Lucasfilm has announced “a newly restored version” of the first Star Wars movie (later renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) will be rereleased in theaters for its 50th anniversary on February 19, 2027. As confirmed following a request for comment by io9, this will be a new transfer of the original 1977 cut of the film, not featuring the deleted scenes, new visual effects, and changes to the story director George Lucas added in subsequent rereleases.
The news comes several months after a newly unearthed print of the 1977 release was screened by the British Film Institute, for which Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy gave her blessing. Lucas, who retired from overseeing the Star Wars franchise after selling his company to Disney in 2012, was infamously reticent about allowing the original cuts of the first three films to be widely available, only relenting for a DVD release in 2006 (shortly before the 30th anniversary), well before the age of HD transfers.
While unconfirmed at the time of writing, we expect the original cut to be subsequently released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Disney+, as well as similar comebacks for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi to follow. In the meantime, The Mandalorian and Grogu, the first Star Wars film since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, will be released in theaters on May 22, 2026, and the second season of Ahsoka will premiere on Disney+ sometime next year too. The 50th anniversary of the first film itself will be marked by Star Wars: Starfighter‘s arrival on May 28, 2027.
Furthermore, in similar news from the Disney kingdom today, Marvel Studios revealed Avengers: Endgame will be rereleased in theaters on September 25, 2026, shortly before Avengers: Doomsday‘s debut on December 18. It remains to be seen if its rerelease will help it regain the title of the highest-grossing film of all time, which it held from 2019 to 2021, before a rerelease of James Cameron‘s Avatar in China led it to reclaim the top spot. (For reference: Endgame‘s box office total was approximately $2.798 billion, while Avatar‘s is $2.924 billion. Either way, whatever wins, Disney wins!)
