Rare teaser for Star Wars: Return of the Jedi unearthed

It may be almost four decades old, but relics surrounding Star Wars are still being uncovered and revealed.

This time, The Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science has posted a rare teaser trailer for the third film in the franchise, Return of the Jedi, on YouTube. You can see it in the video above.

Before the film had its name changed to Return of the Jedi, it was called Revenge of the Jedi. Originally called Revenge of the Jedi, after the first posters went out Lucas was reminded by fans — in the words of Yoda himself in The Empire Strikes Back — that revenge was not a value of the Jedi, so the title was changed. The original teaser trailers for the film all ran with the Revenge of the Jedi title, promising the third movie would arrive on May 25, 1983.

Except for the new, rare teaser trailer the Academy uncovered, which was created by a lone cinema in England and had a Christmas 1983 release date. Instead of showing clips from the movie, the teaser just used stills from the film and set them against a backdrop of triumphant sounding music. There were rumors in March of 1982 that the film wouldn't get to English shores until Christmas because of marketing issues, but it was eventually released just one week after the North American release, on June 2, 1983.

According to the Academy, this weird, British teaser may be the earliest trailer Return of the Jedi received, even if the name was eventually changed. More information about it and its history can be read here.