Research

I will not include all the Information on the poster. I will include only key images and information. I will include the name George Lucas as I think his name will get attention. I will emphasize the fact that the movie that I am advertising is star wars an American classic.

I like the motion and the action that all the images display. Star Wars was the first film of its type on such a large scale. When creating the posters for Star Wars the creators had to be careful to appeal to the broader audience and not exclude any ones. I think that the imagery that is used in the majority acheives this purpose. Initially everyone thought that Star Wars would be a flop. Critics said it was too sci-fi for the main stream movie goer. Little did the critics know the success that Star Wars would go on to achieve.

Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope

Release Date: May 25, 1977 (original); January 31, 1997 (Special Edition)
Synopsis: Nineteen years after the formation of the Empire, Luke Skywalker is thrust into the struggle of the Rebel Alliance when he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has lived for years in seclusion on the desert planet of Tatooine. Obi-Wan begins Luke’s Jedi training as Luke joins him on a daring mission to rescue the beautiful Rebel leader Princess Leia from the clutches of the evil Empire. Although Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader, his former apprentice, Luke proves that the Force is with him by destroying the Empire’s dreaded Death Star.

Opening Crawl:
It is a period of civil war.
Rebel spaceships, striking
from a hidden base, have won
their first victory against
the evil Galactic Empire.
During the battle, Rebel
spies managed to steal secret
plans to the Empire’s
ultimate weapon, the DEATH
STAR, an armored space
station with enough power
to destroy an entire planet.
Pursued by the Empire’s
sinister agents, Princess
Leia races home aboard her
starship, custodian of the
stolen plans that can save her
people and restore
freedom to the galaxy….
Awards: Academy Award Winner: Best Art Direction-Set Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Special Achievement in Sound; Academy Award Nominee: Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Screenplay.
BAFTA Award Winner: Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, Best Sound. BAFTA Nominee: Best Costume Design, Best Film, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design/Art Direction
Golden Globe Winner: Best Original Score. Golden Globe Nominee: Best Director, Best Motion Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Saturn Award Winner: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Costumes, Best Director, Best Make-Up, Best Music, Best Science Fiction Film, Best Special Effects, Best Supporting Actor, Best Writing, Outstanding Editing.
Additional article can be found at
http://0-search.ebscohost.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=17155802&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Wasserman, Todd. “Star Wars: Then & Now.” Brandweek 46.20 (2005): 44-46. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Feb. 2011.

1973 — George Lucas’ first hit film, American Graffiti, was released during August of 1973. It became incredibly successful. The film grossed over $ 115 million at the box office and was dollar-for-dollar the most profitable film in the history of Hollywood at the time. Lucas’ profit participation in American Graffiti earned him over $ 7 million U.S. dollars. Lucas was now a millionaire and one of the most sought after young directors in the world.
Alan Ladd, Jr. (who at the time was the head of Twentieth Century Fox) saw a smuggled print of American Graffiti before it was released in theaters and absolutely loved the film. Ladd was determined that Fox was going to be the next studio to profit from Lucas’ genius.
1975 — George Lucas conceives of and writes the basic story of Anakin Skywalker’s rise, fall and ultimate redemption. This story becomes too large for one film and Lucas divides the story into four trilogies. The first trilogy focuses on the life of a young Anakin Skywalker while the second and third trilogies focus on the lives of Anakin’s son, Luke Skywalker and daughter, Princess Leia. The fourth trilogy is vague and esoteric. It is set thousands of years after the third trilogy. In the mid-1970’s, Lucas chooses to make the second trilogy first since it appears to be the most exciting one to film at the time.
For Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, Lucas borrowed the plot line from Japanese film maker Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress. Many other story elements of A New Hope pay homage to the films called Metropolis, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Fistful of Dollars and dozens of other classic movies in many different film genres.
Lucas offers his Star Wars films first to Universal Studios, the film company that financed American Graffiti. Universal passed on Star Wars because they considered it to be an unfathomable and silly movie idea. This decision ended up costing Universal hundreds of millions of dollars. Every single studio in Hollywood passed on the project except for 20th Century Fox. Fox gave Lucas $ 11 million to make what is perhaps the most influential film in the history of cinema. Fox originally released Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope in May 25, 1977 in 43 theaters/cinemas in its first weekend.
On May 20, 1977, Variety set the tone by stating: “Star Wars is a magnificent film. George Lucas set out to make the biggest possible adventure-fantasy out of his memories of serials and older action epics, and he has succeeded brilliantly. What Lucas lacks in originality is more than made up by enthralling special effects.” Star Wars’ opening day totaled $ 254,309 from just 32 theaters. It’s first weekend box-office gross equaled $ 1.5 million. By the end of its first theatrical run, Star Wars was the most successful film in North American history with a gross in excess of $ 307.2 million. Lucas’ cut from the box office was more than $ 50 million. Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) negotiated for 2.5% of net profits, which eventually earned the actor over $ 6 million.
When Lucas negotiated his deal with Fox to make Star Wars, the studio was shocked to learn that the red hot director was not asking for a lot of money. Instead, Lucas wanted control. He wanted to have the right to the final cut of the film, 40% of the net box-office gross, all rights to future sequels and ownership of all the merchandising rights associated with Star Wars. In the 1970’s, science fiction films were not very profitable. Hence, Fox thought they were ripping Lucas off. Sequel and merchandise rights to science fiction films were worthless at the time. In the end, this deal would eventually make Lucas a multi billionaire and cost Fox an untold fortune in lost revenues. Lucas revealed he wanted control over Star Wars in order to keep the movie studio from ruining Star Wars, not because Lucas was trying to make the best movie deal in Hollywood history.
1978 — George Lucas began to discreetly buy up land in San Rafael, California. Lucas purchased the 1,882 acre Bulltail Ranch for $ 2.7 million. Production on the sequel to Star Wars called Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back was underway. The film was budgeted at $ 18 million to be entirely financed out of Lucas’ own pocket. The film encountered severe budget overruns and eventually cost over $ 30 million. The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters in May 21, 1980 and grossed $ 209.4 million U.S. dollars in North America. It was the highest grossing film of 1980. In August 1982, a theatrical re-release of A New Hope earned another $ 15.5 million for a total of $ 322.7 million dollars. A few months later in November 1982, The Empire Strikes Back went back in cinemas and grossed $ 13.2 million for a total of $ 222.6 million.
1983 — Star Wars Episode 6 Return of the Jedi premieres in about 1,002 theaters in May 25, 1983 and grosses over $ 23 million U.S. dollars in its first weekend with a complete box office gross of $ 252.6 million at North American cinemas. After the release of Return of the Jedi, Lucas retires from making Star Wars movies to pursue other projects. Lucas vaguely promises to make a Prequel Trilogy one day when special-effects technology advances enough and becomes cheap enough so that Lucas can make the films exactly as Lucas envisions them without artistic compromises. True to his word, Lucas walked away from Star Wars and the Prequel Trilogy remained untouched in his five three-ringed notebooks for well over a decade. In March 1985, Return of the Jedi returns to theaters and earns another $ 11.3 million for a grand total of $ 263.9 million U.S. dollars.
1994 — Front page of Daily Variety announced that: “Lucas The Loner Returns To Wars.” Lucas tells Rex Weiner of Variety that work will soon begin on the long-awaited Prequel Trilogy. The first prequel is tentatively scheduled for a 1998 release. Lucas states that the recent advances in computer generated imaging (CGI) as seen in Jurassic Park and Casper make the filming of the new trilogy both inexpensive and technically possible. Also, Lucas states that he will direct Episode 1. This is the first time that Lucas has directed a film since the original Star Wars. The new CG technology will create a new way to make films where a writer’s imagination can be fully released without restrictions. With the level of computer animation technology available, Lucas believes that he is now free to write more interesting and complex Star Wars scripts.
1995 — Lucas is hard at work on writing the screenplay for Episode 1 . . . The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles helps pave the way for the Prequel Trilogy. ILM develops the technology and means to create virtual environments for this landmark television series. ILM packs each hour long episode with hundreds of special effects sequences at very reasonable prices. With the new digital effects techniques developed for Young Indy, Lucas believes that he will be able to make the Prequel Trilogy very economically: about $ 60 – 70 million per film.
May 1996 — Lucasfilm announces that it has signed a deal (reportedly worth $ 2 billion) with Pepsico (Pepsi, Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell and Frito Lay) for movie tie-ins related to the new Prequel Trilogy. Variety called this “the largest in size and scope the entertainment industry has ever seen.”
Late 1996 — Lucasfilm announces that pre-production on Episode 1 has begun.
September 1996 — Lucasfilm announces that Leavesdon Studios in Britain will be used to film portions of Episode 1.
Late 1996 — ILM celebrates its twentieth anniversary.
November 1996 — Lucasfilm announces that ILM is developing revolutionary computer software that will be used to create the 2000-plus effects sequences that will be seen in Episode 1.
1997 — Fans learn that Ewan McGregor will play the role of the younger Obi-Wan Kenobi and Liam Neeson will play the role of a venerable Jedi Knight. Natalie Portman won the pivotal role of the young Queen while Samuel L. Jackson will appear as a Jedi Master in Episode 1. Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox return the classic Star Wars trilogy to theaters around the world. In January 31, 1997, A New Hope Special Edition grosses $ 35.9 million dollars during its first weekend with a final box office tally of $ 138.3 million U.S dollars.
Subsequently, The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition debuts February 21, 1997 with a first weekend haul of $ 22.0 million for a total of $ 67.6 million U.S. dollars. Finally, Return of the Jedi Special Edition arrived in cineplexes with an initial box office gross exceeding $ 16.3 million starting March 14, 1997. The final box office gross for Return of the Jedi Special Edition was $ 45.5 million dollars.
June 1997 — Principle photography for Episode 1 begins. Lucasfilm’s unique style of ultra secrecy is utilized on the set. Despite this security, the plot line of the film is leaked bit by bit to the Internet. By the end of 1998, SuperShadow.com has posted an accurate summary of the Episode 1 script. Thus, SS.com becomes the center of Star Wars fandom on the Internet.
September 6, 1997 — The first phase of principal photography for Star Wars Episode 1 ends.
Star Wars Episode 7 Spoilers – SS.com George Lucas Interviews – Star Wars Episode 7 Seven Decide Your Destiny of Fate – Star Wars Episodes 7 8 9 Movie Film Info – Star Wars Episode 7 vii Trailer – Star Wars The Clone Wars Episode Guide – Indiana Jones 5 Spoilers News Rumors – Indiana Jones 5 Script Plot Synopsis – Indiana Jones 5 Trailer – Princess Leia Bikini Pictures Images Pics – History of the Jedi Knights and Sith Lords – Most Popular Star Wars Characters – Most Powerful Jedi Knights – Most Powerful Sith Lords – Star Wars Midichlorians – Official Lucasfilm Surveys – Star Wars Frequently Asked Questions – Star Wars History Making Origins – Star Wars Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back Revelation – Star Wars and Indiana Jones Secret Script Plot Formula – Star Wars 7 8 9
April 1998 — Lucasfilm announces that 20th Century Fox has won the rights to release the Prequel Trilogy. Fox is rumored to receive only a small distribution fee and will not share in the box-office gross. Fox had lost the right to future Star Wars films when Rupert Murdoch bought the studio in the mid-1980’s. Fox’ contract with Lucas had a “key man” clause that terminated their rights to future Star Wars films if the studio were acquired by new owners.
While some believe that in 100 years Star Wars will be a religion, the humble Lucas states that one day Star Wars “will be nothing more than a pretty minor footnote in the pop culture of the 1970s and 1980s.”
starwars.com announces that Episode 1 will be released in North America on Wednesday, May 19, 1999.
September 1998 — starwars.com announces that Episode 1 will be subtitled The Phantom Menace (TPM). This subtitle is presumably inspired by the old Republic movie serials that Lucas grew up watching.
November 1998 — starwars.com announces that TPM’s first teaser trailer will be sneak previewed in 200 of the nation’s most state-of-the-art movie houses. The trailer is subsequently released in cineplexes nationwide and is broadcast in full length on many TV outlets such as Entertainment Tonight, Hard Copy, CNN, etc. Lucas later states on starwars.com that he is overwhelmed by the phenomenal response that the fans had after viewing the first trailer.
1999 — George Lucas announces that he will probably direct Episode 2 and has begun to more fully “develop” the story for Episode 2.
January 1999 — Lucasfilm’s promotion of TPM remains low key to avoid over-hyping the newest Star Wars film.
February 1999 — In the Star Wars Insider, Rick McCallum states that Lucasfilm will release a more “traditional” movie trailer by March or April 1999.
March 12, 1999 — Lucasfilm releases the second TPM promotional trailer.
First Week of May 1999 — Lucas shows The Phantom Menace (TPM) to theater owners.
May 16, 1999 — TPM is exhibited in several cities to raise money for children’s charities.
May 19, 1999 — TPM makes its theatrical debut in North America and breaks many box-office records.
In an interview with Time Magazine, Lucas states that: “There was a cinematic innovation in the first Star Wars film that made people say, ‘Gee, I’d never seen that before. I have the opportunity to do that again with the prequels. The fun part for me is to say, ‘You want me to come back and do that for you? I can do that. I’ll do it. Here.”
After a sixteen year lull, a new Star Wars movie finally returns to theaters on Wednesday, May 19, 1999. Some considered Episode 1 to be the most anticipated film since Gone With The Wind. On its first day of release The Phantom Menace shatters box-office records with the largest single day gross in history: over $ 28 million in North America. Episode 1 goes on to earn over $ 431 million domestically in North America and over $ 493.2 million overseas for a worldwide total of over $ 924.3 million U.S. dollars. Episode 1 ends up becoming the second highest grossing film of all time second only to James Cameron’s Titanic.
2000 — Filming begins on Episode 2 with the older Anakin Skywalker played by little-known actor Hayden Christensen.
May 2002 — Episode 2 opened in theaters on May 16, 2002. The film earned $ 110 million in its first four days of release in North America. The final box office gross of Attack of the Clones was over $ 302.2 million U.S. dollars in North America with another $ 8.4 million earned from IMAX theaters. The overseas box office earnings topped $ 338.7 million dollars. The worldwide box office of Attack of the Clones equaled $ 649.4 million dollars.
June 2003 — Starwars.com opens its special Episode 3 content called Hyperspace. Subscription fee is $ 19.95 per year.
July 2003 — George Lucas is scheduled to begin filming Star Wars Episode 3 in Sydney, Australia.
November 7, 2003 — The Star Wars Clone Wars Epic Micro Series debuts on the Cartoon Network.
February 2004 — Lucasfilm announces that the classic Star Wars trilogy (Episodes 4 to 6) will be released on DVD on September 21, 2004.
April 2004 — Lucasfilm reveals that Episode 3 will be released in cinemas in North America on Thursday, May 19, 2005.
July 2004 — Lucasfilm announces that the title of Episode 3 will be Revenge of the Sith.
September 21, 2004 — Lucasfilm finally releases the classic Star Wars trilogy on DVD. The classic trilogy DVD’s eventually sell over 6 million units in North America.
November 4, 2004 — The first movie teaser trailer for Revenge of the Sith debuts at starwars.com Hyperspace.
November 5, 2004 — The Revenge of the Sith trailer is previewed with the Pixar film called The Incredibles.
November 8, 2004 — starwars.com debuts the Revenge of the Sith trailer for the general public.
March 10, 2005 — Lucasfilm debuts the second Revenge of the Sith trailer on the Fox TV Network. Trailer appears with the computer-animated movie called Robots beginning March 11. Available to all fans at starwars.com on March 14.
May 19, 2005 — Revenge of the Sith opens at theaters all around the world to record box-office grosses. In North America, Revenge of the Sith grosses $ 158.4 million U.S. dollars in its first four days of release with an eventual box office total of $ 380.3 million in North America. Overseas, Revenge of the Sith takes in a box office gross of $ 469.7 million U.S. dollars for a worldwide box office total of $ 850 million.
November 1, 2005 — Lucasfilm releases Revenge of the Sith on DVD.
May 2006 — Lucasfilm announces that the original theatrical versions of the classic Star Wars trilogy will be released on DVD in September 2006. This will be the first versions shown in cineplexes in 1977, 1980 and 1983 without any of the 1997 special-edition updates.
June 2006 — Lucasfilm announces that Celebration 4 will take place in Los Angeles, CA, USA in May 2007.
May 25, 2007 — Lucasfilm celebrates the 30th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, which premiered in a couple dozen cinemas on May 25, 1977.
September 2007 — George Lucas announces there will be at least 100 episodes of the computer animated Clone Wars TV show, which will likely debut in Fall 2008.
February 2008 — Lucasfilm reveals the computer animated Clone Wars TV series will debut in theaters 15 August 2008 (running time 100 minutes) to be distributed worldwide by Warner Brothers. Additional episodes to air on the Cartoon Network and eventually on the TNT cable TV network.
April 2008 — In an in depth interview with Total Film magazine, George Lucas reveals there are three pillars to the Star Wars plots. The father, the son and the holy ghost. Lucas considers his story ideas to be the father. A hint at the massive size of his personal ego. Lucas says the Star Wars expanded universe comprised of the novels, comic books and video games are the son.
Lucas claims the third and ultimately most important level of concepts are the fan ideas created primarily at SuperShadow.com. This world is the holy ghost, which is another reference by Lucas to our legendary and beloved SuperShadow.
August 15, 2008 — The se7enth Star Wars movie called Star Wars The Clone Wars begins its run in theaters in North America. This will end up being the least successful Star Wars film with only $ 67 million U.S. dollars in box office revenues in both North America and in overseas foreign territories.
September 2008 — The Star Wars The Force Unleashed video game is released worldwide and sells 1.5 million copies in its first week in retail outlets. It’s a significant Star Wars video game because it features the only story plot written by George Lucas for a Star Wars video game. The Force Unleashed video game will become the best selling Star Wars video game of all time. Exactly as expected.
October 3, 2008 — The new Star Wars The Clone Wars TV series begins its first season on the Cartoon Network. It received over 4 million viewers for its debut episodes. This is the highest Nielson ratings for a new TV show in the history of the Cartoon Network.
January 2009 — Lucasfilm announces the initial four episodes of the Star Wars The Clone Wars TV series will be available on DVD on March 24, 2009 in the United States. This Clone Wars DVD will be distributed by Warner Home Video and will have the title: Star Wars The Clone Wars A Galaxy Divided.
The Star Wars The Clone Wars movie has shifted 1.7 million DVD copies in the United States.
September 2009 — Lucasfilm reveals that the long awaited live action Star Wars TV television show series will debut in late 2012 in the broadcast medium of television.
October 2, 2009 — Season 2 (Two) of the highly popular Star Wars The Clone Wars television TV series show begins airing on the Cartoon Network in the United States of America.
December 3, 2009 — Lucasfilm announces Celebration v 5 Five will take place at the Orange County Convention Center from day 12 to 15 August 2010 in Orlando, Florida in the United States.
April 2010 — Lucasfilm Animation is creating a new animated Star Wars television TV show series, centered on comedy and laughs, based in the Star Wars galaxy from Hollywood actor Seth Green and Matthew Senreich.
Steve Sansweet of Lucasfilm stated during a speaking panel at the C2E2 comic convention in Chicago, Illinois that the 6 Star Wars movie episodes will eventually be released as one deluxe box set in Bluray Blu-Ray HD in the near future. This might include the deleted scenes from the Star Wars classic trilogy.
August 2010 — George Lucas announces at Star Wars Celebration 5 in Orlando, Florida in the United States that all 6 Star Wars movie episodes will be available in a single Blu-Ray high definition box set in Fall 2011.
Lucasfilm confirms this will be the 1997 Special Edition versions with the outstanding improvements and special effects expansion of the Star Wars classic trilogy. This Bluray release will include never before seen deleted scenes from the Star Wars film saga.
October 2010 — At long last, Lucasfilm officially announced that Star Wars will get the 3D three dimensions screening in cinemas theaters multiplexes. With very, very extremely high costs, Lucasfilm is converting the 6 primary Star Wars movie episodes into the most state of art 3D processes available with current technology.
The first 3D Star Wars film will be the landmark ultra spectacular Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, which to this day is the most successful Star Wars motion picture of all time, starting in movie venues worldwide during the year 2012.
Each Star Wars saga episode will be released yearly with a period of one year between each theatrical release. This means the fantastically stunning Star Wars Episode 2 Attack of the Clones will be released in cineplexes in 3D starting in the year 2013, then the reality shattering, mind boggling Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith in theatres during 2014.
January 2011 – Lucasfilm reveals that the primary Star Wars movie episodes will finally be released on Bluray for home entertainment markets on 27 September 2011. In fact, three separate Blu Ray versions will be released at retail:
1. Star Wars The Complete Saga including all 6 Star Wars film saga episodes on 6 Blu-ray discs with three additional bonus Bluray discs including deleted scenes and alternate scenes and never before seen info from the Star Wars archives.
2. Star Wars Prequel Trilogy with the 3 mind bending reality altering Star Wars prequels of Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode 2 Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith.
3. Star Wars Original Trilogy with the three Star Wars classics of Star Wars Episode 4 A New Hope, Star Wars Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode 6 Return of the Jedi.

http://swipelife.com/2009/09/22/rare-star-wars-photos/

http://0-search.ebscohost.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=17155802&site=ehost-live&scope=site