JayArgonaut said:

imperialscum said:

I am convinced both original film stock (or copies of it) and scanned unaltered digital version of it exist. The only other scenario is that Lucas explicitly ordered to destroy/delete them.

Yes, ala Kubrick, who instructed Leon Vitali to destroy the deleted scenes and outtakes from 2001, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.

Yes, Stanley had stuff burned, but even the most meticulous director can't account for every scrap of film. They found the deleted 2001 footage in a salt mine MGM uses to preserve it's library several years back. Whether we get to see it anytime soon is anyone's guess.

The Eastman House advertised a Halloween screening of The Shining a couple years back with the legendary cut ending. They had to change their plans and show the final cut, presumably because Kubrick's estate objected, but that footage is in someone's hands somewhere.