The Numbers - Box Office Data, Movie Stars, Idle Speculation

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Sunday, July 5, 2009

Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope



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The Numbers Rating: 7.35 (238 votes) Rate it - Rating Details
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 95% - Fresh
Theatrical Performance
Total US Gross $460,998,007
International Gross $336,901,993
Worldwide Gross $797,900,000
Home Market Performance
US DVD Sales: $11,121,862 Weekly Breakdown
Released May 25, 1977
July 21, 1978 (re-release)
August 15, 1979 (re-release)
April 10, 1981 (re-release)
August 13, 1982 (re-release)
January 31, 1997 (re-release)
September 12, 2006 (DVD Sale)
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 Gross80 (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

Full size chart

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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Cast

Harrison Ford    Han Solo
Mark Hamill    Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher    Princess Leia Organa
Peter Cushing    Grand Moff Wilhuf Tarkin
Alec Guinness    Jedi Knight Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi
Anthony Daniels    C-3PO
Kenny Baker    R2-D2
Peter Mayhew    Chewbacca
David Prowse    Darth Vader
James Earl Jones    Voice of Darth Vader
Denis Lawson    Wedge Antilles

Weekend Chart Record

DateRank Gross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossDays
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

Daily Chart Record

DateRank Gross% ChangeTheatersPer TheaterTotal GrossDays
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:
= Weekend days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
= Public Holidays (New Year's Day, July 4 etc.)