Claim: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set 30 years after the destruction of the Empire.

Return of the Jedi -LRB- also known as Star Wars : Episode VI -- Return of the Jedi -RRB- is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand . The screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas was from a story by Lucas , who was also the executive producer . It was the third and final installment in the original Star Wars trilogy and the first film to use THX technology . The film is set one year after The Empire Strikes Back and was produced by Howard Kazanjian for Lucasfilm Ltd. . The film stars Mark Hamill , Harrison Ford , Carrie Fisher , Billy Dee Williams , Anthony Daniels , David Prowse , Kenny Baker , Peter Mayhew and Frank Oz .   The Galactic Empire , under the direction of the ruthless Emperor , is constructing a second Death Star in order to crush the Rebel Alliance once and for all . Since the Emperor plans to personally oversee the final stages of its construction , the Rebel Fleet launches a full-scale attack on the Death Star in order to prevent its completion and kill the Emperor , effectively bringing an end to the Empire 's hold over the galaxy . Meanwhile , Luke Skywalker , a Jedi apprentice , struggles to bring his father Darth Vader back to the Light Side of the Force .   David Lynch and David Cronenberg were considered to direct the project before Marquand signed on as director . The production team relied on Lucas ' storyboards during pre-production . While writing the shooting script , Lucas , Kasdan , Marquand , and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it . Kazanjian 's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on the film 's effects in post-production . Filming took place in England , California , and Arizona from January to . Strict secrecy surrounded the production and the film used the working title Blue Harvest to prevent price gouging .   The film was released in theaters on May 25 , 1983 , six years to the day after the release of the first film , receiving mostly positive reviews . The film grossed between $ 475 million and $ 572 million worldwide . Several home video and theatrical releases and revisions to the film followed over the next 20 years . Star Wars continued with Episode I : The Phantom Menace as part of the film series ' prequel trilogy .   A sequel , Star Wars : The Force Awakens , was released on December 18 , 2015 , as part of the new sequel trilogy .