User:Brojam/List of Star Wars films

Working off version - Books that can help: The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film and The Secret History of Star Wars

The Star Wars films are a series of American space opera films, based on characters created by George Lucas. The films have been in production since 1977, and in that time Lucasfilm Ltd. has produced and released 10 films, with five more in various stages of production. The series collectively has grossed over $9.2 billion at the global box office, making it the second highest-grossing film franchise of all time.

The first film in the franchise was Star Wars (1977), which was later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981,. This was followed by two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (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.

More than two decades after the release of the original film, the series continued with a prequel trilogy; consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). The animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released theatrically in 2008 as a lead-in to the animated TV series with the same name.

A decade after the release of the final prequel film, the series continued again with Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), beginning a new sequel trilogy. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was released in 2016 as the first in an anthology series of films separate from the main episodic saga.

Star Wars (1977)
Nineteen years after the formation of the Galactic Empire, Luke Skywalker is thrust into the struggle of the Rebel Alliance when he inadvertently acquires the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO carrying the stolen plans to the Death Star meant for Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan begins Luke's Jedi training as Luke joins him on a daring mission to rescue the rebel leader Princess Leia Organa from the clutches of the evil Empire, and save the galaxy.

In 1971, Universal Studios agreed to make American Graffiti and an untitled Flash Gordon-esque space fantasy film in a two-picture contract with George Lucas, however, they later rejected its options for the untitled film. Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz persisted in securing a studio to support the film and in 1973, Lucas signed a deal with Alan Ladd Jr., the head of 20th Century Fox, to write and direct the film. In April 1973, Lucas began writing a 13-page treatment called The Star Wars, and by 1974, he had expanded the treatment into a rough draft screenplay. Numerous subsequent drafts would go through numerous drastic changes, before evolving into the final pre-production script, which was completed in March 1976. Principal photography began on March 22, 1976, in Tunisia for two and a half weeks, before moving to Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with additional footage filmed in the Mayan temples at Tikal in Guatemala. During production, the title was shortened to simply Star Wars.

The film was released in the United States on May 25, 1977, in fewer than 32 theaters and immediately broke box office records, effectively becoming one of the first blockbuster films, and Fox accelerated plans to broaden its release.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
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.

The Force Awakens (2015)
The Force Awakens, the first film in the sequel trilogy, takes place approximately 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi and includes new characters, as well as characters from the original trilogy, in search of Luke Skywalker with the help of Han Solo, and Princess Leia along with Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. The Force Awakens, like the subsequent two films, is based on an original screenplay and not a storyline from the expanded universe.

The original trilogy's cast joins newcomers Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, and Oscar Isaac. It is directed by J. J. Abrams, who co-wrote a revised version of the screenplay along with Lawrence Kasdan, co-writer of the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Original drafts of The Force Awakens script were written by Michael Arndt,  but ultimately early character and plot elements in Anrdt's vision came into conflict with the conceptual ideas of director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, as well as filming schedules and ultimately Arndt was removed from the project due to creative differences and time constraints,   being replaced by Kasdan as the primary co-creative visionary to Abrams' plot concepts.

George Lucas was set to provide Abrams with advice as a creative consultant; however, Lucas had no involvement with the film, with his representative stating Lucas "ideally would love not to see any footage until he walks into the theater next December. He has never been able to be surprised by a Star Wars film before and he said he was looking forward to it." The film began pre-production on October 30, 2012. Production began in April 2014; it was released on December 18, 2015. In the US, the film is rated PG-13 "for sci-fi action violence", the second Star Wars film to receive that rating after Revenge of the Sith (the five other films received a PG rating).

The film broke opening weekend box office records in North America with $248 million ($39 million more than previous record holder Jurassic World) and totals of $529 million worldwide, the largest opening ever. The film set another new record by becoming the first movie to break the $1 billion mark in box office sales in just 12 days. It is currently the highest-grossing film of all time in North America and the third highest-grossing film worldwide, unadjusted for inflation.

The Last Jedi (2017)
Following the events of The Force Awakens, Rey begins her Jedi training under Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled about Rey's immense strength with the Force. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares to continue the fight against the First Order, which is led by Kylo Ren and the mysterious Snoke.

On June 20, 2014, Rian Johnson was announced as writer and director of Episode VIII and story treatment writer of Episode IX. Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman were the producers and J. J. Abrams is the executive producer. Steve Yedlin is the cinematographer. Johnson confirmed in August 2014 that he would direct Episode VIII.

In March 2015, Oscar Isaac confirmed he would reprise his The Force Awakens role of Poe Dameron in Episode VIII. In July 2015, it was reported that Benicio del Toro was being considered for a villain; del Toro later confirmed that he had been cast. In September 2015, it was reported that Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tatiana Maslany, Gina Rodriguez, Olivia Cooke, and Bel Powley were on the shortlist for two separate parts. Jimmy Vee was cast as R2-D2, succeeding Kenny Baker, who died in August 2016.

Much of the filming for Episode VIII took place at Pinewood Studios near London. In September 2015, some pre-production filming took place on the island of Skellig Michael, Ireland to take advantage of better weather conditions. In a November 2015 interview with Wired, Abrams stated that the film's script was completed. In December 2015, Hamill, Isaac, Christie, and Boyega were confirmed to reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma, and Finn, respectively. Kennedy announced on December 17, 2015, at the London premiere for The Force Awakens that most of the cast would return for Episode VIII. On January 20, 2016, Lucasfilm and Disney announced that the release of the film would be delayed to December 15, 2017. Principal photography began in February 2016. Additional filming took place in Dubrovnik from March 9 to March 16, 2016, as well as in Ireland. Principal photography wrapped in July 2016. On December 27, 2016, Carrie Fisher died after going into cardiac arrest a few days earlier. Fisher had completed filming her role as General Leia Organa, before her death. On January 23, 2017, the film was given a confirmed release date of December 15, 2017 with the title Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
In June 2014, Johnson was announced as writing a story treatment for Episode IX, though by April 2017, he stated he would not be involved with writing the film. In August 2015, Colin Trevorrow was announced as the director of Episode IX. Trevorrow, along with Derek Connolly, began writing the script. On February 10, 2016, Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger confirmed that pre-production of Episode IX had begun. Cinematographer John Schwartzman is planning on using 65 mm film. In late December 2016, media outlets reported that Carrie Fisher was slated for a key role in Episode IX. In January 2017, Lucasfilm stated they would not digitally generate Fisher's performance for the film. In April 2017, it was confirmed by Kathleen Kennedy that Fisher will not be in Episode IX. In August 2017, it was announced that Jack Thorne would rewrite the script.

On September 5, 2017, Lucasfilm announced that Trevorrow had stepped down as director of the film. A week later, it was announced that Abrams would return to direct Episode IX. Abrams will also co-write the film with Chris Terrio, in addition to producing the film through his company Bad Robot Productions, with Kennedy and Michelle Rejwan.

Principal photography is set to begin in June 2018. The film is scheduled to be released on December 20, 2019, replacing the original May 2019 date.

Rogue One (2016)
After the formation of the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance recruits Jyn Erso to work with a team including Cassian Andor to steal the design schematics of the Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star.

In May 2014, Gareth Edwards was hired to direct one of the stand-alone films, initially titled Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One. Its script is written by Gary Whitta and is scheduled to be released on December 16, 2016. By January 9, 2015, Whitta had finished the draft for the film and left for another project. By January 20, 2015, Tatiana Maslany, Rooney Mara, and Felicity Jones were testing for Edwards' standalone film. Days later, Chris Weitz had been hired to take over writing of the standalone. By February 2015, Jones was set to star in the standalone film, titled Rogue One, with Edwards directing. By March, Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn had been cast in a role.

Lucasfilm announced on April 19, 2015, that filming would begin in mid-2015 and the plot will revolve around a group of rebels on a mission to steal the Death Star plans; director Edwards stated, "it comes down to a group of individuals who don't have magical powers that have to somehow bring hope to the galaxy." Additionally, Kathleen Kennedy and Kiri Hart confirmed that the standalone films will be labeled as "anthology films". Edwards stated that the style of the film will be similar to that of a war film, saying, "It's the reality of war. Good guys are bad. Bad guys are good. It's complicated, layered; a very rich scenario in which to set a movie." Sam Claflin and Riz Ahmed were in talks for roles as of April 2015. On May 13, 2015, Variety reported that Diego Luna was cast in a role. On July 7, 2015, Birth.Movies.Death reported that Darth Vader will appear in Rogue One, but not as an antagonist.

At Disney's annual D23 Expo in August 2015, it was announced that the first film's title was amended to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, suggesting a new official format for titles of the standalone films. The series is still officially referred to as the Anthology Series.

Solo (2018)
The film is centered on a young Han Solo, the roguish smuggler who later meets Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in the Mos Eisley Cantina in Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), and his adventures with his Wookiee partner Chewbacca, including their encounter with Lando Calrissian.

In October 2017, Howard announced that the title of the film would be Solo: A Star Wars Story. The film is scheduled to be released on May 25, 2018.

Recurring cast and characters
 List indicator(s)
 * This table only includes characters which have appeared in multiple film series within the Star Wars franchise, and have appeared in the billing block for at least two films.
 * A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the series, or that the character's presence in a film of the franchise has not yet been announced.
 * An indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
 * A indicates an uncredited cameo role.
 * A indicates a voice-only role

Release
The original Star Wars trilogy was a Lucasfilm production released theatrically by 20th Century Fox between 1977 and 1983, and was subsequently released on home media during the 1980s and 1990s. The films were distributed by CBS/Fox Video on several formats, such as VHS, Betamax, and LaserDisc. In 1997, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Star Wars, Lucas re-released new cuts of the trilogy to theaters, naming them the "Special Editions". The Special Editions made a number of changes to the original releases, including additions such as enhanced digital effects, previously unreleased scenes, and entirely new CGI sequences. Reaction to the new cuts was mixed, with commentators criticising unnecessary additions such as a computer-generated Jabba the Hutt in the first film and a new musical number in Return of the Jedi; an alteration involving the bounty hunter Greedo shooting at Han Solo drew significant ire.

In September 2004, a DVD box set of the original trilogy was released with further changes. These DVDs also received digital restoration and visual enhancement by John D. Lowry. All three films feature an extensively altered color palette, resulting in issues such as crushed blacks, strange blue or magenta color casts, miscolored lightsaber blades, and many other anomalies. The new 5.1 audio mix of A New Hope also had the music's left and right channels swapped in the rear channels, and in several instances the music was nearly completely mixed out of the film. Lucasfilm at the time claimed that these issues were "deliberate creative decisions", but the later releases of the movie starting with Blu-ray had them fixed. The final release of the original cuts was in 2006, when unrestored masters used for the 1993 LaserDisc were added as a bonus feature to a limited run of DVDs – fans named this release "George's Original Unaltered Trilogy" (GOUT).

A Blu-ray box set, entitled Star Wars: The Complete Saga, was released in September 2011. The set features all six live-action Star Wars feature films, along with extensive special features. Lucas stated that "There's some really good material that will be included in there, more deleted scenes that you haven't seen yet." One of the deleted scenes is an alternative introduction to Return of the Jedi. In September 2010, it was announced that all six films in the series would be stereo-converted to 3D. These would be re-released in episode order, beginning with The Phantom Menace, which was released to cinemas on February 10, 2012. However, the 3D re-releases of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were postponed after Lucasfilm was bought by The Walt Disney Company, which decided to focus on the development of The Force Awakens. Lucas stated the 3D re-release was "just a conversion" of the film's 2011 Blu-ray release and no additional changes were made. Only a change to Anakin's magnetic wand during the podrace scene—its tip was sharpened to more accurately fit the original 2D photography to the new 3D image—was confirmed.

In April 2015, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. These versions feature exactly the same changes as those in the 2011 Blu-ray release. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the films through the iTunes Store, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015. They are identical to the Blu-ray release, except for changes to the opening logos and fanfares. , the films are only widely available in their altered versions.

In September 2016, Turner made a multi-year licensing agreement with Disney for the broadcast rights to ten Star Wars movies, with "on-demand rights to offer the movies on its ad-supported streaming and VOD platforms." Tuner already had a separate agreement with 20th Century Fox for the original 1977 film. As Tuner held streaming rights through 2024 as part of its cable rights to the franchise, it was initially unclear whether the first six Star Wars films would be available on the streaming service Disney+, but in April 2019, it was announced that the films would be available with the service's launch on November 12, 2019, along with The Force Awakens and Rogue One.


 * https://www.corusent.com/news/corus-entertainment-inks-deal-exclusive-canadian-broadcast-rights-iconic-collection-star-wars-films/

Academy Awards
The ten live-action films together have been nominated for 34 Academy Awards, of which they have won seven. The films were also awarded a total of three Special Achievement Awards. The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi received Special Achievement Awards for their visual effects, and Star Wars received a Special Achievement Award for its alien, creature and robot voices.

Grammy Awards
The franchise has received a total of fourteen Grammy Award nominations, winning six.


 * Notes

Future
In August 2016, Ewan McGregor stated he would be open to return to the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, albeit for a spin-off film on the character, should he be approached, wanting to tell a story between Episode III and IV. Fans showed interest in the idea; a fan-trailer for an Obi-Wan film, with footage from the film Last Days in the Desert (which starred McGregor) became viral and widely praised by fans. The film was voted as the most wanted anthology film in a poll by The Hollywood Reporter despite there being only rumors of the film's production. Lucasfilm and McGregor have denied the development of such film, despite fans' continued interest and rumors. Days before the airing of the Star Wars Rebels episode "Twin Suns" (where Obi-Wan appeared), McGregor again stated his interest in starring in a solo film, if Lucasfilm wanted him to. Fellow cast member Joel Edgerton, who played Luke Skywalker's step uncle, Owen, in the prequel trilogy, said he would like to reprise his role in an Obi-Wan standalone film, if it were to be made, and also expressed interest in playing Boba Fett without taking off the mask, in the rumored Boba Fett film. By August 2017, a film focusing on Obi-Wan Kenobi was reported to be in development, with Stephen Daldry in early talks to direct. The same report also said Lucasfilm was considering various films about different characters including movies focusing on Boba Fett, as well as Jedi Master Yoda. In 2015, director Guillermo Del Toro pitched an idea to Lucasfilm for a film about Jabba the Hutt, and in 2017, it was reported that it is among the projects being considered by the studio.

Samuel L. Jackson has expressed interest in returning as Mace Windu, insisting that his character survived his death. Fans have also expressed interest towards the possibility of Ahsoka Tano appearing in a live-action film, with Rosario Dawson expressing interest in the role. Temuera Morrison has also expressed interest in portraying clone Captain Rex. Ian McDiarmid has also expressed interest in returning as Emperor Palpatine. However, Lucasfilm still has not given an official confirmation on any of the rumored projects.

Untitled Rian Johnson trilogy
In November 2017, Lucasfilm announced that Rian Johnson, writer and director of The Last Jedi, would be working on a brand new trilogy. The films will reportedly differ from the Skywalker-focused films in favor of focusing on new characters.

Untitled Benioff and Weiss films
In February 2018, it was announced that Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss would write and produce a series of Star Wars films separate from the Skywalker story.