Star Wars is an epic science fantasy saga and fictional universe created by George Lucas during the late 1970s. The first film was Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), which was released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox. The film became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two sequels titled The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Nearly twenty years later a prequel trilogy, set before the original trilogy, was released.
After the release of Star Wars, George Lucas and other writers developed the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which includes three spin-off films, five television series and an extensive collection of licensed books, comics, video games, action figures, trading cards, and other merchandise, all set within the fictional Star Wars galaxy. In 2007, the overall box office revenue generated by the entire Star Wars franchise (over the course of its history) is at around US $4.3 billion, making it one of the most successful franchises of all time.