Encyclopedia
Star Wars is a science fantasy and fictional galaxy created by writer / producer /
director George Lucas during the 1970s. The saga began with the film
, which was released on May 25, 1977, by
20th Century Fox. The film became a pop culture worldwide phenomenon - spawning five more feature films , three , five and an extensive collection of licensed
books,
comics,
video games, and other products - all of which are set within a fictional "
galaxy far, far away."
An example of the
space opera genre, the
Star Wars story employs archetypal motifs common to both modern
science fiction and ancient mythology, as well as the romantic music motifs now often associated with those genres.
Feature films
>| Episode | Release date |
|---|
| I. | May 19, 1999 |
| II. | May 16, 2002 |
| III. | May 19, 2005 |
| IV. | May 25, 1977 |
| V. | May 21, 1980 |
| VI. | May 25, 1983 |
Although The Ewok Adventure, later renamed
, played in theaters in
Europe and
Australia and is technically a
Star Wars feature film, it is generally associated with television, therefore it is covered in the
television section below.
Setting
Unlike the traditional science fiction films preceding it, the
Star Wars world was initially portrayed as dirty and grimy, rather than sleek and futuristic. In interviews, Lucas tells of rubbing the new props with dirt to make them look weather-worn, a concept he has referred to as "a used or ancient future", a concept further popularized in the film Alien of the same era. He may have been inspired by
Sergio Leone, whose 1960s films performed a similar function for the
Western genre. It is also possible that he may have received the idea from
Akira Kurosawa, who believed that it gave his actors a more authentic look.
Each
Star Wars film opens with the text, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." Lucas intended this as an allusion to the classic
fairy tale opening of, "Once upon a time, in a faraway land..." This is the only way the
Star Wars Galaxy has been defined in relation to the real world. To some, Lucas's allusion suggests that the films are to be interpreted as myths of the future, rather than literal events of the past. Lucas intentionally left the details open to interpretation. Events occur in the
Star Wars galaxy; although the film series itself spans the events of only two generations, other stories set in the
Star Wars universe cover events that span millennia.
The
Star Wars films use an opening text to provide the audience with the background to the story. Lucas emulated the
Flash Gordon is a science fiction [i] comic strip [i] originally drawn by Alex Raymond [i], first pu ...
serials by having his opening text "crawl" up the screen from bottom to top at a high pitched angle, as if the text were disappearing into the distant starscape. Also in all
Star Wars films, a
starship of some kind whooshes by after the crawl disappears completely. In a May 15, 2005, interview with the
Chicago Sun-Times is an American [i] daily newspaper [i] published in Chicago, Illinois [i]...
, Lucas described the creation of the distinctive crawl: "The crawl is such a hard thing because you have to be careful that you're not using too many words that people don't understand. It's like a poem. I showed the very first crawl to a bunch of friends of mine in the '70s. It went on for six paragraphs with four sentences each.
Brian De Palma was there, and he threw his hands up in the air and said, 'George, you're out of your mind! Let me sit down and write this for you.' He helped me chop it down into the form that exists today."
The saga shows us a very "ancient" galactic civilization thousands of years old. The setting is totally unrelated to
Earth or our galaxy, which gives it more liberty, in a sense. The Star Wars Galaxy prominently features aliens who are essentially identical to humans. Their civilization was able to develop space travel, terraform, build
ecumenopolises and build space colonies 200,000 years "ago."
Star Wars melds science with supernatural elements that strongly relate to epic stories and fairy tales . The scope of Star Wars history spans over 5,100 years among all the Star Wars fiction produced so far , even though the films span only two generations. Later novels from a series dubbed New Jedi Order opened up the
Star Wars setting with alien beings named
Yuuzhan Vong that came from a different galaxy. Most aliens prior to this series came from the one galaxy in which the films are set.
Plot
Episodes I, II, and III chronicle the downfall of the Old Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire. It is also the story of
Anakin Skywalker's rise as a gifted young
Jedi and his eventual fall to the Dark Side of the Force.
In the first film,
Darth Sidious manipulates the
Trade Federation into invading and occupying the planet
Naboo. Sidious concurrently maintains his public identity as Palpatine, a senator in the Galactic Republic, and uses the crisis to convince the Senate to elect him as Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He then, in the second film, further manipulates the Senate into granting him emergency powers and orchestrates the Clone Wars, a conflict between the Republic and a
Separatist movement .
Meanwhile, a young boy named Anakin Skywalker, incredibly strong with the Force, is discovered by Jedi
Qui-Gon Jinn. Qui-Gon believes Anakin is the Chosen One, prophesied to bring balance to the Force. When Qui-Gon is killed by Sith Lord
Darth Maul, it is left to his apprentice
Obi-Wan Kenobi to train the boy. Anakin grows powerful with the Force, and his skill causes him to become arrogant and chafe against Obi-Wan's training, which he feels is restrictive. Against the strictest rules of the Jedi Order, Anakin falls in love with
Padmé Amidala, queen and later senator of Naboo. The two wed in secret, since attachment is forbidden for a Jedi, as it can create a fear of loss that can lead to the Dark Side of the Force. The Clone Wars begin to rage through every part of the known galaxy, and the Jedi fight tirelessly to bring peace back to the Republic. Anakin and Padmé continue to keep their marriage a secret, but soon Padmé becomes pregnant. Although thrilled by the news, Anakin begins to have visions of Padmé's death. The secretive nature of their relationship forces him to seek help outside of the Jedi order, and he desperately asks Senator
Palpatine for help. Sidious seizes this opportunity to tempt Anakin to the Dark Side, promising that Padmé can be saved if he joins the Sith. Tragically, Anakin is still unable to save Padmé, and becomes indirectly responsible for causing her death. By this point it is too late and Anakin has now become the Sith Lord
Darth Vader who goes on to hunt down and destroy all the remaining Jedi in the galaxy . Padmé dies giving birth to twins, whom she names
Luke and
Leia. The twins are given to two separate willing parties for safety: Luke to Anakin's stepbrother Owen Lars and his wife Beru on
Tatooine; Leia to Senator Bail Organa and his wife on the planet
Alderaan. Obi Wan-Kenobi and Yoda, the last remaining Jedi, exile themselves, Obi-Wan on Tatooine , Yoda on the bog-like world of Dagobah. Sidious declares himself emperor and turns the Galactic Republic into the First Galactic Empire.
Episodes IV, V, and VI pick up approximately nineteen years after the events of Episode III, during the
Galactic Civil War, which leads to the downfall of the Galactic Empire at the hands of the
Rebel Alliance. These films follow the story of Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin Skywalker, and his rise in the rebellion against the Empire. Leia, now a princess and a member of the Imperial Senate, sends a message for help to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke inadvertently intercepts the message and meets Kenobi. After the murder of his aunt and uncle by
Imperial Stormtroopers, Luke joins the ragtag Rebel Alliance — traveling with Kenobi, his sister Leia Organa , smuggler
Han Solo and his friend
Lando Calrissian, Solo's
Wookiee companion
Chewbacca, and the droids
C-3PO and
R2-D2.
He trains with Kenobi and subsequently Yoda to become a Jedi like his father, who he believes was betrayed and murdered by Darth Vader. When Luke learns the truth — that his father is Darth Vader — he is profoundly shaken. Despite this, Luke successfully resists the efforts of Vader and Palpatine to turn him to the Dark Side and, instead, succeeds in turning his father back to the Light Side of the Force. Vader, having turned from the Dark Side, then kills Emperor Palpatine in order to save his son, but is mortally wounded in the process. Meanwhile, the Rebel fleet scores a decisive victory against the Empire by destroying the second
Death Star. The Rebel Alliance's victory eventually leads to the end of the Galactic Civil War and the downfall of the Empire.
Themes
George Lucas embraces a style of epic storytelling that uses motifs, common themes and concepts which he alters slightly each time they occur. The concept is lifted from Romantic music, but Lucas applies it both visually and as an integral part of his storytelling.
On a larger scale, there are many parallels between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy; the stories of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker echo and reflect each other in myriad ways.
The Force is one of the most recognizable elements of the
Star Wars mythos. It is described by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original
Star Wars film as, "An energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together."
Those who can use the Force, such as the Jedi, can perform feats of telepathy, psychokinesis, prescience, clairvoyance, and mental control. Two aspects of the Force are emphasized: the
light side and the
dark side. The light side of the Force is the facet aligned with good, benevolence, and healing. The dark side of the Force is aligned with fear, hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The dark side seems more powerful, especially to those who use it, because it is driven by rage and hatred — its effects are more direct and easier and faster to achieve. In reality, neither the light nor the dark side of the Force is stronger than the other, each possessing its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, the dark side conveys an inherent disadvantage to its users, which is arrogance and overconfidence in their own abilities. However, this aggression allows its acolytes to become more formidable warriors — illustrated when Luke is able to finally overcome his father in battle because of his anger at the thought of his sister turning to the dark side. On the other hand, Jedi can occasionally become crippled by their compassion and act "soft." This is balanced by an ability to remain calm even in extreme circumstances.
Influences
Many different influences have been suggested for the
Star Wars films by fans, critics, and George Lucas himself. For example, Lucas acknowledges that the plot and characters in the 1958 Japanese film
The Hidden Fortress is the English title for
???????, a 1958 [i] film by Akira Kurosawa [i], s ...
, directed by
Akira Kurosawa, were a major inspiration. Lucas has said in an interview, which is included on the DVD edition of
The Hidden Fortress, that the movie influenced him to tell the story of
Star Wars from the viewpoint of the humble
droids, rather than a major player. It also played a role in the conception of Darth Vader, whose trademark black helmet intentionally resembles the black
kabuto of the arch-villain in Kurosawa's
The Seven Samurai. The Jedi, nearly extinct futuristic
knights of the former Republic, also have a high influence from the
Samurai as spiritual warriors and duelists with a strong sense of honor and devotion to their duty. Their traditional clothing even resembles
kimonos.
Prior to writing the script for
Star Wars, George Lucas originally wanted to make a film of
Flash Gordon. The rights for
Flash Gordon, however, were held by Dino De Laurentiis, and Lucas decided to work on his own science fiction project instead.
Another influence in Lucas's creation of
Star Wars was the writings of
Joseph Campbell. Campbell's work explored the common meanings, structures, and purposes of the world's mythologies. Lucas has stated that his intention was to create in
Star Wars a modern mythology based on Campbell's work. The original
Star Wars film, episode IV, for example, closely followed the archetypal "hero's journey", as described in Campbell's
The Hero with a Thousand Faces. This influence was discussed by
Bill Moyers and Campbell in the
PBS mini-series,
The Power of Myth and by Lucas and Moyers in the 1999 program,
Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas & Bill Moyers. In addition, the
National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution sponsored an exhibit during the late 1990s called
Star Wars: The Magic of Myth which discussed the ways in which Campbell's work shaped the
Star Wars films. A companion guide of the same name was published in 1997.
It is thought that the setting for the
Star Wars universe came from
Isaac Asimov's
Foundation Trilogy, published in the early 1950s. This saga also involves a galaxy teeming with inhabited worlds held together by a collapsing galactic empire using hyperdrives . It also features the planet Trantor, which is entirely covered by the galaxy's capital, similar to
Coruscant, and the protagonist of
Foundation and Empire is Lathan Devers, a character resembling Han Solo. Even lightsabers have precursors in the
The Foundation Trilogy as force field penknives. The planet Korrell is thought to be the basis of the planet
Corellia.
It is often argued that
Star Wars was influenced by
Frank Herbert's classic science fiction book
Dune. Many elements of
Star Wars are also evident in
Dune. There are so many similarities, in fact, some
Dune devotees consider
Star Wars little more than a campy film adaptation of Herbert's work. While this is likely an exaggeration, many of the similarities are striking. For example, both
Dune and
Star Wars are set on desert planets. Both stories feature a mystical knighthood of sorts — the Jedi in
Star Wars and the
Fremen of
Dune. In both stories the hero is a messiah-like character, uses mystical powers, exhibits mind control , and duels opponents with sword-like weapons. Finally, both stories describe a corrupt empire and the hero's efforts to overcome it.
Some comic book fans have drawn parallels between
Star Wars and
Jack Kirby’s epic Fourth World series, published by
DC Comics. The cosmos-spanning series of titles was never completed because DC canceled it, citing low sales. At the heart of the series was the battle between Orion of the New Gods and his villainous father,
Darkseid Orion called upon the mystical force known as "the source" to aid him in this struggle. The Death Star is somewhat reminiscent of Apokolips, Darkseid’s home planet. Likewise, Darkseid's headpiece is similar in structure to Vader's.
Furthermore, Orion, like Luke Skywalker, was separated from his evil father at birth, growing up ignorant of his true parentage. Also like Skywalker, Orion was mentored by an old man who carried a staff and was far more powerful than his appearance suggested; the Highfather. Finally, both Orion and Skywalker are forced to struggle not only against their biological father's dreams of universal conquest but also against their own inner darkness.
Also, Darth Vader shares some visual similarities with Kirby’s armored über-villain
Dr. Doom, co-created with editor/scripter
Stan Lee at
Marvel Comics.
The
Star Wars saga has also been influenced by historical events; Lucas claims to have drawn on
ancient Rome,
World War II and the
Vietnam War for inspiration. The reference to the historical past can be seen with Lucas's use of 'stormtroopers', commonly associated with the stormtroopers of
World War I Germany and
Nazi Germany, and also associated with the SS under Hitler in World War II. These troopers acted as the Nazi party’s military force, under Hitler’s direct control. Similarly, the stormtroopers of Star Wars acted as the Empire’s military force, under Palpatine’s direct control. Lucas also based the space battles in
A New Hope on World War II-era aerial
dog fights. The rise of Palpatine mirrors
Hitler in that a democracy becomes an empire.
Scripts
The
Star Wars saga began with a 14-page treatment for a space adventure movie that Lucas drafted in 1973, inspired by multiple myths and classic stories. According to one source, Lucas initially wrote summaries for fifteen stories that would make up the
Star Wars saga. Out of these fifteen stories, Lucas originally planned to film only one of them as a feature film. Then, in 1978, following the success of the first released
Star Wars film, he publicly announced that he would create a total of twelve films to chronicle the adventures of Luke Skywalker . In 1979, Lucas retracted his former statement, saying that he would instead make nine films. Four years later, having completed
Return of the Jedi, Lucas announced that he was putting
Star Wars on indefinite hold until special-effects technology had improved to his satisfaction. Finally, in 1995, Lucas decided that he would produce the trilogy of
prequels , for a total of six films. He also claimed at the time that he had always envisioned "the whole thing as a series of six films".
Other sources, including publicly available draft scripts of
Star Wars, show that Lucas had an incomplete and quickly-changing conception of the
Star Wars story up until the release of the first film in 1977. Story elements such as the
Kaiburr crystal present in early scripts are missing entirely in the films, while names were freely exchanged between different planets and characters — "Organa Major" being the original name for
Alderaan, for instance . Even as late as the production of
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi, there were significant differences from the films which emerged — for example,
Lando Calrissian being a clone from the Clone Wars and the climactic battle of
Return of the Jedi taking place against two Death Stars orbiting the Imperial capital planet, then known as Had Abbadon. Another version of the
Return of the Jedi script had Luke turning to the dark side after killing Darth Vader. Leia would then become the next Jedi to fight the dark side. This did not happen, however, because Lucas felt that the ending would be too dark, especially for children, who were a major target audience. Also, George Lucas had the script of
The Empire Strikes Back saying that "Obi-Wan killed your father," all the while having the "I am your father" line in mind. Since Darth Vader's voice was overdubbed by
James Earl Jones, the true line was revealed in post-production. In addition, the story released as the novel
Splinter of the Mind's Eye is a
Star Wars [i] novel written by Alan Dean Foster [i] and original ...
was intended as a possible direction for a low-budget
Star Wars sequel — however, the success of
A New Hope allowed Lucas to pursue the more ambitious
The Empire Strikes Back instead.
Lucas has been criticized for allegedly deviating from his original conception of the universe that was introduced in the original 1977 film. It has been theorized by some that developments in the later films, including the revelation of Darth Vader as the father of Luke Skywalker, the revelation of Princess Leia as Luke's sister, and the progression of Darth Vader from a powerful lackey serving under
Grand Moff Tarkin to a much-feared military leader answerable only to the Emperor go completely against the history/characters/relationships that were established in the original 1977 film. The Star Wars prequel trilogy has also been accused of similar retroactive changes that were allegedly not part of Lucas' original concept for Star Wars.
For his part, Lucas claimed in a segment filmed for the
THX-remastered
VHS release of the original trilogy that the original
Star Wars story was intended as a single film but was later split into three because the story was too long to be told in a single film. In the
DVD commentaries for the original trilogy, Lucas claims that many story elements were changed within the production of the films — for instance, the attack on the Death Star in
A New Hope was moved from the end of the trilogy in order to strengthen
A New Hope on its own merits, while the character of Chewbacca established the Wookiees as a technologically advanced race, necessitating their replacement with Ewoks in
Return of the Jedi. Other changes, including the death of Obi-Wan in
A New Hope, were made during the filming. Lucas also stated in the commentaries that the prequel stories existed only as "notes" explaining the backstories of characters such as Obi-Wan. In an interview with
Wired prior to the release of
The Phantom Menace, Lucas remarked that he had allowed the publication of novels written as sequels to the films because he would never make the sequels himself.
Lucas's history of different statements regarding his future and past plans for the
Star Wars saga have caused a great deal of popular confusion, while drawing criticism from some. For example, some still believe that Lucas's original plan was for a "trilogy of trilogies," based on early statements made by Lucasfilm regarding sequels. For more information on the supposed sequel trilogy, see Sequel trilogy .
It has been reported that Lucas's original script was almost 500 pages long. The title, originally
The Adventures of Luke Starkiller, was changed several times before becoming
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
Production and release
The
Star Wars film series was shot in an original
aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The "original trilogy" was shot with
anamorphic lenses , while Episode I was shot in Arriscope film format, and Episodes II and III were shot with Sony's
CineAlta high-definition digital camera.
There were countless problems during the production of
Episode IV, and few critics expected the film to achieve the measure of success it did. Many problems with effects, editing, funding, and shooting caused the film to be pushed back from its expected release date of December 1976. The production company, not to mention many involved in the actual production, had little faith in the movie. According to reports, it was a daily struggle merely to complete the film on time. Despite these difficulties, the first film was released on May 25, 1977, and became a surprise hit. Though its novelization had hit the shelves six months earlier, the book had not seen nearly the amount of interest that the film would draw.
Filming locations
Episodes IV, V, and VI were shot at, among other locations, Elstree Studios, in
Hertfordshire,
England. The outdoor scenes from the ice planet
Hoth in
Episode V were shot at Finse,
Norway. Also, one shot of the Rebel Base on Yavin IV in Episode IV was of Mayan temples in
Tikal,
Guatemala.
The Phantom Menace was filmed at Leavesden Film Studios and the subsequent prequels were filmed in
Sydney,
Australia.
Tunisia, and the sand dunes of Yuma, Arizona, have served as the location for filming scenes set on the desert planet
Tatooine in
A New Hope,
Return of the Jedi,
The Phantom Menace,
Attack of the Clones, and
Revenge of the Sith. Italy's
Caserta Palace was used to create the Theed palace on Queen Amidala's home planet, Naboo, and some scenes were also shot at
Italy's
Lake Como.
Both the "original trilogy" and the "prequel trilogy" were released over a period of six years , each movie taking two years to produce.
Musical score
The scores for all six
Star Wars films were composed by
John Williams. Lucas's intentions for
Star Wars involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important objects; an approach used to great effect, for instance, in the operas of
Richard Wagner. Toward this end, Lucas put together a collection of classical and Romantic pieces for composer Williams to review, as an idea of what effects Lucas desired for the films. The music Williams composed was often distinctly reminiscent of the original pieces. Williams' score for
Star Wars in 1977 set a new standard for science fiction films by drawing its inspiration primarily from a palette of Romantic symphonies, rather than creating completely new music Although Williams had already established himself as a film composer with scores for blockbusters such as
The Poseidon Adventure and
Jaws, the
Star Wars score gave him international recognition.
Williams' scores for the original trilogy were primarily motif-based: individual characters and settings were each given their own, unique musical theme which would identify their presence in the film, whether physically or figuratively. By combining and varying these motifs, Williams could create a score possessed of a rich, interwoven fabric.
By the time of the prequel trilogy, however, Williams had grown and changed as a composer. His new scores de-emphasized motifs, tending to weave them subtly into a broader and more dynamic musical composition. He had also expanded his use of thematic motifs, using the technique to highlight the emotional or archetypal structure of the film, rather than the more literal associations to character and setting used in the earlier scores.
Re-releases
In 1997,
A New Hope,
The Empire Strikes Back, and
Return of the Jedi were re-mastered and theatrically re-released as the "Special Editions." It was one of the first films series to be re-mastered in this way, and the trend of re-mastering and re-releasing films has proven to be extremely successful and many other movies and series have followed suit. For the re-release, in addition to extensive clean-up and restoration work, Lucas also made several
changes to the films in order to "finish the film the way it was meant to be" . Many of Lucas' changes for the Special Editions were cosmetic, generally adding special effects which were not originally possible. Other changes, however, are considered to have affected plot or character development. These changes, such as the change often referred to by fans as "
Han shot first," have proven to be controversial, inciting considerable criticism of George Lucas by fans, and was one of the first causes of what came to be known as Lucas bashing.
In 2004, in addition to an extensive and comprehensive hi-definition digital cleanup and restoration job by Lowry Digital, the original films were changed once again for their release on DVD. In these new versions of the films, in addition to new scenes and major image adjustments designed to make the films visually resemble the prequels, a few changes which had been made for the 1997 Special Editions were removed. With this release, Lucasfilm created a new high-definition master of the films, which will be used in future releases as well.
Although the original films have undergone significant alterations over the years, the prequel films have received only minor changes from their theatrical versions. The DVD releases of
The Phantom Menace,
Attack of the Clones, and
Revenge of the Sith have had such elements altered as small additions of scenes, touch-ups in effects, and small sound changes.
For many years, Lucas has stated that the original, unaltered versions of the trilogy would never be released again, having been released for the last time on VHS and
Laserdisc in 1995. However, on May 3, 2006, Lucasfilm announced on the official
Star Wars site that due to "overwhelming demand", the original versions would be released on DVD on September 12, 2006. Each film was released as a two-disc set with the 2004 versions of the films on one disc, and the original, unaltered film on the second disc, as a bonus feature. The set is only available until December 31, 2006, then will be withdrawn from the market.
There has been controversy surrounding this release, since it was revealed that the DVDs featured non-anamorphic versions of the original, unaltered films based on laserdisc releases from 1993 . Since non-anamorphic transfers fail to make full use of the resolution available on widescreen sets, many fans were upset over this choice.
Future Releases
At a ShoWest convention in 2005, George Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he planned to release all six films in a new
3-D film format, beginning with
A New Hope in 2007.
Additionally, Lucas has hinted in the past that he will release his definitive editions of all six of his
Star Wars films on a next-generation home-video format in 2007. This release would coincide with the 30th anniversary of the
Star Wars saga. It has been speculated that he will take this opportunity to make any final adjustments, changes, additions, and/or subtractions to his films for this final release. An altered clip from
The Phantom Menace included in a featurette on the DVD release of
Revenge of the Sith appears to be a sign that the "archival" editions are indeed in the works.
It is said that this edition will be released in a "Grand Saga" box set. Lucasfilm Vice President of Marketing Jim Ward confirmed that in this final release, Lucasfilm is likely to return to John Lowry to do even more work on the films . He says, "As the technology evolves and we get into a high-definition platform that is easily consumable by our customers, the situation is much better, but there will always be work to be done."
Producer Rick McCallum has also explained that Lucasfilm has been holding back a large amount of bonus material for this release, including deleted scenes, as well as numerous previous
Star Wars "making-ofs," spin-offs, television specials, documentaries, and other special material.
There has much hope for another Star Wars trilogy but George Lucas has said that there are no plans for episodes 7, 8, and 9.
Television rights
Aside from pay-per-view cable showings, the original
Star Wars movie first saw TV release in 1983 on all the major pay-cable networks .
CBS had exclusive network rights when it aired on commercial television one year later, and continued on CBS for several years. The remaining films in the original trilogy also made their cable rounds before airing on network television . In 1992, the Sci-Fi Channel became the first U.S. network to air the three then-existing episodes in the saga. Sci-Fi retained TV rights until 1996, in preparation for the theatrical release of the "Special Editions" of the original trilogy. In 1998, a year after the SE releases,
Showtime acquired limited one-month premium cable rights to the "Special Edition" of
Star Wars for airing in January. It continued on broadcast stations, including superstations TBS and
WGN, for several years after).
In 1999, to promote
, the remaining "Special Edition" films aired on U.S. broadcast network
Fox . That same year, Fox acquired all television rights to Episode I after the premium cable networks declined due to cost. A similar situation nearly happened with
, until
HBO struck a last-minute deal with Fox and Lucasfilm for the exclusive pay-cable rights. Episode II, like its predecessor, never saw prior pay-per-view cable release, but it did run on HBO and sister network
Cinemax during its 18-month term of license. The Fox network acquired the U.S. network television rights. In April/May 2005, to promote the then-upcoming
, Episodes I, IV, V, and VI were placed in limited
syndicated television distribution, while the Fox network was able to air Episode II in mid-May, prior to Episode III's initial theatrical release.
During negotiations for the cable rights to Episode II, HBO/Cinemax also struck a first-look deal for Episode III, which they accepted and is currently on its initial 18-month term of license . In addition, the
Time Warner-owned networks were able to win the right to become the first U.S. television network system to air all six films in the saga, and Cinemax will air them beginning November 2006 in High Definition. The versions of Episodes IV, V, and VI that will be aired will be the 2004 DVD Special Editions, as they are the current canonical versions. In the UK, Sky purchased the rights to air all six movies in August 2006, becoming the first English-language television network to air all six films, which will be aired in order of release, beginning with the original Episode IV. Afterwards, the episodes will continue to be shown during the "100 films a month" cycles on Sky Movies. Meanwhile Spike TV, in a separate deal, acquired the commercial broadcast rights to Episode III, including the right to become the first broadcast network to air all six films .
Expanded Universe
The term "Expanded Universe" has come into existence as an umbrella term for all of the officially licensed
Star Wars material outside of the six feature films. This includes television productions, books, comics, games, and other forms of media. The material expands and continues the stories told in the films, taking place anywhere from 25,000 years before
The Phantom Menace to 140 years after
Return of the Jedi. The first Expanded Universe story appeared in
Marvel Comics'
Star Wars #7 in January 1978 , followed quickly by Alan Dean Foster's novel
Splinter of the Mind's Eye is a
Star Wars [i] novel written by Alan Dean Foster [i] and original ...
the following month.
George Lucas retains ultimate creative control over the
Star Wars universe. For example, the death of central characters and similar changes in the status quo must first pass his screening before authors are given the go-ahead. In addition, Lucasfilm Licensing devotes considerable effort to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across multiple companies.
Some purists reject the Expanded Universe as "Apocrypha", believing that only the events in the film series are part of the "real"
Star Wars universe. However, elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Lucas for use in the films. These included the name of the Republic/Empire capital planet,
Coruscant, which first appeared in
Timothy Zahn's novel
Heir to the Empire before being used in
The Phantom Menace, while a character introduced in
Dark Horse Comics'
Star Wars series, a blue Jedi Knight named Aayla Secura, was liked enough by Lucas to be included as a character in
Attack of the Clones .
Television
To date, three films and three animated series have been produced for television, with a live-action series in pre-production. For the most part, Lucas has played a large role in the production of the television projects — usually serving as storywriter and/or executive producer.
| Production | Release date |
|---|
The Star Wars Holiday Special was a two-hour television [i] special set in the Star Wars galaxy [i] ...
| November 17, 1978 |
| November 25, 1984 |
| September 7, 1985 |
| September 7, 1985 |
| November 24, 1985 |
| November 7, 2003 |
| 2007 |
| Star Wars live-action TV series | 2007 |
Audio dramas
A radio adaptation of
A New Hope was first broadcast on
National Public Radio in 1981. The adaptation was written by science fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was followed by adaptations of
The Empire Strikes Back in 1983 and
Return of the Jedi in 1996. The adaptations included background material created by Lucas but not used in the films.
Mark Hamill,
Anthony Daniels, and
Billy Dee Williams reprised their roles as Luke Skywalker,
C-3PO, and
Lando Calrissian, respectively. The series also used John Williams' original score from the films and
Ben Burtt's original sound designs.
Books
Star Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first movie, with the 1976 novelization of "A New Hope" . Foster's 1978 novel,
Splinter of the Mind's Eye is a
Star Wars [i] novel written by Alan Dean Foster [i] and original ...
, was very nearly the first Expanded Universe work to be released. In addition to filling in the time between the movies, this additional content greatly expanded the Star Wars timeline before and after the film series.
Star Wars fiction flourished during the time of the original series but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1991, however,
Timothy Zahn's celebrated
Thrawn Trilogy debuted, sparking a new interest in the
Star Wars universe. Since then, several hundred tie-in novels have been published by Bantam and
Del Rey.
LucasBooks radically changed the face of the
Star Wars universe with the introduction of the
New Jedi Order, also known as
New Jedi Order, or by its acronym,
NJO, is a s...
series, which takes place some 20 years after
Return of the Jedi and stars a host of new characters alongside series originals. However, several significant events which occur during the course of this series have sparked much fan criticism.
Comics
Marvel Comics published
Star Wars comic book series and adaptations from 1977 to 1986. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including
Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin,
Howard Chaykin,
Al Williamson,
Carmine Infantino, Gene Day,
Walt Simonson,
Michael Golden,
Chris Claremont 
