‘Star Wars’: Its modest opening day 35 years ago
bootlegga @ Mon May 28, 2012 10:35 am
$1:
Thirty-five years ago, Hollywood changed forever. "Star Wars" hit cinemas on May 25, 1977. But, while the film went on to be one of the biggest blockbusters of all time and launched sequels, prequels, TV shows, action figures, LEGO sets, and more, you may be surprised to learn that on its opening day, only a modest number of folks got to see it.
That's because the film opened in just 32 theaters across the nation. It opened on a Wednesday. By Friday, it had expanded to a whopping 43 theaters. Contrast that to Marvel's "The Avengers," which opened in 4,349 theaters, according to Box Office Mojo.
Of course, there are a lot more movie theaters now than there were in 1977. But, according to a stellar article from in70mm.com, other "big" films from 1977 opened with far greater numbers. For example, the highly anticipated but critically lambasted "Exorcist II: The Heretic" opened in more than 700 theaters. Martin Scorsese's "New York, New York" opened in more than 400.
Nobody anticipated that the film was going to be such a hit. The number of theaters showing "Star Wars" expanded once word got out that the film was selling out. Twentieth Century Fox, the distributor of the film, made as many copies as quickly as it could. It must have done a pretty good job, because "Star Wars" (or as it is now known "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope") ended up taking in hundreds of millions of bucks and became a part of American culture.
In the book "The Making of Star Wars," creator George Lucas explains that he was still working on the film's sound the day it opened. "I could see this huge crowd in front of Graumann's Chinese (Theater) -- limos -- and I thought someone must be premiering a movie. It never occurred to me that my movie was out, because I was still working on it."
That's because the film opened in just 32 theaters across the nation. It opened on a Wednesday. By Friday, it had expanded to a whopping 43 theaters. Contrast that to Marvel's "The Avengers," which opened in 4,349 theaters, according to Box Office Mojo.
Of course, there are a lot more movie theaters now than there were in 1977. But, according to a stellar article from in70mm.com, other "big" films from 1977 opened with far greater numbers. For example, the highly anticipated but critically lambasted "Exorcist II: The Heretic" opened in more than 700 theaters. Martin Scorsese's "New York, New York" opened in more than 400.
Nobody anticipated that the film was going to be such a hit. The number of theaters showing "Star Wars" expanded once word got out that the film was selling out. Twentieth Century Fox, the distributor of the film, made as many copies as quickly as it could. It must have done a pretty good job, because "Star Wars" (or as it is now known "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope") ended up taking in hundreds of millions of bucks and became a part of American culture.
In the book "The Making of Star Wars," creator George Lucas explains that he was still working on the film's sound the day it opened. "I could see this huge crowd in front of Graumann's Chinese (Theater) -- limos -- and I thought someone must be premiering a movie. It never occurred to me that my movie was out, because I was still working on it."
http://ca.movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie- ... 46627.html
Given how Avengers broke $500 million this weekend, I thought this was interesting...
2Cdo @ Tue May 29, 2012 6:45 am
I remember Star Wars playing in the theaters in London for almost a year! Todays big movies seem to come and go in a matter of weeks.
PENATRATOR @ Tue May 29, 2012 7:55 am
I remember my God Father taking my brother and I to see that in Victoria we were pretty young. Given the FX of the day and my age at the time, I was in AWE of it and sat there with my jaw wide open and eyes glued to the screen. Was on TV this weekend, my son (the same age now as I was then) watched some of it with me, as he is of this generation, the movie does not exactly blow him away as it did me, though he still think Chewbacca is a "BigFoot" lol
The take-a-way from that flick is after it was over, on the way home we stopped somewhere and he bought us these solid VERY hard plastick "Lite Sabers". You held them under a light and they glowed for a bit. All I remember is my brother and I beating the shit out of each other for months after with those fucking things! hahaha Ahhhhh the good old days
ShepherdsDog @ Tue May 29, 2012 8:00 am
I saw it in Sweden in the summer of '77. Spent that summer in Europe with my family and my uncle was a huge sci fi fan.
bootlegga @ Tue May 29, 2012 8:13 am
2Cdo 2Cdo:
I remember Star Wars playing in the theaters in London for almost a year! Todays big movies seem to come and go in a matter of weeks.
That's partly because studios want to maximize their revenues, and long running movies make less for them than newer flicks do. Once a movie hits the sixth or seventh week, studio take is usually down to about 35% of admission, while a new blockbuster can garner up to 90% of admission.