Orinda, California – The force was with the Orinda Theatre on Saturday as the iconic East Bay movie house screened a restored version of A New Hope, the original Star Wars movie.
Hundreds of people came out for the screening. Many came with lightsabers!
They were greeted by locals in full and elaborate costumes outside the theater. Darth Vader, multiple Stormtroopers, and other characters were represented.
I attended, and although the main theater at the Orinda Theatre is massive, I felt like at least half the seats were filled. Clearly, Star Wars is a way to bring people out to the movies on a Saturday afternoon.
The screening is part of a Walt Disney Restoration and Library Management Department restoration series.
Basically, classic films are restored from their original film stock and preserved for generations to come.
Because Star Wars is now owned by Disney, that preservation effort extended to the 1997 film version of A New Hope. That’s the one where Han shoots second and some CGI characters have been added into the original.
It’s amazing that a film produced in the ’90s now qualifies as a historic one that requires preservation! But thankfully, that’s the case for A New Hope, because now it has been lovingly restored and digitized for future generations to watch.
Multiple additional Disney films, including some classic original cartoons, will be shown as part of the series. It’s a big deal that the Orinda Theatre won the rights to screen these.
And it’s a part of an even bigger classic movie series that extends throughout 2026.
And for Star Wars fans, even more good news: if you missed this specific screening, the theater teased a future event that could be even more momentous – the potential screening of all three movies of the original trilogy on May 4.
Stay tuned by joining my free 925 News newsletter, and we’ll let you know if that imagined event comes to be! Oh, and may the Force be with you. Always.
