May 25, 2015 – Where were you when Star Wars first premiered? On this date in 1977, the world first saw Star Wars at just 32 theaters in the United States.
Audience reaction was immediate, explosive and through-the-roof. In the weeks that followed, the movie expanded nationally and worldwide.
Here is the original 1977 trailer:
Twenty years later, or in February 1997, movie-goers were treated to a somewhat altered version of Star Wars (with the added subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope). Several weeks after that, in succession, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were also shown on the big screen with remastered audio, inserted scenes and other edits, some very controversial to this day.
Here is the Star Wars Special Edition Theatrical Trailer from 1997. For a later generation, this would be their first introduction to the original trilogy:
FUTURE of STAR WARS 