Claim: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a film.

Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise , centered on a film series created by George Lucas . It depicts the adventures of various characters `` a long time ago in a galaxy far , far away '' .   The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars -LRB- later subtitled Episode IV : A New Hope in 1981 -RRB- , which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon . It was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back -LRB- 1980 -RRB- and Return of the Jedi -LRB- 1983 -RRB- ; these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy . A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005 , which received mixed reactions from both critics and fans . A sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars : The Force Awakens . All seven films were nominated for Academy Awards -LRB- with wins going to the first two films -RRB- and have been commercial successes , with a combined box office revenue of over $ 7.5 billion , making Star Wars the third highest-grossing film series . Spin-off films include the animated Star Wars : The Clone Wars -LRB- 2008 -RRB- and Rogue One -LRB- 2016 -RRB- , the latter of which is the first in an upcoming series of anthology films .   The series has spawned an extensive media franchise including books , television series , computer and video games , and comic books , all of which take place within the same continuity as the films , resulting in significant development of the series 's fictional universe , with the non-canonical works falling under the defunct Star Wars Legends label . Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the `` Most successful film merchandising franchise . In 2015 , the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $ 42 billion , making Star Wars the second highest-grossing media franchise of all time .   In 2012 , The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm for $ 4.06 billion and earned the distribution rights to all subsequent Star Wars films , beginning with the release of The Force Awakens in 2015 . The former distributor , 20th Century Fox , retains the physical distribution rights for the first two Star Wars trilogies , owns permanent rights for the original 1977 film and continues to hold the rights for the prequel trilogy and the first two sequels to A New Hope until May 2020 . Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films , excluding A New Hope .