If you live in London, England and are fortunate to be around the BFI Film on Film Festival you were in for a special treat on 12th June as the festival had the first screening of the original cut of Star Wars, the first showing of this cut since 1978!

The movie was significantly changed in the Special Edition version of Star Wars in 1998 in the run up to the first prequel movie Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace in 1999.

This was a very rare treat for fans of the series as the Special Editions, especially of this movie, have caused controversy over the year, especially the now famous "Han Shoots First" scene.

A brief history of this print of the film as found in various sources on the internet:

The BFI (British Film Institute) found the print in their archives and after contacting Lucasfilm about doing a screening they agreed.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said she was surprise that the print existed, but agreed to the screening as she thinks it is a valuable artifact in historical cinema.

Kennedy presented the showing to prove it was a legal copy!

As explained by the BFI

"In these very special screenings, we present the film exactly as experienced by audiences on its original 1977 release. Screening from one of the precious handful of dye transfer IB Technicolor prints produced uniquely for the first British release, and preserved in the BFI National Archive"

Lets hope this sentiment to the original cut goes that bit further and, as the whole trilogy is owned by Disney since the buyout of Fox, it gets a 4K remastered home release, as well as Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Return of the Jedi.

Last weekend saw Sing 2 at the top of the UK box office, with 6 new releases can any of them do enough to top the box office chart this weekend?

Here are this weeks new releases

• Moonfall
• The Eyes of Tammy Faye
• Jackass Forever
• The Souvenir: Part II
• Belle: The Dragon and the Freckled Princess
• I Am What I Am

Moonfall

• The movie is directed by Roland Emmerich, it is the directors 19th movie.
• Roland Emmerich also directed Making Contact in 1985.
• It stars Halle Berry who also starred in Solomon and Sheba (1995).
• The film also stars Patrick Wilson who last appeared in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021).
• The BBFC UK age rating is
• UK box office prediction: No. 1

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

• The movie is directed by Michael Showalter, it is the directors 7th movie.
• Michael Showalter also directed The Big Sick in 2017 which grossed £1.1 Mil. in the UK.
• It stars Jessica Chastain who also starred in Stolen (2013).
• The film also stars Andrew Garfield who last appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
• The BBFC UK age rating is

Jackass Forever

• The movie is directed by Jeff Tremaine, it is the directors 6th movie.
• Jeff Tremaine also directed Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa in 2013 which grossed £6.3 Mil. in the UK.
• It stars Johnny Knoxville who also starred in Jackass 3D (2010).
• The film also stars Steve-O who last appeared in Game Over, Man! (2018).
• Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O have starred in 3 other movies together.
• They also appeared together in Jackass 3D (2010), Jackass: The Movie (2003) and Jackass Number Two (2006).
• The BBFC UK age rating is
• UK box office prediction: No. 4

The Souvenir: Part II

• The movie is directed by Joanna Hogg, it is the directors 6th movie.
• Joanna Hogg also directed Unrelated in 2008 which grossed £100.4K in the UK.
• It stars Tilda Swinton who also starred in Doctor Strange (2016).
• The film also stars Honor Swinton Byrne who last appeared in The Souvenir (2019).
• They also appeared together in The Souvenir (2019).
• The BBFC UK age rating is

Belle: The Dragon and the Freckled Princess

• The movie is directed by Mamoru Hosoda, it is the directors 8th movie.
• Mamoru Hosoda also directed Wolf Children in 2012.
• It stars Kaho Nakamura who is making a feature film debut.
• The film also stars Ryo Narita who last appeared in Homunculus (2021).
• The BBFC UK age rating is
• UK box office prediction: No. 8

I Am What I Am

• The movie is directed by Haipeng Sun, it is the directors 2nd movie.
• Haipeng Sun also directed Kung Food in 2018.

Check back on Monday to see what new movies made it onto the Weekend Box Office Chart.

Next week there are 4 new movies released

• The Beatles: Get Back - The Rooftop Concert, Thursday, 10th February
• Uncharted, Friday, 11th February
• Death On the Nile, Friday, 11th February
• Marry Me, Friday, 11th February