Star Wars Movie Posters

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The Star Wars saga begins.

Star Wars was one of those incredible films that was an immediate phenomenon when it hit the box office and continues to be a success today. Why not take a moment to follow the captivating history of Star Wars.

After a successful run in the early 1970s with the box office winner American Graffiti; in 1975 George Lucas writes a basic story about Anakin Skywalker's rise, fall, and redemption. The story is so lengthy that it needs to be divided into 2 trilogies.

The first trilogy focuses on Anakin Skywalker's young life while the second focuses on the life of Anakin's son luke skywalker. Since the second trilogy is the most interesting, Lucas decides to film it first.

He offers the film to Universal Studios who had financed his American Graffiti film, but they chose to pass thinking it was a ridiculous movie. They would live to regret this decision which would cost millions of dollars in lost profits. But they wouldn't be alone in those regrets as each Hollywood studio passed on the movie. That is except for 20th Century Fox who came up with $10 million for Lucas to make his first Star Wars movie a fact.

In May of 1977 Fox released Episode 4 of Star Wars, A New Hope. The tone was swiftly set. The film was instantly seen as the chief adventure ever on film. The special effects were considered marvelous and exceptional. In fact, nothing remotely close had ever made it to the large screen before.

On opening day, the Star Wars movie ran in only 32 theaters, but it still produced an amazing $254,309 in ticket sales. By the end of its first run it had become the most successful film ever in North American record grossing greater than $290 million.

Lucas reportedly received $50 million of those profits. When Lucas cut his deal with Fox he was more interested in control of the film then he was in his percentage. He wanted all rights to the final cut and all rights to future sequels, Star Wars merchandise rights, and 40% of the gross. This deal eventually made Lucas a billionaire.

By 1978 Lucas had purchased the over 1800 acre Bulltail Ranch in San Rafael and soon production of the sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, was underway. Lucas was financing it out of his own pocket and it had a budget of $18 million; though} due to budget overruns the real filming cost more than $30 million. In May of 1980, The Empire Strikes Back, hit the theaters grossing $222 million, making it the highest grossing film of the year.

In May of 1983, Return of the Jedi, hit the theaters grossing $265 million in North America and Lucas decides to retire from Star Wars projects to pursue some of his other interests. He made a vague promise to make the Prequel Trilogy someday if special effects ever become advanced enough.

That day arrived in 1994 when Lucas announces he will begin working on the Prequel Trilogy with a tentative release scheduled for 1998. In 1996 Lucas signs the chief deal ever seen in the business} with PepsiCo for movie tie ins, and later in the year he announces that the pre-production has started, and in May of 1999 Episode 1 titled, The Phantom Menace, was released, followed by Episode 2 titled, The Attack of the Clones.

It’s tough to overlook plain lessons in the power of “intention” from movie lines like:

“You must unlearn what you have learned,” Jedi Master, Yoda declares.

“All right, I’ll give it a try,” hero, Luke Skywalker replies.

“No! Try Not,” Yoda snaps back. “Do. Or, Do Not. There is no try.”

The Stars Wars series inspired movie-goers on so countless different levels.

It was one of the first films to truly take benefit of merchandizing. When Lucas negotiated the deal with Fox to make the film, the studio was amazed to see he wasn’t asking for much money.  He wanted command. Lucas wanted the right to the final cut of the film, 40 percent of the net box-office gross, all rights to future sequels and ownership of all the merchandising rights linked with Star Wars.

Everything from Pez dispensers, shampoo bottles and electric toothbrushes to movie posters, motion figures and stuffed toys came on the market. Its mind-boggling how much still shows up and how much people will purchase.

Movie memorabilia is a pretty new field of collecting. As a rule, the older the Star War things are and the better their condition, the more desirable. Original packaging also drives the worth up.  Star Wars posters are huge collector's items and there are many to choose from.  Star Wars Art is an entirely different medium as it is typically not licensed Lucasfilm material.  That furthermore makes it very diverse in nature, from classic art to pop art.  It's astounding the way many artists have incorporated the Star Wars legacy into their works.

Artists exhibit paintings, sculptures, graffiti-inspired portraits and more that pay tribute to the characters in a galaxy far, far away in a truly unique way.

Take a close peek Christian Waggoner's Star Wars art and you'll obtain unbelievable photorealistic paintings that make you wonder how he achieves such skillful detail with a mere brush and canvas. After a decade of high-profile commissions, in 2007, he decided to turn his love and passion for the Star Wars series into fine art. His paintings explore light and reflection, capturing unforgettable moment in the timeless film series.  The best part? How the story is in the reflection.

A lot of believe that 100 years from now Star Wars will still have a following. Actually by then it may have grown to epidemic proportions. ?