It seems "Star Wars" fanatics aren't the only ones trying to get their hands on the unauthorized "Phantom Edit" -- even George Lucas is getting into the act.

The re-edited (and some have claimed vastly improved) version of "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace" has caused a sensation among the fraternity of "Star Wars" fanatics. Now, SciFi.com reports that the makers of the unauthorized tape have forwarded a copy of their work to the original films' creator.

Lucas expressed interest in seeing the reconfigured film, and the three former film students behind the "Phantom Edit" have sent a copy to him by courier, SciFi.com reports.

Although reports have surfaced that "Star Wars" devotee Kevin Smith ("Dogma," "Chasing Amy," "Clerks") was behind the retooled film, SciFi.com was contacted by one of the three people responsible for the edit. Two of the phantom editors live in New York, while one resides in Los Angeles.

SciFi.com reported that the edit was created more than a year ago and is not the only reconfigured "Phantom Menace" trading among collectors. The main target of their re-editing was the controversial computer-generated Jar Jar Binks, the comic-relief character that was the object of much scorn upon the theatrical release of "Phantom Menace."

"We completely re-contextualized Jar Jar Binks' character, and altered dialogue and subtitled it," the editor told SciFi.com.

"We gave him dialogue more akin to a Jedi character; he sounds more intelligent. We also beefed up Anakin's character ... I'd seen (Episode I) three times in the theatre. Like most people, we had complaints about the character of Jar Jar Binks. He's a little more childish than seemed to be befitting of a 'Star Wars' film," he said, adding the re-edited film took only one week to complete.

"It was an experiment. It was never meant for distribution, but for our friends and ourselves." (More on George Lucas and Star Wars)


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