Mark your calendars, because moviegoers will get to hear: “May the Force be with you” in theaters once again.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, which kicked off the legendary trilogy and franchise, is heading back to theaters just in time for its 50th anniversary. Lucasfilm owner Disney has confirmed a theatrical release is set for April 30, 2027.
A New Hope originally hit theaters on May 25, 1977 and starred Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo and the late Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. And the film saw the introduction to one of the most iconic villains of all time, Darth Vader (physically played by David Prowse, with James Earl Jones providing the voice).
Created by George Lucas, the franchise expanded into the early 2000s with prequel films starring Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor. The sequels began with 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, featuring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver and many other spinoffs and TV series.
Last year at Cannes, Lucas spoke about how his original ideas for Star Wars “sort of got lost” after the 2012 Disney deal. Notably, there’s been some box office bombs like 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.
“I was the one who really knew what Star Wars was … who actually knew this world, because there’s a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force,” Lucas said. “When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.”
However, a highly anticipated upcoming project in the franchise is Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling. That film is also set to hit theaters in 2027, on May 28 of that year.