RAPID CITY, S.D. — After more than two decades of filming, editing, rebuilding sets and pushing through countless visual effects shots, Black Hills filmmakers Marc and Michael Linn have officially completed Heart of the Rebellion, a feature-length fan-made Star Wars film years in the making.

The film premiered May 4 at the historic Elks Theatre, bringing a long-awaited conclusion to a project that first began production in 2003.

For creator Marc Linn, finishing the film became deeply personal.

“I really felt like it was now or never,” Linn said. “I had a few good friends die last year who were in this movie and I said this is ridiculous. If I keep pushing it back, no one will ever see this thing.”

Linn said he never truly stopped working on the project over the years, even as deadlines repeatedly slipped away. At one point, he admitted he spent nearly 15 years promising the movie would be finished “next year.”

The scope of the production — packed with effects-heavy battle scenes, elaborate costumes and detailed set pieces — often made the finish line feel impossible.

“It seemed like the more I worked on it the further away the finish line felt,” Linn said.

Production evolved dramatically as filmmaking technology changed over the years. Early footage shot on Beta SP cameras was eventually scrapped and replaced as the team upgraded equipment and refined the film’s overall vision.

Linn said advances in editing software, render technology and AI-assisted enhancement tools ultimately helped make completion possible.

“Topaz allowed us to upscale all that old footage, nano banana allowed us to realistically combine real footage with space footage,” Linn said.

Despite the lengthy timeline, much of the original cast and crew stayed committed to the project from beginning to end. Linn said only one cast member dropped out during production, while another actor battling cancer was able to film his final scenes just weeks before passing away.

The filmmakers also faced another challenge familiar to many long-term creators: preserving decades worth of footage.

“Twenty-three years is a long time for hard drives and computers not to crash,” Linn said. “I was constantly stressing about that and making backup drives of backup drives.”

While the May 4 premiere served as a special one-night theatrical event, fans who missed the screening will still have an opportunity to experience the film soon online.

The Linn brothers plan to release Heart of the Rebellion episodically through their new YouTube channel, @thelinntwins, with eight episodes expected to roll out over the coming weeks.

Linn said the online release will feature slight updates from the theatrical version, including completed shots that were unfinished before the Rapid City premiere.

Although there are currently no additional screenings planned in the Black Hills or elsewhere, Linn said the possibility remains open.

“Some of those battle sequences really came alive in the theater,” he said. “The only way to truly feel the excitement of them is to watch them on a big screen instead of on your phone.”

Now that the massive undertaking is complete, the filmmakers say the experience has only fueled their ambition.

“We’ve already started working on our next three movies,” Linn said. “I’m excited to keep making films right here in the Black Hills of South Dakota.