From now until the end of time, Greedo will always shoot first, and Han Solo will forever gingerly step on Jabba the Hutt’s tail. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has said unequivocally that she will not “touch” the classic Star Wars trilogy in its present form.
On April 21, the podcast Steele Wars — created by Steele Saunders — posted exclusive audio interviews from the second day of Star Wars Celebration. Saunders talked to numerous Star Wars cast members, including John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, but the most revealing tidbit he extracted easily came from Kathleen Kennedy. Not only did Kennedy confirm that the death of Carrie Fisher caused the creative team on Episode IX to “start over,” but she also made it clear that she wasn’t going to mess with the controversial changes and revisions (lots of CGI, people shooting who didn’t before) that George Lucas has made to the original trilogy since 1997.
ORLANDO, FL - APRIL 13: Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas attend the 40 Years of Star Wars panel during the 2017 Star Wars Celebration at Orange County Convention Center on April 13, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.
When Kennedy was asked directly by Saunders if George Lucas’s “vision of the final cut he left us with” would be altered — heavily suggesting a reissue of the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars trilogy — Kennedy broke into friendly laughter and said, “I wouldn’t touch those! Are you kidding? Those will always remain his.” This seems to also nix reports that a new 4K theatrical re-release (special edition or not) will hit theaters for the 40th anniversary of the original 1977 film.
Elsewhere in the interview, Kennedy emphasized that she wanted George Lucas to “be proud” of the current state of Star Wars and that her goal was for him to be “happy about this.”
Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15.
