Star Wars (Franchise) (1977 – present)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Star Wars is an American epic space opera media 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 (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981^[3][4]), which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the 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 released between 1999 and 2005, which received mixed reactions from both critics and fans. A sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The first seven films were nominated for Academy Awards (with wins going to the first two films released) and have been commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of over US$8.5 billion,^[5] making Star Wars the second highest-grossing film series.^[6] Spin-off films include the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and Rogue One (2016), the latter of which is the first in a planned series of anthology films.

The series has spawned an extensive media franchise including books, television series, computer and video games, theme park attractions and lands, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series’ fictional universe. Star Wars holds a Guinness World Records title for the “Most successful film merchandising franchise”. In 2015, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at US$42 billion,^[7][8] making Star Wars the second-highest-grossing media franchise of all time.

In 2012, The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm for US$4.06 billion and earned the distribution rights to all subsequent Star Wars films, beginning with the release of The Force Awakens in 2015.^[9] The former distributor, 20th Century Fox, was to retain the physical distribution rights for the first two Star Wars trilogies, was to own permanent rights for the original 1977 film and was to continue to hold the rights for the prequel trilogy and the first two sequels to A New Hope until May 2020.^[10][11] 

Walt Disney Studios currently owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, excluding A New Hope.^[11][12] On December 14, 2017, the Walt Disney Company announced its pending acquisition of 21st Century Fox, including the film studio and all distribution rights to A New Hope.^[13]

References

1.  Kit, Borys (July 7, 2015). “‘Star Wars’ Han Solo Spinoff In the Works With ‘Lego Movie’ Directors (Exclusive)”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
2.  Alexander, Julia (November 9, 2017). “Disney developing live-action Star Wars TV series”. Polygon. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
3.  James Ryan. “When did Star Wars become known as A New Hope? – In A Far Away Galaxy”.
4.  ScreenPrism. “Why was “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” originally released under another title – ScreenPrism”.
5.  “Star Wars – Box Office History”. The Numbers. Retrieved June 17,2010.
6. “Movie Franchises”. The Numbers. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
7.  Chew, Jonathan (December 24, 2015). “Star Wars Franchise Worth More Than Harry Potter and James Bond, Combined”. Fortune. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
8.  Detrick, Paul (November 20, 2015). “The Star Wars Economy is Bigger Than You Think”. Reason. Retrieved April 5, 2017
9.  Schou, Solvej (December 21, 2012). “Mickey meets ‘Star Wars’: Walt Disney Co. completes acquisition of Lucasfilm”. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
10.  Masters, Kim (October 30, 2012). “Tangled Rights Could Tie Up Ultimate ‘Star Wars’ Box Set (Analysis)”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
11. ^ Jump up to:^a b “The Walt Disney Company FY 2013 SEC Form 10-K Filing”(PDF). The Walt Disney Company. November 20, 2013. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015. Prior to the Company’s acquisition, Lucasfilm produced six Star Warsfilms (Episodes 1 through 6). Lucasfilm was to retain the rights to consumer products related to all of the films and the rights related to television and electronic distribution formats for all of the films, with the exception of the rights for Episode IV, which were owned by a third-party studio. All of the films were distributed by a third-party studio in the theatrical and home video markets. The theatrical and home video distribution rights for these films were to revert to Lucasfilm in May 2020 with the exception of Episode IV, for which these distribution rights were to be retained in perpetuity by the third-party studio.
12. Vlessing, Etan (April 6, 2015). “‘Star Wars’ Movie Franchise Headed to Digital HD”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
13. “The Walt Disney Company To Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., After Spinoff Of Certain Businesses, For $52.4 Billion In Stock” (Press release). The Walt Disney Company. December 14, 2017. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14,2017. Additional , December 14, 2017.