<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> <P> For The Star Wars second draft, Lucas made heavy simplifications . It added a mystical energy field known as "The Force" and introduced the young hero on a farm as Luke Starkiller . Annikin became Luke's father, a wise Jedi knight . The third draft killed the father Annikin, replacing him with mentor figure Ben Kenobi . Later, Lucas felt the film would not in fact be the first in the sequence, but a film in the second trilogy in the saga . The draft contained a sub-plot leading to a sequel about "The Princess of Ondos", and by that time some months later Lucas had negotiated a contract that gave him rights to make two sequels . Not long after, Lucas hired author Alan Dean Foster, to write two sequels as novels . In 1976, a fourth draft had been prepared for principal photography . The film was titled Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars . During production, Lucas changed Luke's name to Skywalker and altered the title to simply The Star Wars and finally Star Wars . At that point, Lucas was not expecting the film to have sequels . The fourth draft of the script underwent subtle changes it discarded "the Princess of Ondos" sub-plot, to become a self - contained film, that ended with the destruction of the Galactic Empire itself by way of destroying the Death Star . However, Lucas previously conceived of the film as the first of a series . The intention was that if Star Wars was successful, Lucas could adapt Dean Foster's novels into low - budget sequels . By that point, Lucas had developed an elaborate backstory to aid his writing process . </P> <P> Before its release, Lucas considered walking away from Star Wars sequels, thinking the film would be a flop . However the film exceeded all expectations . The success of the film, as well as its merchandise sales, and Lucas desire to create an independent film - making center . Both led Lucas to make Star Wars the basis of an elaborate film serial, and use the profits to finance his film - making center, Skywalker Ranch . Alan Dean Foster was already writing the first sequel - novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye, released in 1978 . But Lucas decided not to adapt Foster's work, knowing a sequel would be allowed more budget . At first, Lucas envisioned a series of films with no set number of entries, like the James Bond series . In an interview with Rolling Stone in August 1977, he said that he wanted his friends to each take a turn at directing the films and giving unique interpretations on the series . Also adding that the backstory in which Darth Vader turns to the dark side, kills Luke's father and fights Obi - Wan Kenobi on a volcano as the Galactic Republic falls would make an excellent sequel . </P> <P> Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebels are forced to evacuate their secret base on Hoth as they are hunted by the Empire . At the request of the late Obi - Wan's spirit, Luke travels to the swamp - infested world of Dagobah to find the exiled Jedi Master Yoda and begin his Jedi training . However, Luke's training is interrupted by Vader, who lures him into a trap by capturing Han and Leia at Cloud City, governed by Han's old friend Lando Calrissian . During a fierce lightsaber duel with the Sith Lord, Luke learns that Vader is his father . </P>

When did the movie it come out originally