Screendollars
Monday, May 24, 2021 | No. 169 When Star Wars opened May 25, 1977 no one but Steven Spielberg thought it would be a hit. George Lucas had been turned down by Universal, United Artists and Disney before pitching 20th Century Fox his sci-fi epic inspired by 1930's serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, the 1966 TV series Star Trek and Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune. Fox creative affairs chief Alan Ladd, Jr. greenlighted SW, but Fox's distribution arm never considered it a likely hit. Fox marketers wanted to change the title because moviegoers might think Star Wars was about the Vietnam War or, perhaps, superstars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's divorce. When Lucas screened a rough cut for some director pals, they weren't impressed. Brian De Palma reportedly called it the "worst movie" ever made. Spielberg, however, predicted SW would be "the biggest movie of all time." Lucas thought SW was doomed and skipped its premiere to vacation with Spielberg in Hawaii where they heard SW was a boxoffice phenomenon and then came up with a new project to do together -- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), the first Indiana Jones blockbuster. Exhibitors were reluctant to book SW, thinking only kids and sci-fi buffs would buy tickets, so it opened at just 32 theatres. Two days later, it was in 43 theatres and a week later in 157. It peaked in mid-August at 1,096, a very wide run then. Produced for $11 million, its original release did $461 million domestically and $196 million abroad – huge numbers at Theatrical Poster for Star Wars, the time.
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