The edited, "tighter" version of Episode 1 has made the rounds to just about all the important people... except to the most important person: George Lucas.

Now the Flanneled One wants to see for himself, according to a story at SciFi.com...

George Lucas told the Zap2it Web site that he hasn't seen the rumored Phantom Edit of his Star Wars: Episode I movie--but wants to. The edit, by a critical fan, supposedly cuts out about 20 minutes of the movie, removing redundant scenes and dialogue and diminishing Jar Jar Binks' role, the site reported. The tape has been floating around Hollywood for a while.

Lucas said he wasn't worried about the edit. "The Internet is a new medium; it's all about doing things like that," Lucas told the site. "I haven't seen it. I would like to."

Jeanne Cole, a spokesperson for Lucasfilm, told Zap2it that no one at the company had seen the edit. "Lucasfilm aggressively pursues anyone involved with the unauthorized sale of our copyrighted materials," she said. But she added that the company doesn't pursue fans "as long as nobody crosses that line--either in bad taste or in profiting from the use of our characters." At least one fan has created a Web site dedicated to the edit, Zap2it reported.

Thanks to Eric Taylor for finding this story.