Stolen ""Star Wars"" Print Recovered By Michael Coate
Two unidentified men surrendered to authorities Wednesday, May 26 after stealing a 35mm print of ""Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace."" The 40-pound, 13,000 foot print was stolen last weekend from a Wisconsin movie theatre projection booth (see Todayís News, May 26). The $3,500 print is believed to have a value of more than $60,000 on the black market. Authorities do not believe that any video copies were illegally made from the stolen print (See related story in Todayís News). It is unclear if the motive for the robbery was to cash in on the high prices being fetched for videotapes and discs on the black market or if fans of the film just wanted to own a piece of movie history. A similar robbery occurred in 1983 when a $15,000 70mm print of ""Return Of The Jedi"" was stolen from an Overland Park, Kansas theatre at gunpoint. That print was reportedly never recovered.