Star Wars original trilogy

Star Wars Trilogy
The original Star Wars trilogy logos
Directed by	George Lucas (IV) Irvin Kershner (V) Richard Marquand (VI)
Screenplay by	George Lucas (IV, VI) Lawrence Kasdan (V–VI) Leigh Brackett (V)
Story by	George Lucas
Produced by	Gary Kurtz (IV–V) Howard Kazanjian (VI)
Starring	Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher Peter Cushing (IV) Alec Guinness Billy Dee Williams (V–VI) Anthony Daniels David Prowse James Earl Jones Kenny Baker Peter Mayhew Frank Oz (V–VI) Ian McDiarmid (VI)
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor (IV) Peter Suschitzky (V) Alan Hume (VI)
Edited by	Marcia Lucas (IV, VI) Paul Hirsch (IV–V) Richard Chew (IV) Sean Barton (VI) Duwayne Dunham (VI)
Music by	John Williams
Production company	Lucasfilm Ltd.
Distributed by	1977–2019: 20th Century Fox since 2019: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures[a]
Release dates	May 25, 1977 (1977-05-25) (Star Wars) May 21, 1980 (1980-05-21) (The Empire Strikes Back) May 25, 1983 (1983-05-25) (Return of the Jedi)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$76.5 million (total for IV–VI)
Box office	$1.798 billion (total for IV–VI)

The original Star Wars trilogy, formerly marketed as the Star Wars Trilogy (and colloquially referred to as the 'original trilogy'), is the first set of three films produced in the Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox, and consists of Star Wars (1977),^[b] The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Beginning in medias res, the original trilogy serves as the second act of the nine-episode Skywalker Saga. It was followed by a prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019. Collectively, they are referred to as the "Skywalker Saga" to distinguish them from spin-off films set within the same universe.^[1]

The films center on the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the tyrannical Galactic Empire, as well as the archetypical hero's journey of Luke Skywalker in his quest to become a Jedi under the tutelage of exiled Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Luke joins forces with Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2 and the Rebel Alliance in facing the Empire and the evil Sith lord Darth Vader.

The original Star Wars film received widespread acclaim from critics for its storytelling, characters, John Williams' musical score and its groundbreaking visual and sound effects. The film surpassed 1975's Jaws as the highest grossing film of all time, turning science fiction films into a blockbuster genre, until it was surpassed by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982. Both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back have been hailed as among the greatest and most important films of all time. With the trilogy's success, Star Wars became a pop culture phenomenon, spawning a multi-million dollar merchandising empire. All three films have been inducted by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

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