David Lynch’s seminal 1980 film The Elephant Man is to get a 4K restoration as part of its 40th anniversary.

The historical drama – starring the likes of John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, and Anne Bancroft – follows the life of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man living in 19th Century London, who is saved from a freak show and finally treated like the human he is.

The Elephant Man is only Lynch’s second feature length, but was nominated for eight Academy Awards and helped to propel him to international stardom. The Mulholland Drive director will now oversee its 4k restoration by Studio Canal, which will then put out a special theatrical release in the UK on March 13 along with a three-disk collector's edition on DVD, BD and 4K UHD out on April 6.

“The new 4K picture and sound restoration of The Elephant Man was carried out at L’Immagine Ritrovata (Bologna and Paris) under the supervision of David Lynch, who also personally curated the colour correction which took place at Fotokem in Los Angeles,” Studio Canal confirmed in a statement.

It added: “The restoration was created from the Original Camera Negative with the latest HDR 16-bit workflow used in order to obtain the best possible result. As a result, the black and white image has been restored to its original look.”

Watch a trailer for the re-release below: