Star Wars: The Last Jedi follows Star Wars: A New Hope.
Star Wars . The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars ( later subtitled Episode IV : A New Hope in 1981 ) , which became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon . A sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars : The Force Awakens . Star Wars: The Last Jedi . It is the second film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy , following Star Wars : The Force Awakens ( 2015 ) .