<P> In 2010, George Lucas announced that all six previously released Star Wars films would be scanned and transferred to 3D, with a corresponding theatrical release . The Phantom Menace was the first of these films and saw its theatrical release in 2012 . However, due to The Force Awakens, Lucas delayed the releases of the rest of the saga . While both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith 3D versions were screened at the 2013 and 2015 Star Wars Celebration, Lucas never released the original trilogy in 3D before Disney bought the franchise in December 2012 . </P> <P> Star Wars remains one of the most financially successful films of all time . The film earned $1,554,475 through its opening weekend ($6.28 million in 2017 dollars), building up to $7 million weekends as it entered wide release ($28.3 million in 2017 dollars). It replaced Jaws as the highest - earning film in North America just six months into release, eventually earning over $220 million during its initial theatrical run ($888 million in 2017 dollars). Star Wars entered international release towards the end of the year, and in 1978 added the worldwide record to its domestic one, earning $410 million in total . Reissues in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1982 brought its cumulative gross in Canada and the U.S. to $323 million, and extended its global earnings to $530 million . The film remained the highest - grossing film of all time until E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial broke that record in 1983 . </P> <P> Following the release of the Special Edition in 1997, Star Wars briefly reclaimed the North American record before losing it again the following year to Titanic . In total, the film has earned $775,398,007 worldwide (including $460,998,007 in North America alone). Adjusted for inflation, it has earned over $2.5 billion worldwide at 2011 prices, making it the most successful franchise film of all time . According to Guinness World Records, the film ranks as the third - highest - grossing film when adjusting for inflation; at the North American box office, it ranks second behind Gone with the Wind on the inflation - adjusted list . </P> <P> The film was met with critical acclaim upon its release . In his 1977 review, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun - Times called the film "an out - of - body experience", compared its special effects to those of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and opined that the true strength of the film was its "pure narrative". Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "the movie that's going to entertain a lot of contemporary folk who have a soft spot for the virtually ritualized manners of comic - book adventure" and "the most elaborate, most expensive, most beautiful movie serial ever made ." A.D. Murphy of Variety described the film as "magnificent" and claimed George Lucas had succeeded in his attempt to create the "biggest possible adventure fantasy" based on the serials and older action epics from his childhood . Writing for The Washington Post, Gary Arnold gave the film a positive review, writing that the film "is a new classic in a rousing movie tradition: a space swashbuckler ." However, the film was not without its detractors: Pauline Kael of The New Yorker criticized Star Wars, stating that "there's no breather in the picture, no lyricism", and that it had no "emotional grip". John Simon of New York magazine also panned the film and 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 ." Stanley Kauffmann, reviewing the film in The New Republic, opined that it "was made for those (particularly males) who carry a portable shrine within them of their adolescence, a chalice of a Self that was Better Then, before the world's affairs or--in any complex way--sex intruded ." </P>

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