It seems like the director's cuts of popular movies are all the rage after Warner Bros. decided to confirm the release of the Justice League Zack Snyder cut. Not surprisingly, even Star Wars may have joined in on the trend. A new report suggests that there is a George Lucas cut of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker but it is being held back.
There is little doubt that The Rise of Skywalker was a commercial success but it was also met with backlash as some fans were not pleased with the film. Interestingly, director J.J. Abrams even confirmed that so much of his original cut was snipped away from the theatrical release, leading to speculations that the Abrams cut might actually tell a better story. But does a Lucas cut also exist?
According to Movieweb, the Lucas cut of The Rise of Skywalker contains some interesting footage including Hayden Christiansen's return as Anakin Skywalker. The version reportedly features Anakin's Force ghost talking to Rey and telling her that Palpatine is still alive. In addition to that, there is a longer conversation between Kylo Ren and Han Solo.
So what's stopping Disney from releasing the Lucas cut? It is suggested that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is the one who is holding back the release of Lucas' version of the movie.
It is important to point out that the existence of the Rise of Skywalker Lucas Cut has not yet been confirmed by Disney and Lucasfilm. With that in mind, it's best to take it with a grain of salt.
Do you want to see the Lucas Cut of The Rise of Skywalker? Sound off in the comments below.
Related: Alden Ehrenreich on Lord and Miller's Original Version of Solo: A Star Wars Story