Question: was star wars a new hope always episode 4

Answer: No, The film was originally released in 1977 with the title ``Star Wars''. The subtitles Episode IV and A New Hope were only added to the opening crawl in subsequent re-releases. Accounts differ as to when this designation was first added; some date the change at the theatrical re-release of April 10, 1981, while others place it much earlier at the re-release in July 1978. The retroactive addition of these subtitles was intended to bring the film into line with the introduction to its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, which was released in 1980 bearing the designation ``Episode V''. It is uncertain if the introduction of an episodic naming convention was an indicator of Lucas's original intent, or if this was simply a later redraft of the narrative. According to some accounts, Lucas has claimed that he was discouraged by Twentieth Century Fox from using an episode number on a new film because it would confuse audiences. Gary Kurtz has stated that he and Lucas had originally considered using an episode number for Star Wars to emulate the chapter numbering used in the 1936 Flash Gordon installments, but they were uncertain whether they should designate it Episode III, IV or V. However, some of Lucas's early script drafts bear titles such as ``The Adventures of the Starkiller (Episode One): The Star Wars'' (1975) or ``The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as Taken from the Journal of the Whills: Saga One: Star Wars'' (1976). The Revised Fourth Draft of the script dated January 1975 acquired the subtitle ``Episode IV -- A New Hope -- from the Journal of the Whills'' when published in the 1979 book The Art of Star Wars.