Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope

Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first part of the Star Wars original trilogy and the first Star Wars film released.

The film is set 19 years after the formation of the Galactic Empire and the events of Revenge of the Sith; construction has finished on the Death Star, a weapon capable of destroying a planet. After Princess Leia Organa, a leader of the Rebel Alliance, receives the weapon's plans in the hope of finding a weakness, she is kidnapped and taken to the Death Star. Meanwhile, a young farmer named Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has lived in seclusion for years on the desert planet of Tatooine. When Luke's home is burned and his aunt and uncle killed, Obi-Wan begins Luke's Jedi training as they—along with Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2 attempt to rescue the princess from the Empire.

Inspired by films like the Flash Gordon serials and the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, as well as such critical works as Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces and Frank Herbert's Dune books, Lucas began work on Star Wars in 1974. Ground-breaking in its use of special effects, this is considered to be among the most successful—and most influential—films of all time. Produced with a budget of US$11,000,000 and released on May 25, 1977, the film became one of the most successful of all time, earning $215 million in the United States and $337 million overseas during its original theatrical release, as well as winning several film awards, including 10 Academy Award nominations. It was re-released several times, sometimes with significant changes; the most notable versions were the 1997 Special Edition and the 2004 DVD, which were modified with CGI effects and recreated scenes. It was re-released in the Blu-ray format in September of 2011 and 4K in 2020. A full remaster of the original 1977 version will be re-released in theaters on February 19, 2027. The film was selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress as part of its National Film Registry in 1989, the program's first year in existence.

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