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Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".
The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars (subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981[2][3]), by 20th Century Fox, which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans in comparison to the original trilogy. A more-recent sequel trilogy began with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $6.46 billion,[4] making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series.[5]
The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series's fictional universe. Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise." In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.[6]
In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and announced a new Star Wars trilogy, which began with the release of The Force Awakens in 2015.[7] 20th Century Fox retains the physical distribution rights to the first two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original 1977 film and holding the rights to Episodes I–III, V and VI until May 2020.[8][9] Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, excluding A New Hope.[9][10]
The "Star Wars" saga has had a significant impact on modern popular culture.[198] "Star Wars" references are deeply embedded in popular culture;[199] Phrases like "evil empire" and "May the Force be with you" have become part of the popular lexicon.[200] The first Star Wars film in 1977 was a cultural unifier,[201] enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people.[202] The film can be said to have helped launch the science fiction boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, making science fiction films a blockbuster genre or mainstream.[203] This very impact also made it a prime target for parody works and homages, with popular examples including Spaceballs, Family Guy's "Blue Harvest" special, Seth Green's "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", and "Hardware Wars" by Ernie Fosselius, that Lucas' called “a cute little film”.[204]
In 1989, the Library of Congress selected the original Star Wars film for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[205] Its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was selected in 2010.[206][207] Despite these callings for archival, it is unclear whether copies of the 1977 and 1980 theatrical sequences of Star Wars and Empire—or copies of the 1997 Special Edition versions—have been archived by the NFR, or indeed if any copy has been provided by Lucasfilm and accepted by the Registry.[208][209]