May the force be with you–but not necessarily with you if you think everybody cares about the original Star Wars cuts. Jon Favreau, who created the first-ever live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian (and its spin-off, The Book of Boba Fett), has some thoughts on if there is enough interest in the original theatrical editions.
In an interview with Moovy TV, the host flaunted his theatrical edition LaserDiscs before asking if Jon Favreau had “enough clout” to get the original versions of Star Wars released.
“Do you think anybody but us, like, the people who grew up with it, like anybody would care?” said Jon Favreau of the original Star Wars releases. “Because I know to younger people…that’s what I figured out is that the younger people have a whole different perception of what Star Wars is. Each generation. For the millennials, it’s the prequels. And for younger people–zoomers–sometimes it’s The Clone Wars.”
Sure, those of a certain age are insistent upon the release of the original cuts of Star Wars, but Jon Favreau is at least raising some questions, however debunkable. Would younger generations really care if Han shot first or not? (He did, for the record, and yes, it changes Han’s character traits.) Does it matter who plays the ghost of Anakin Skywalker? (Yes, and it was a lazy attempt on George Lucas’ part to replace Sebastian Shaw.) Do the Gunguns belong in Return of the Jedi? (Ah, who cares, there are plenty of other cringey additions.) Admittedly, it is great to see that George Lucas could get out versions that he wishes he could have made, but a certain group of Star Wars fans would love to have the original cuts. But, really, they should at least be available for younger generations to determine what works best for them.
Jon Favreau then redirected the question about the original Star Wars cuts, citing The Mandolorian’s cross-generation appeal. “We were trying to say, ‘Hey, let’s try to do something that’s good for us, the people who’ve been around watching these movies since they were 10 years old. And also, could we make it for…new people who’ve never seen Star Wars?”
Do you think the original Star Wars cuts will ever be released? Does Favreau have a point that it may not even matter? Let us know in the comments section below!