Historical Entry—Wednesday, May 25, 1977
While arguably one of the most recognizable films and musical scores in history, Star Wars wasn’t initially able to garner much interest.
There had been several problems getting funding for the movie. Marketing was almost non-existent. Then the film was getting near premiere, and even more issues showed up. The first was the rating question. When the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) rating board reviewed the film, they were evenly split between a G and PG rating. Twentieth Century Fox requested a PG rating, fearing that the G rating would turn off many moviegoers, as they might see the rating indicating the movie was for kids. The MPAA initially opted for a G rating but later shifted after Fox’s request for the PG rating.
Next came the release date. George Lucas wanted a Memorial Day weekend release but Gareth Wigan (Fox executive) said “Nobody has ever opened a summer film before school was out.” Lucas argued that there would be a large amount of word-of-mouth among school-age children. After much debate, Fox finally agreed to release the film on May 25, the Wednesday before the Memorial Day weekend.
The final issue was selling the movie. Fox had trouble getting theaters to purchase the film. In a desperate move, Fox packaged the film with The Other Side of Midnight, a movie based on the best-selling book. In order to show The Other Side of Midnight, the theater had to also show Star Wars. Only 32 theaters across the United States debuted the movie. On Thursday, an additional theater was added, and ten more on Friday.
The critics began weighing in. Some were less than positive.
Pauline Kael (The New Yorker) wrote “there’s no breather in the picture, no lyricism,” or “emotional grip.” John Simon (New York) wrote “Strip Star Wars of its often striking images and its highfalutin scientific jargon, and you get a story, characters, and dialogue of overwhelming banality.”
Many of the critics were extremely positive. A.D. Murphy (Variety) wrote it was the “biggest possible adventure fantasy.” Gene Siskel (Chicago Tribune) wrote “What places it a sizable cut above the routine is its spectacular visual effects, the best since Stanley Kubrick's 2001.”
However, by the end of the Memorial Day weekend, the film had garnered huge amounts of public attention and money.
The film broke box office records. It earned over $2.5 million in its first six days ($12.9 million in adjusted dollars). Star Wars remained the number one film at the US box office for three weeks, then returned in its seventh week. It remained there through its fifteenth week of release. Three weeks after the premiere, Fox’s stock price doubled to a record high. The studio’s highest annual profit had been $37 million but reached $79 million ($379.19 million in adjusted dollars) in 1977.
It dethroned Jaws as the highest-grossing film just six weeks after premiering. During its initial release, Star Wars earned $220 million (1.11 billion in adjusted dollars), making it the newest highest-grossing film in the United States.
Not bad for a little film no one was interested in making, selling, or showing.
Star Wars Premieres
Historical Event
1977
This Day in Science Fiction History examines notable events, real and fictional, concerning fantasy and science fiction in various media.
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