Original Star Wars Officially Returns in IMAX 70mm for the First Time

Han will shoot first in 70 mm IMAX when the original Star Wars returns to movie theaters next year. On Tuesday, Lucasfilm and IMAX confirmed that the 50th anniversary rerelease of Star Wars will be on the biggest screens possible next February, giving fans a strong reason to return to movie theaters.

In an official announcement on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm says Star Wars "will be shown across a select number of IMAX 70 mm film locations as well as playing in select theaters for a limited time."

That's not the only Star Wars release getting the deluxe IMAX treatment next year. Lucasfilm and IMAX reconfirmed that next year's stand-alone adventure Star Wars: Starfighter is also coming to the large-screen format. On May 28, 2027, Lucasfilm will release Star Wars: Starfighter, which was filmed for IMAX, shot with IMAX-certified film cameras, and converted to IMAX 70 mm film prints for release in a select number of IMAX film locations, according to an official announcement.

Star Wars: Starfighter is directed by Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine, Stranger Things) and stars Ryan Gosling (Blade Runner 2049, Barbie) as Kade Auberon, "a cynical rogue" who is "hurled into a dangerous adventure across the galaxy that puts him on a crash course with destiny." Starfighter also stars Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, Flynn Gray, and Amy Adams. The movie was written by Jonathan Tropper (Warrior, The Adam Project).

IMAX previously confirmed a 2027 release for the original Star Wars. It will be a rare opportunity to see George Lucas' 1977 science-fantasy epic that changed cinema without the alterations and digital effects that were added years after the fact.

This is Star Wars before 'A New Hope'

Lucas has become infamous for going back and tinkering with the edits and special effects throughout the original Star Wars trilogy. For the 20th anniversary of the franchise, Lucasfilm primed the pump for the release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace with a monthly theatrical re-release of the Star Wars “Special Edition” trilogy, which saw robust changes and even additional scenes rendered with then-state-of-the-art computer graphics. Lucas continued to futz with Star Wars for the next three decades, which is how we wound up with the “Maclunkey Cut” of A New Hope on Disney Plus.

In 2025, former Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy teamed up with the British Film Institute to screen a print of Star Wars said to be the earliest cut of the original that existed, untouched by its creator’s impulses to "perfect" it. The BFI even went an extra step in preparing the film reels for projection, finding an old, complete version of the original crawl, before "A New Hope" was added to the title, to run in front of the film.

After Lucasfilm teased plans to bring Star Wars back to theaters, longtime fans wondered which version of the film they'd get. Lucas himself had said that the original versions "will disappear" and, in his mind, the unaltered versions "[don't] really exist anymore." Fans who bemoan Lucas' additions and alterations to Star Wars have been resigned to relying on old VHS and Laserdisc copies, or pieced-together versions restored by fans, for decades now.

But soon, they'll have a chance to see the original on a brand-new scale — if they can get tickets.

Star Wars returns to movie theaters on Feb. 19, 2027.