In a move he claims is to ensure that only the Special Edition version of Star Wars is the one that will survive his death, George Lucas has burned the original negatives of the entire Original Trilogy. Despite claims to the contrary, the original versions of the movie did exist in one small way since the 1997 Special Editions were created.

As part of the restoration of the original negatives when preparing those editions, the scenes that were to receive revisions were carefully cut from the negative and placed in storage. Now the flanneled one has taken those scenes out of storage and burned them in a massive bonfire.

“Pathetic fanboys on the Internet are counting down the days until my death in the hopes that someone would restore the original version,” Lucas said while fanning the flames, “By torching these incomplete scenes once and for all I can ensure that only my ideal version of the movies will survive my death.”

The negatives that were burned were really just the original negatives and there are obviously prints of the Original Trilogy in good condition floating around. What will The Maker do about them? “Oh, I still have a few good years left. I have plenty of time to hunt those down and dispose of them as well,” said Lucas smirking.

If anyone has a nice 16mm or 35mm print of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, or Return of the Jedi sitting around, you’d better get a safe.