Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope
Theatrical Performance
Total US Gross $460,998,007
International Gross $336,901,993
Worldwide Gross $797,900,000
Home Market Performance
US DVD Sales: $10,607,562
Weekly Breakdown
Released
May 25, 1977
Production Budget $11,000,000
Prints and Advertising Budget $4,000,000
Rentals $270,918,000
MPAA Rating PG for sci-fi violence and brief mild language
UK TV Rights (ITV, January 1982): $3,000,000 (THR, 1/19/1982, p. 1)
US TV Rights (CBS, 1981 for 3 broadcasts): $25,000,000 - $26,000,000
US TV Rights (Spike TV, 2008-2013): $11,000,000 (part of package for all Star Wars movies)
First day sales of Star Wars trilogy DVD box set: $100 million (est. based on $115m total for box set and "Battlefront" video game)
Highest Combined Star Gross 62 (see full chart )
Franchises
Star Wars
Keywords
Visual Effects
Distributed by
20th Century Fox
Music Composed By
John Williams
Source
Original Screenplay
Major Genre
Adventure
Country
United States
Production Method
Live Action
Creative Type
Science Fiction
Director George Lucas
News
History
Star Wars: A New Hope was the movie that spawned a multi-billion dollar business empire and made George Lucas arguably the most successful movie maker in history.
But its chances of success seemed slim indeed when it was initially released on May 25, 1977.
After production problems and budget over-runs, Fox had considerable trouble booking the movie with distributors, and opened it in 43 theaters only after threatening to pull The Other Side of Midnight from many of those venues.
What happened next has passed into box office legend.
Lines around the block on opening weekend soon became lines around the block across the nation as the movie stayed at the top of the charts for most of the Summer.
Re-releases over the next 5 years generated more business, and the 20th anniversary release in 1997 set new benchmarks, including a then-record January weekend that only Titanic has beaten since.
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Date Rank Gross % Change Theaters Per Theater Total Gross Days
5/27/1977 2
$1,554,475
43
$36,151 $2,048,249
5
6/17/1977 2
$2,788,281
157
$17,760 $12,943,513
26
6/24/1977 1 $4,885,463
+75.21% 360
$13,571 $20,514,376
33
7/1/1977 1 $7,452,980
+52.55% 452
$16,489 $32,157,349
40
7/8/1977 1 $6,197,462
-16.85% 589
$10,522
47
7/15/1977 1 $6,806,951
+9.83% 757
$8,992 $53,777,851
54
7/22/1977 1 $7,000,644
+2.85% 843
$8,304 $65,887,563
61
7/29/1977 1 $6,234,376
-10.95% 950
$6,563 $77,323,425
68
8/5/1977 1 $7,195,573
+15.42% 1,044
$6,892 $90,284,705
75
8/12/1977 1 $6,705,755
-6.81% 1,074
$6,244 $102,267,928
82
8/19/1977 1 $5,908,751
-11.89% 1,096
$5,391 $113,031,275
89
8/26/1977 1 $5,239,535
-11.33% 1,048
$5,000 $122,576,055
96
9/2/1977 1 $7,737,847
+47.68% 915
$8,457 $133,727,463
103
10/21/1977 1 $2,891,000
675
$4,283 $174,518,466
152
10/28/1977 1 $3,292,879
+13.90% 739
$4,456 $177,811,345
159
11/4/1977 1 $2,626,914
-20.22% 665
$3,950 $181,289,965
166
11/11/1977 1 $2,269,052
-13.62% 642
$3,534 $184,397,772
173
11/18/1977 1 $1,949,157
-14.10% 605
$3,222 $186,924,661
180
11/25/1977 1 $2,472,656
+26.86% 593
$4,170 $190,762,521
187
12/2/1977 1 $1,595,568
-35.47% 561
$2,844 $192,899,264
194
12/9/1977 1 $1,152,953
-27.74% 485
$2,377 $194,427,140
201
12/16/1977 3
$844,662
-26.74% 414
$2,040 $195,666,111
208
1/13/1978 1 $916,606
217
$4,224 $203,786,099
236
1/20/1978 1 $865,239
-5.60% 196
$4,414 $204,940,117
243
1/27/1978 1 $829,571
-4.12% 184
$4,509 $205,993,101
250
2/3/1978 2
$817,290
-1.48% 174
$4,697 $207,054,654
257
2/24/1978 0
$759,126
144
$209,760,454
3/10/1978 1 $622,291
130
$4,787 $211,463,812
292
3/31/1978 1 $543,897
107
$5,083 $213,706,458
313
4/7/1978 1 $790,452
+45.33% 104
$7,601 $214,745,822
320
4/14/1978 1 $602,039
-23.84% 103
$5,845 $215,537,332
327
7/21/1978 1 $10,166,336
1,750
$5,809
425
8/24/1979 1 $6,760,165
1,520
$4,447
824
8/13/1982 5
$3,766,803
1,070
$3,520 $311,092,510
1,909
8/20/1982 8
$2,308,429
-38.72% 1,069
$2,159 $315,552,861
1,916
8/27/1982 14
$1,250,604
-45.82% 712
$1,756 $318,165,253
1,923
9/3/1982 13
$1,258,912
+0.66% 659
$1,910 $319,996,814
1,930
9/10/1982 12
$789,503
-37.29% 666
$1,185 $321,026,168
1,937
9/17/1982 16
$518,949
-34.27% 491
$1,057 $321,796,066
1,944
9/24/1982 17
$500,807
-3.50% 511
$980 $322,467,568
1,951
10/1/1982 30
$174,451
-65.17% 31
$5,627 $322,802,492
1,958
1/31/1997 1 $35,906,661
2,104
$17,066 $358,646,803
7,194
2/7/1997 1 $24,277,091
-32.39% 2,104
$11,539 $393,498,671
7,201
2/14/1997 1 $21,370,589
-11.97% 2,104
$10,157 $421,371,522
7,208
2/21/1997 2
$11,031,743
-48.38% 2,200
$5,014 $438,692,889
7,215
2/28/1997 3
$6,856,626
-37.85% 2,375
$2,887 $447,821,935
7,222
3/7/1997 6
$3,894,728
-43.20% 2,039
$1,910 $453,311,456
7,229
3/14/1997 10
$2,275,828
-41.57% 1,430
$1,591 $456,754,545
7,236
3/21/1997 17
$896,449
-60.61% 741
$1,210 $458,275,556
7,243
3/28/1997 32
$229,023
-74.45% 177
$1,294 $458,838,909
7,250
4/4/1997 38
$141,632
-38.16% 104
$1,362 $459,095,451
7,257
4/11/1997 16
$795,245
+461.49% 1,252
$635 $459,923,376
7,264
4/18/1997 23
$340,452
-57.19% 634
$537 $460,517,975
7,271
4/25/1997 27
$202,166
-40.62% 290
$697 $460,841,468
7,278
5/2/1997 50
$50,163
-75.19% 114
$440 $460,935,665
7,285
Date Rank Gross % Change Theaters Per Theater Total Gross Days
5/25/1977 1 $254,809
32
$7,963 $254,809
1
5/26/1977 1 $238,965
-6.22% 32
$7,468 $493,774
2
1/13/1978 -
$202,493
217
$933 $203,071,986
234
1/14/1978 -
$443,575
+119.06% 217
$2,044 $203,515,561
235
1/15/1978 -
$270,538
-39.01% 217
$1,247 $203,786,099
236
2/20/1978 -
$137,561
144
$955 $208,808,405
272
Color coding:
Monday, May 12, 2008
Daily Chart Record
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