Star Wars (film)

This article is about the original film. For other films in the franchise, see List of Star Wars films. For the franchise as a whole, see Star Wars.

"A New Hope" redirects here. For other uses, see A New Hope (disambiguation).

Star Wars
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed by	George Lucas
Written by	George Lucas
Produced by	Gary Kurtz
Starring	Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher Peter Cushing Alec Guinness
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor
Edited by	Paul Hirsch Marcia Lucas Richard Chew
Music by	John Williams
Production company	Lucasfilm Ltd.
Distributed by	Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date	May 25, 1977 (1977-05-25)
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11 million
Box office	$775.4 million

Star Wars (later retitled as Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. Produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox, it is the first film in the Star Wars franchise and the fourth chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". Set in a fictional galaxy ruled by the tyrannical Galactic Empire, the film follows a resistance movement called the Rebel Alliance that aims to destroy the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star. When the rebel leader Princess Leia is captured by the Galactic Empire, Luke Skywalker acquires stolen architectural plans for the Death Star and sets out to rescue her while learning the ways of a metaphysical power known as "the Force" from the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. The film stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, and James Earl Jones.

Lucas had the idea for a science fiction film in the vein of Flash Gordon around the time he completed his first film, THX 1138 (1971), and he began working on a treatment after completing American Graffiti (1973). After numerous rewrites, principal photography began in March 1976 in locations including Tunisia and Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England. Lucas formed the visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic to help create the film's visual effects. Star Wars suffered production difficulties: the cast and crew believed the film would be a failure, and it went $3 million over budget due to delays.

Few were confident in the film's box office prospects. It was released in a small number of theaters in the United States on May 25, 1977, and quickly became a surprise blockbuster, leading to it being expanded to a much wider release. Star Wars opened to critical acclaim, with particular praise for its special effects. It grossed $410 million worldwide during its initial run, surpassing Jaws (1975) to become the highest-grossing film until the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982); subsequent releases have brought its total gross to $775 million. When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second-highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada (behind Gone with the Wind) and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. It received six Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and thirteen Saturn Awards, among others. The film has been reissued many times with Lucas' support, including the 1981 reissue giving the film the subtitle Episode IV – A New Hope, and the 1997 "Special Edition". The reissues have contained many changes, including new scenes, visual effects, and dialogue.

Often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films of all time, Star Wars quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, launching an industry of tie-in products, including novels, comics, video games, amusement park attractions and merchandise such as toys, games, and clothing. It became one of the first 25 films selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1989, and its soundtrack was added to the U.S. National Recording Registry in 2004. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) followed Star Wars, rounding out the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy and a sequel trilogy have since been released, in addition to various spin-off films and television series.

Plot

Luke (left), Leia (middle), and Han (right) in a still from Star Wars

In a period of galactic civil war, Rebel Alliance spies have stolen blueprints to the Death Star, a colossal space station built by the Galactic Empire that is capable of destroying entire planets. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, secretly a rebel leader, has obtained the schematics, but her ship is intercepted and boarded by Imperial forces under the command of Darth Vader. Leia is taken prisoner, but the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO escape with the plans, crash-landing on the nearby desert planet of Tatooine. Darth Vader orders his troops to pursue the droids.

The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell them to the moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew, Luke Skywalker. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he discovers a recording of Leia requesting help from a former ally named Obi-Wan Kenobi. R2-D2 goes missing, and while searching for him, Luke is attacked by Sand People. He is rescued by the elderly hermit Ben Kenobi, who soon reveals himself as Obi-Wan. He tells Luke about his past as one of the Jedi Knights, peacekeepers of the former Galactic Republic, who drew mystical abilities from the Force, an energy field that connects all living beings. He explains that the Jedi were all but exterminated by the Empire. Luke learns that his father, also a Jedi, fought alongside Obi-Wan during the Clone Wars until Vader, Obi-Wan's former pupil, turned to the dark side of the Force and murdered him. Obi-Wan gives Luke his father's lightsaber, the signature weapon of the Jedi.

R2-D2 plays Leia's full message, in which she begs Obi-Wan to take the Death Star plans to Alderaan and give them to her father, a fellow veteran, for analysis. Luke initially declines Obi-Wan's offer to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force. However, he quickly changes his mind after Imperial stormtroopers murder his family and destroy his home while searching for the droids. Seeking a way off the planet, Luke and Obi-Wan travel with the droids to the city of Mos Eisley and hire the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee partner Chewbacca, pilots of the starship Millennium Falcon.

On the way to Alderaan, Obi-Wan begins Luke's training in the use of the Force. Meanwhile, the Death Star, under the command of Grand Moff Tarkin, obliterates Alderaan with its superlaser. It then captures the Falcon with a tractor beam, but Luke and his companions manage to avoid detection and infiltrate the station. Vader, however, senses Obi-Wan's presence, and begins searching for him. As Obi-Wan deactivates the tractor beam, Luke persuades Han and Chewbacca to help him rescue Leia, who is scheduled for execution after refusing to reveal the location of the rebel base. After disabling the tractor beam, Obi-Wan is killed by Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel, which allows the rest of the group to escape. Using a tracking device placed on the Falcon, the Empire locates the rebel base on the moon Yavin 4.

Analysis of the Death Star schematics reveals a weakness in a small exhaust port leading directly to the station's reactor. Luke joins the Rebellion's X-wing squadron in a desperate attack against the Death Star, while Han and Chewbacca leave to pay off a debt to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. In the ensuing battle, Vader leads a squadron of TIE fighters and destroys several rebel ships, while Tarkin prepares to destroy Yavin 4 with the Death Star. Han and Chewbacca unexpectedly return in the Falcon, knocking Vader's ship off course before he can shoot Luke down. Guided by the voice of Obi-Wan's spirit, Luke uses the Force to aim his torpedoes into the exhaust port, causing the Death Star to explode moments before it can fire on the rebel base. In a triumphant ceremony, Leia awards Luke and Han medals for their heroism.

Cast

See also: List of Star Wars original trilogy characters and List of Star Wars cast members

Left to right: Mark Hamill (pictured in 2019), Harrison Ford (2017), and Carrie Fisher (2013)

• Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: A young adult raised by his aunt and uncle on Tatooine, who dreams of something more than his current life
• Harrison Ford as Han Solo: A smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon
• Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa: Princess of the planet Alderaan, member of the Imperial Senate, and a leader of the Rebel Alliance
• Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin: The commander of the Death Star
• Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi: An aging Jedi Master who introduces Luke to the Force
• Anthony Daniels as See Threepio (C3PO): A humanoid protocol droid
• Kenny Baker as Artoo Detoo (R2-D2): An astromech droid
• Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: Han's Wookiee friend and co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon
• David Prowse / James Earl Jones (voice) as Lord Darth Vader: Obi-Wan's former Jedi apprentice who fell to the dark side of the Force

Phil Brown and Shelagh Fraser appear as Luke's Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, respectively, and Jack Purvis portrays the Chief Jawa. Rebel leaders include Alex McCrindle as General Dodonna and Eddie Byrne as General Willard. Imperial commanders include Don Henderson as General Taggi, Richard LeParmentier as Admiral Motti, and Leslie Schofield as Commander #1. Rebel pilots are played by Drewe Henley (Red Leader, mistakenly credited as Drewe Hemley), Denis Lawson (Red Two/Wedge, credited as Dennis Lawson), Garrick Hagon (Red Three/Biggs), Jack Klaff (Red Four/John "D"), William Hootkins (Red Six/Porkins), Angus MacInnes (Gold Leader, credited as Angus McInnis), Jeremy Sinden (Gold Two), and Graham Ashley (Gold Five). Uncredited actors include Paul Blake and Maria De Aragon as the bounty hunter Greedo, Alfie Curtis as the outlaw who confronts Luke in the cantina, Shane Rimmer as a rebel technician on Yavin IV, and Peter Geddis as the rebel officer who is strangled by Darth Vader. Heavily synthesized audio recordings of John Wayne (from his earlier films) were used for the voice of Garindan, an Imperial spy.

Production

Development

Star Wars creator George Lucas (pictured in 1986)

George Lucas had been fascinated by the Flash Gordon serials (1936–40) since he was young, and prior to directing his first feature film, THX 1138 (1971), he considered developing a science fiction film with a similar escapist adventure tone. A conversation between Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz, during which both men discussed their dissatisfaction with the current trend toward dystopian and horror-focused science fiction films, set Lucas' project in motion. Lucas met with King Features in early 1971 about acquiring Flash Gordon's film rights, but the company was then pursuing Federico Fellini to direct a film version. Lucas became motivated to write an original space opera screenplay, inspired not only by Flash Gordon but also earlier science fiction works such as Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom series (1912–43) and Edwin Arnold's Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation (1905). Lucas later said that his goal was "to give young people an honest, wholesome fantasy life" which offered "the romance, the adventure, and the fun" that he found in older genre films.

In May 1971, Lucas pitched two film projects—American Graffiti (1973) and the space opera—to United Artists president David Picker. In August, the studio registered "The Star Wars" as a trademark with the Motion Picture Association of America. United Artists ultimately passed on Graffiti after reviewing Lucas's draft script. The film was then taken up by Ned Tanen at Universal Pictures, and Lucas directed it in 1972. Its release was uncertain after Tanen reacted poorly to a preview screening in January 1973. Since Lucas's next intended project, Apocalypse Now (1979), was stalled in development hell at Columbia Pictures, he began writing the space opera full-time in January 1973.

Lucas began by inventing exotic names for characters and places to develop the universe's atmosphere. Several of these names, though ultimately unused in the film, made it into later sequels. He compiled an unfinished two-page synopsis titled Journal of the Whills, which chronicled the tale of CJ Thorpe, apprentice to the legendary "Jedi-Bendu" Mace Windy. Lucas's agent Jeff Berg was confused by the plot and recommended he write something simpler. Lucas's second draft, a 10-page treatment titled The Star Wars, was completed in April 1973. This treatment borrowed narrative beats from Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film The Hidden Fortress.

While impressed with the innocence of the story and the sophistication of Lucas' fictional world, United Artists declined to fund the project. Lucas and Kurtz presented the treatment to Universal Pictures. Universal agreed it could be a successful venture, but declined to fund it, citing doubts about Lucas' ability to execute his vision. Kurtz claimed the studio's rejection was primarily due to Universal head Lew Wasserman's low opinion of science fiction, and the general unpopularity of the genre at the time. Francis Ford Coppola subsequently brought the project to a division of Paramount Pictures named the Directors Company he ran with fellow directors Peter Bogdanovich and William Friedkin, but Friedkin questioned Lucas' ability to direct the film, and both Friedkin and Bogdanovich declined to finance it. Walt Disney Productions also turned down the project.

Lucas pitched The Star Wars to Alan Ladd Jr., vice president of creative affairs at Twentieth Century-Fox. Ladd did not grasp the technical side of the project, but believed in Lucas' talent, and was enthused by a private screening of American Graffiti. He organised a deal memo, dated July 13, 1973, which gave Lucas $150,000 (equivalent to $1,100,000 in 2025) to write and direct The Star Wars. Lucas later remarked that Ladd invested in him rather than in the film. In August 1973, American Graffiti was released to major commercial success, which afforded Lucas the necessary leverage to renegotiate the deal and gain control of merchandising and sequel rights.

Writing

It's the flotsam and jetsam from the period when I was twelve years old. All the books and films and comics that I liked when I was a child. The plot is simple—good against evil—and the film is designed to be all the fun things and fantasy things I remember. The word for this movie is fun.

— George Lucas, 1977

Since commencing the writing process in January 1973, Lucas wrote four different screenplays for Star Wars, searching for "just the right ingredients, characters and storyline." By May 1974, he had expanded the original treatment into a full, 132-page rough draft, which included elements such as the Sith, the Death Star, and a general named Annikin Starkiller. He then changed Starkiller to an adolescent boy, and shifted the general—who came from a family of dwarfs—into a supporting role. Lucas envisioned the Corellian smuggler, Han Solo, as a large, green-skinned monster with gills. He based Chewbacca on his Alaskan Malamute dog, Indiana. She would sit in the passenger seat of his car while he was driving, and he referred to her as his "co-pilot". The dog's name would later be given to the character Indiana Jones.

Lucas completed a second draft in January 1975 entitled Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode One: The Star Wars. He had made substantial simplifications and introduced the young, farm-dwelling hero as Luke Starkiller. In this draft, Luke had several brothers. Annikin became Luke's father, a wise Jedi Knight who played a minor role at the end of the story. Early versions of the characters Han Solo and Chewbacca were present, and closely resemble those seen in the finished film. This draft introduced a mystical energy field called "The Force"; the concept of a Jedi turning to the dark side; and a Jedi who was the first to turn, and who subsequently trained the Sith. The script also included a Jedi Master with a son who trains under his father's friend. This version was more a fairy tale quest than the action-filled adventure story of the previous draft, and ended with a text crawl that previewed the next story in the series. According to Lucas, the second draft was over 200 pages long, which led him to split up the story into multiple films. This division caused problems with the first film; Lucas had to use the ending of Return of the Jedi for Star Wars, which resulted in a Death Star being included in both films.

While writing a third draft, Lucas claims to have been influenced by comics, J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces, James George Frazer's The Golden Bough, and Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment. The writer Michael Kaminski has objected to Lucas' claim regarding The Uses of Enchantment, arguing that it was not released until after Star Wars was filmed. Kaminski also claims that Campbell's influence on Star Wars has been exaggerated by Lucas and others, and that Lucas' second draft was "closer to Campbell's structure" than the third draft.

In February 1975, Twentieth-Century Fox granted the film a budget of $5 million (equivalent to $30 million in 2025 dollars), which was later increased to $8.25 million (equivalent to $49 million). Lucas then started writing with a budget in mind. He conceived the cheap, "used" look of much of the film, and—with Fox having just shut down its special effects department—reduced the number of complex special effects shots called for by the script. The completed third draft of the screenplay, dated August 1, 1975, was titled The Star Wars From the Adventures of Luke Starkiller. This version had most of the elements of the final plot, with only some differences in the characters and settings. It presented Luke as an only child whose father was already dead, and who was cared for by a man named Ben Kenobi. This script would be rewritten into a fourth and final draft, dated January 1, 1976, and titled The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars. Lucas' friends Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck helped him revise the fourth draft into the final pre-production script.

Lucas completed the shooting script in early 1976. During production, he changed Luke's surname from Starkiller to Skywalker, and changed the title first to The Star Wars, and then, finally, to Star Wars. The film's opening crawl was originally six paragraphs of four sentences each, and gave more detail about the universe and its lore. Filmmaker Brian De Palma, who watched an unfinished cut of the film in early 1977, criticized the crawl for being too long and incomprehensible. De Palma and Jay Cocks helped edit the crawl down to four sentences.

Casting

Left to right: Alec Guinness (pictured in 1973), Anthony Daniels (2011), and Peter Mayhew (2015)

Lucas had a preference for casting unknown or relatively unknown actors, which led him to select Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher for leading roles. Hamill was cast as Luke Skywalker over Robby Benson, Robert Englund, William Katt, Kurt Russell, and Charles Martin Smith, while Fisher was cast as Princess Leia over Karen Allen, Amy Irving, Terri Nunn, Cindy Williams, and Linda Purl. Jodie Foster was offered the role, but turned it down because she was under contract with Disney. Koo Stark was also considered for Leia, but was instead cast as Luke's friend Camie Marstrap, a character that was eventually cut from the film.

Lucas initially resisted casting Harrison Ford as Han Solo, since Ford had previously worked with Lucas on American Graffiti, and was therefore not unknown. Instead, Lucas asked Ford to assist with auditions by reading lines with other actors. He was eventually won over by Ford, and cast him as Han over many other actors who auditioned, including James Caan, Chevy Chase, Robert De Niro, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Englund, Yaphet Kotto, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Jack Nicholson, Nick Nolte, Burt Reynolds, Kurt Russell, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, Glynn Turman, Christopher Walken, and Perry King, who later played Han in the radio series. Al Pacino turned down the part because he did not understand the script.

Lucas believed that he needed an established star to play Obi-Wan Kenobi. He considered Peter Cushing for the role, but decided the actor's lean features would be better employed as the villainous Tarkin. Kurtz felt a strong character actor was required to convey the "stability and gravitas" of Obi-Wan. Before Alec Guinness was cast, the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune—who starred in many Akira Kurosawa films—was considered for the role. Mifune's daughter said her father had "samurai pride" and turned down the roles of Obi-Wan and Vader over concerns that poor special effects would cheapen the image of samurai. Guinness was surprised by the offer and disliked the script's "ropey" dialogue, but took the role as he "had to go on turning the page". Lucas credited Guinness with inspiring the cast and crew to work harder, which contributed significantly to the completion of filming. Ford said he admired Guinness' preparation, professionalism and kindness towards the other actors. He recalled that Guinness had "a very clear head about how to serve the story." On top of his salary, Guinness received 2.25% of the film's backend grosses, which made him wealthy later in life.

Anthony Daniels sought the role of C-3PO after he saw Ralph McQuarrie's concept painting of the character and was struck by the vulnerability in the droid's face. After casting Daniels for the physical performance, Lucas intended to hire another actor for the droid's voice. According to Daniels, thirty well-established actors auditioned—including Dreyfuss and Mel Blanc—but Daniels received the voice role after one of the actors suggested the idea to Lucas.

Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) were cast largely due to their height. At 3 feet 8 inches (1.12 m), Baker was offered the role of the diminutive R2-D2 immediately after meeting Lucas. He turned it down multiple times, however, before finally accepting it. R2-D2's beeps and squeaks were made by the film's sound designer, Ben Burtt, by imitating baby noises, recording his voice over an intercom, and finally mixing the sounds together using a synthesizer. Mayhew initially auditioned for Vader, but David Prowse was cast instead. When Lucas and Kurtz saw Mayhew's 7-foot-3-inch (2.21 m) stature, they quickly cast him as Chewbacca. Mayhew modeled his performance on the mannerisms of animals he observed in public zoos.

Prowse was originally offered the role of Chewbacca, but turned it down, as he wanted to play the villain. Prowse portrayed Vader physically, but Lucas felt his West Country English accent was inappropriate for the character, and selected James Earl Jones for Vader's voice. Lucas considered Orson Welles for the voice role, but was concerned his voice would be too familiar to audiences. Audiences and critics, however, immediately recognized Jones' voice in the film. Jones was uncredited as Vader in Star Wars films until 1983, although he was credited in the 1978 television special, Star Wars Holiday Special.

Design

During pre-production, Lucas recruited several conceptual designers: Colin Cantwell, who visualized the initial spacecraft models; Alex Tavoularis, who created