lucasfilm that the version of the movie that will be released in theaters in 2027 is indeed the original theatrical cut of the film. Again, Lucasfilm has said that this will be a “newly restored version of the classic Star Wars (1977) theatrical release,” which means that you can likely expect there to be some visual and audio upgrades to the original print. There is also a rumor that the original movie will be updated for a limited IMAX release, which would obviously include quite a few format specific alterations. For now, though, it seems like the idea is to keep the core of the original theatrical version of the film intact. Whether or not that’s a good or bad thing depends on the extent of the updates and your preferences. To play devil’s advocate, many of the changes made to Star Wars over the years were done to fix continuity errors, technical issues, and other such problems. A quick glance at a list of those changes reveals that many of them make sense and honestly exist to preserve the experience and intent of the original movie rather than the movie exactly as it was when it was released. But that’s not what we’re talking about, is it? For many, the joy of this experience will come from getting to see Star Wars as it was before some of the more significant and controversial changes to the film were made. No more additional Stormtroopers facing off against Han Solo, no more CGI lizards awkwardly dropped onto Tatooine, and, though it pains me to still be saying this in 2025, Han will indeed shoot first in this version of the movie. It’s going to be fascinating to see how this version of the movie actually plays. Reports from a recent, incredibly rare screening of an original print of Star Wars suggested that version of the movie was in far rougher shape than people remember, though some will certainly argue that the rough edges should be part of this experience. Perhaps this new version of the movie will find a happy middle ground that will allow people to experience the biggest “missing” beats of the original film without having to lower their technical expectations quite so much. Then again, one shouldn’t hold out too much hope for the sudden silencing of the debates in the Star Wars community. For now, though, let’s all take a moment to consider that it’ll be nice to simply have this option rather than constantly having to ask why one of the most culturally significant movies ever made has been so damn hard to watch in its (roughly) original form for so long. [end-mark] The post The Original 1977 <i>Star Wars</i> (Yes, That Version) Is Returning to Theaters in 2027 appeared first on Reactor.