Star Wars' Controversial Special Editions Are Returning at the Best Time

The Star Wars special editions are back, and possibly for the last time. A listing for a Star Wars: Original Trilogy Blu-ray and DVD release coming later this year, and the listed runtimes for the three films — A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi — suggest that they are the Special Edition, first released in theaters in the 1990s.

Fans are likely to roll their eyes at these Star Wars Special Editions, much maligned by fans for their CGI VFX additions and changes to the original theatrical Star Wars releases, getting another physical media release. After all, they're already available on 4k UHD and streaming on Disney+.

But the news comes after Disney announced that the original, theatrical cut of Star Wars: A New Hope will play in theaters for the first time in decades to celebrate the film's 50th anniversary in 2027 (or at least something significantly closer to it than the special editions; it'll be keeping the A New Hope subtitle that wasn't present in Star Wars' original release). It is assumed, though not confirmed, that The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi will receive similar treatment for their respective gold anniversaries in 2030 and 2033.

Fans are already speculating that the theatrical re-release(s) could pave the way for the original, non-Special Edition versions of the original Star Wars trilogy films to release on home media for the first time in over 20 years. If that's the case, this new 2026 Special Editions box set could be the last hurrah for the Special Editions as the default version of the original Star Wars trilogy, and so the re-release is well-timed.

The Original Star Wars Is Returning to Theaters

In December, Lucasfilm confirmed that the 1977 original cut of Star Wars will return to theaters for a limited time beginning Feb. 19, 2027, in celebration of the film's 50th anniversary. The screening will be of a "newly restored" version of the 1997 original theatrical release of Star Wars.

Lucasfilm screening the original Star Wars in theaters is a huge moment for fans who have longed to see Star Wars in all of its original glory. Star Wars creator George Lucas, who directed the first film, almost immediately began tweaking the finished movie, making adjustments such as adding A New Hope to the title once he was sure sequels would follow, ahead of the film's first re-release.

Lucas' boldest update to Star Wars was the 1997 Special Edition, first conceived of as a way to stall for time while he continued to work on the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Instead of releasing the original Star Wars back into theaters for the film's 20th anniversary, Lucas released the first Star Wars Special Edition, which added new digital effects and removed many of the Oscar-winning original effects from the film.

The Star Wars special editions, with even more updates thatn they had in 1997, are streaming on Disney+.