Happy birthday, Star Wars fans! Lucasfilm announced this morning that Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is returning to theaters for its 20th anniversary.
The film is back on the big screen starting on April 25 and will run for one week. According to the Lucasfilm press release, it will be released in multiple formats including 4XD which will sync with high-tech motion chairs to add to the viewing pleasure.
Part of the announcement was the reveal of a new poster by renowned artist Matt Ferguson. It features Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker front and center with Darth Vader's mask looming over him. Below is the climatic battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor.
Ferguson shared with StarWars.com, “The space battle and Mustafar elements are all really complicated, with way more ships and explosions than on my other Star Wars posters. It's the movie where it all really unravels for Anakin.”
Revenge of the Sith brought the prequel trilogy to an end, defining a new generation's Star Wars. The movie is more timely than ever before, as Padme Amidala's (Natalie Portman) line of "This is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause," making quite the rounds on the internet as of late. All Star Wars, the prequels included, are highly political. If someone tells you otherwise, they haven't been listening to George Lucas for literal decades saying this from the beginning. Revenge of the Sith feels more like required viewing than ever before.
The film would also define Star Wars storytelling after it. It set the stage as the end point for the series The Clone Wars which George got to tell his version of the titular war. Order 66 is one of the most important events of the franchise, a story point constantly revisited in almost every post-prequel story. Most recently, we saw it in Skeleton Crew brought up in the series finale. This movie changed the course of Star Wars.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith returns to theaters for one week on April 25 for the 20th anniversary. Ticket sale information is not available at the time of this writing.