<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed . Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In 1971, Universal Studios made a contract for George Lucas to direct two films . In 1973, American Graffiti was completed, and released to critical acclaim including Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Original Screenplay for George Lucas . Months later, Lucas started work on his second film, by starting the script draft, The Journal of the Whills told the tale of the training of apprentice CJ Thorpe as a "Jedi - Bendu" space commando by the legendary Mace Windy . After Universal rejected the film, 20th Century Fox decided to invest on it . On April 17, 1973, Lucas felt frustrated about his story being too difficult to understand, so he began writing a 13 - page script with thematic parallels to Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, this draft was renamed The Star Wars . By 1974, he had expanded the script into a rough draft screenplay, adding elements such as the Sith, the Death Star, and a protagonist named Annikin Starkiller . Numerous subsequent drafts would go, through numerous drastic changes, before evolving into the script of the original film . </P> <P> Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977 . It was followed by The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983 . The opening crawl of the sequels disclosed that they were numbered as "Episode V" and "Episode VI" respectively, though the films were generally advertised solely under their subtitles . Though the first film in the series was simply titled Star Wars, with its 1981 re-release it had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to remain consistent with its sequel, and to establish it as the middle chapter of a continuing saga . The plot of the original trilogy centers on the Galactic Civil War of the Rebel Alliance trying to free the galaxy from the clutches of the Galactic Empire, as well as on Luke Skywalker's quest to become a Jedi . </P> <P> Near the orbit of the desert planet Tatooine, a Rebel spaceship is intercepted by the Empire . Aboard, the deadliest Imperial agent Darth Vader and his stormtroopers capture Princess Leia Organa, a secret member of the rebellion . Before her capture, Leia makes sure the astromech R2 - D2, along with the protocol droid C - 3PO, escapes with stolen Imperial blueprints stored inside and a holographic message for the retired Jedi Knight Obi - Wan Kenobi, who has been living in exile on Tatooine . The droids fall under the ownership of Luke Skywalker, an orphan farm boy raised by his step - uncle and aunt . Luke helps the droids locate Obi - Wan, now a solitary old hermit known as Ben Kenobi, who reveals himself as a friend of Luke's absent father, the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker . Obi - Wan confides to Luke that Anakin was "betrayed and murdered" by Vader (who was Obi - Wan's former Jedi apprentice) years ago, and he gives Luke his father's former lightsaber to keep . After viewing Leia's message, they both hire the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to, aboard their space freighter the Millennium Falcon, help them deliver the stolen blueprints inside R2 - D2 to the Rebel Alliance with the hope of finding a weakness to the Empire's planet - destroying space station: the Death Star . </P>

When did the star wars movie first come out