I have no insider knowledge so this is pure speculation. But based on my experience with the Alamo drafthouse (a movie theater by movie lovers for movie lovers if ever there was one), I’d guess they knew exactly what they were saying with each revision. They often have special 35mm screenings and they always make a big deal out of it. I know they didn’t ever specify 35mm for this particular event, but I’d bet they knew what they were talking about regarding which version they were showing. My guess based on what we’ve seen is they originally had plans to show 35mm prints from 97 (and they probably had access to them already) but then Lucasfilm poo-pooed their plans and insisted that they show the latest digital version or nothing.

Lucasfilm has a long history of being like that. The Library of Congress once thought about screening their original 1977 copyright deposit print of Star Wars at their Packard Campus theater. They were well within their rights b/c legally they can publicly screen any film in their collection without any studio permission. I can’t remember if Lucasfilm made any request or if the library just made the decision on their own, but in the end they decided not to screen it b/c they knew Lucasfilm only wanted the SE shown publicly. They made this choice b/c they have a really good relationship with Lucasfilm, who has always been one of the most cooperative and helpful studios when it came to acquiring materials for the library (OOT aside…) and they did not want to break that trust or damage that relationship.