Sad news as it’s revealed that the forthcoming cinematic re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary during 2020, will now be arriving in UK cinemas in 2K and not 4K as previously announced.
Variety understands the Mouse House scrapped plans for a 4K release — which would have marked the first time a UHD version of an original trilogy film had been screened in cinemas — after talks broke down with exhibitors in the last few weeks.
European cinema giant Vue was initially on board to show the 4K film across its U.K. cinemas, but said earlier this week that plans had changed, and the film would only be screened in 2K.
The 4K edition of the 1980 film — the second title in the original trilogy, in which Luke Skywalker studies the Force with Yoda as the Galactic Empire pursues the Rebel Alliance — has only been made available so far on the studio’s streaming platform Disney Plus and via Blu-ray, where it was released in late March alongside 4K versions of the seven other Skywalker Saga films.
In addition, cinemas will now open on 31st July and not 10th meaning cinema chains will be relying less on these classic library releases to get customers back into the cinema.
