Original ‘Star Wars’ Is Getting an IMAX 70mm Release for the First Time

For the first time in its nearly five-decade history, the original Star Wars is going full Star Wars IMAX 70mm. Lucasfilm confirmed that A New Hope will return to IMAX 70mm film screens as part of the franchise’s 50th anniversary celebration. And it won’t be the only Star Wars title to get the large-format treatment.

A New Hope returns February 19, 2027

The 1977 original — newly restored — hits select IMAX 70mm film locations on February 19, 2027 for a limited run. It’s a genuine milestone: despite decades of re-releases, special editions and format upgrades, the movie that changed Hollywood has never actually screened in true IMAX 70mm until now.

In fact, that format detail is a big deal for cinephiles. IMAX 70mm film — the tall, enormous-negative format championed by directors like Christopher Nolan — projects at a resolution and scale no digital screen can match. But only a small handful of theaters worldwide are still equipped to run it. Seeing that opening crawl and the trench run at that size, on actual film, turns a re-release most fans have seen a hundred times into a genuine event.

‘Starfighter’ gets IMAX 70mm too

Meanwhile, the celebration bridges old and new. Star Wars: Starfighter — the standalone adventure from director Shawn Levy, starring Ryan Gosling as Kade Auberon — was shot with IMAX-certified cameras. It will then be converted to IMAX 70mm film prints for select locations. It’s currently set for May 28, 2027, landing on the 50th-anniversary weekend of the original film’s premiere (the first Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977).

Building a new blockbuster for the format from the ground up, rather than upscaling it in post, signals how seriously Lucasfilm is taking the anniversary. It also gives Starfighter a technical calling card to set it apart from recent franchise entries.

Why the Star Wars IMAX 70mm return matters

Together, the two releases make a neat statement of intent. The film that started it all arrives in Star Wars IMAX 70mm, and a brand-new adventure built for the format from the ground up lands in the same anniversary year. Bookending 2027 with the original in February and Starfighter in May, Lucasfilm is signaling a year-long party for the galaxy far, far away — and this is a strong way to kick it off — with brand-new corners of the galaxy like Star Wars Zero Company waiting in the wings.

Source: StarWars.com