Few cultural phenomena have reshaped an entire industry the way Star Wars did. When George Lucas released the original film on May 25, 1977, 20th Century Fox expected limited returns and gave it a relatively modest budget, moving production to Elstree Studios in England to cut costs. What followed was one of the most seismic moments in cinema history. Within three weeks of release, Fox’s stock price doubled to a record high. The studio’s annual profits jumped from a previous record of $37 million to $79 million in 1977 alone. Along with Jaws, Star Wars invented the summer blockbuster model, created the template for merchandising rights as a primary revenue stream, and fundamentally altered what Hollywood believed movies could be. Roger Ebert placed it alongside ‘The Birth of a Nation’ and ‘Citizen Kane’ as a technical watershed. The franchise has since generated over $10 billion in combined theatrical box office and remains one of the highest-grossing media franchises in history. Here are five facts that go deeper than the mythology.
George Lucas Took a Pay Cut in Exchange for Merchandising Rights, and It Made Him a Billionaire
While filming the original 1977 film, Lucas voluntarily reduced his salary as director by $500,000 in exchange for full ownership of the franchise’s merchandising rights. Fox agreed, expecting the deal to cost them nothing. By 1987, the first three films alone had generated US$2.6 billion in merchandising revenue. By 2012, the first six films had produced approximately US$20 billion in merchandising. The decision is widely considered one of the shrewdest business moves in entertainment history, and it created the model that every major franchise has followed since.
The Title “Episode IV: A New Hope” Wasn’t Added Until 1979
When Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, it had no episode number and no subtitle. It was simply called Star Wars. The designation “Episode IV: A New Hope” was first made public when it appeared in the screenplay published in the 1979 book ‘The Art of Star Wars.’ It was not added to the film’s opening crawl until 1981, four years after the movie came out, once Lucas had decided to make the broader nine-film structure official.
Lucas Originally Wanted to Adapt Flash Gordon and Couldn’t Get the Rights
The entire Star Wars universe exists because of a licensing rejection. In 1971, Lucas wanted to film an adaptation of the Flash Gordon serial. When he was unable to obtain the rights, he began developing his own space opera from scratch. His research into what inspired Flash Gordon led him to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, particularly the John Carter of Mars series, which shaped the direction of his original story treatments. The inability to secure one set of rights produced one of the most valuable franchises in history.
The Star Wars Comics Saved Marvel From Financial Collapse in 1977 and 1978
When Marvel Comics launched its Star Wars comic series in 1977, the books became the industry’s top-selling titles almost immediately. According to Marvel Comics former Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, the strong sales of Star Wars comics were a significant factor in Marvel’s survival through two very difficult years. The series was one of the industry’s top-selling titles in 1979 and 1980. Disney, which later acquired both Marvel and Lucasfilm, now owns both companies whose fortunes were once intertwined in this way.
George Lucas Licensed the Star Wars Radio Rights to a University Radio Station for One Dollar
Lucas was a fan of KUSC-FM, the NPR-affiliated campus radio station of his alma mater the University of Southern California. He licensed the Star Wars radio rights to the station for US$1. The resulting production used John Williams’s original film score and Ben Burtt’s sound effects, was written by science-fiction author Brian Daley, and was broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981, adapting the original film into 13 episodes. Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels reprised their roles. Its success led to adaptations of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi.’