'Star Wars' Changes Everything (May 25)

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

The phrase, “May the Force be with you” was uttered for the first time during the original Star Wars movie which opened in theaters on this day in 1977. Set in a galaxy far, far away, this “space opera” became an instant pop culture phenomenon.

1977 – Star Wars: The Force Comes to Us

Original "Star Wars" poster showing Luke Skywalker holding up a lightsaber and Princess Leia with gun. — *(20th Century Fox)*

While hard to fathom living a life without Star Wars, the original movie only opened in 32 theaters when it premiered on this day in 1977. It was rumored that 20th Century Fox didn’t have a lot of faith in the new film.

After George Lucas scored a hit with American Graffiti, Fox allowed him to spend $9.5 million for the space epic. It took four years to create the cowboys-and-Indians tale told in space. The movie starred Mark Hamill (as Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa), Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin), Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Anthony Daniel (C3PO).

By the end of the film’s first week, Star Wars had made $3 million and by the end of summer it had made over $100 million. Clearly, the movie resurrected the idea that science fiction movies could be profitable. Star Wars was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won six Oscars for Best Art Direction, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound, Visual Effects, plus a Special Achievement Academy Award and a Scientific and Engineering Award.

Star Wars (aka Episode IV, A New Hope) has been followed by numerous sequels, prequels and stand alone “Star Wars Stories”. Entertainment grew with TV series and theme park attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

The list of Star Wars movies include:

1980 – The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V)
1983 – Return of the Jedi (Episode VI)
1999 – The Phantom Menace (Episode I)
2002 – Attack of the Clones (Episode II)
2005 – Revenge of the Sith (Episode III)
2015 – The Force Awakens (Episode VII)
2016 – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2017 – The Last Jedi (Episode VIII)
2019 – The Rise of Skywalker (Episode IX)

1979 – When ‘Alien’ Landed

Images from the "Alien" movie poster — (TVDB)

They say that “in space, no one can hear you scream.” That’s actually the tagline for the original Alien movie. Although not as successful as Star Wars, Ridley Scott’s Alien is still a very popular movie franchise. Ridley Scott’s British-American science-fiction horror film, Alien, opened in theaters on this day. It was then that we first learned that “in space no one can hear you scream.”

The British-American, science fiction horror film starred Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto who all played members of a spaceship that were each taken down one by one by an alien.

Besides scaring audiences silly, the film received high praise from critics and received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, three Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction for Scott, and Best Supporting Actress for Cartwright, and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

In 2002, Alien was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It was later followed by:

1986 – Aliens
1992 – Alien 3
1997 – Alien: Resurrection
2004 – Alien vs. Predator
2007 – Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
2012 – Prometheus
2017 – Alien: Covenant
2024 – Alien: Romulus
2025 – The TV series Alien: Earth

1969 – “X” Marks the Spot

Jon Voight in "Midnight Cowboy" — Jon Voight *(TVDB)*

Directed by John Schlesinger, Midnight Cowboy was based off of James Leo Herlihy’s novel of the same name. It has been described as a movie about two men pursuing the American Dream only to miss it completely. The depressing movie has also been described as a story about how America can suck the life out of you. The movie starred Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver and Brenda Vaccaro.

Midnight Cowboy was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won three Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay. It is the only rated-X movie to win Best Picture.