Long-lost film by ‘Star Wars’ art director could be offered for download

A long-lost film directed by Roger Christian, who served as art director for the first Star Wars movie, could soon be made available as a download, according to a comment given to Wired. Titled Black Angel, the 25-minute film tells the story of a medieval knight returning from the Crusades — it was originally shown before screenings of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back in Europe and Australia, but the negative was lost at some point following this 1980 debut. An archivist at Universal Studios rediscovered the film last year and informed Christian, who has been debating how to re-release it ever since.

“I think it would be great to see it in a cinema again on a program with Empire Strikes Back,” Christian tells Wired. “That’s how it was intended to be seen.” He admits that a downloadable version would “probably be the best option,” but does not offer any details about a proposed platform or format. Still, whatever mode of distribution he decides on, Christian will have a ready-made audience in the thousands of Star Wars fans who own the film only as a fading memory from more than 30 years ago.