when did star wars change to episode 4
List of changes in Star Wars re-releases The first film was released in 1977 under the title Star Wars. The subtitles Episode IV and A New Hope were retroactively added to the opening crawl in a subsequent release.[11][12] Accounts differ as to when this change occurred. Some, including Lucasfilm, date the addition to a theatrical re-release on April 10, 1981,[8][11][12] while others place it much earlier at the re-release in July 1978.[13] This change was made to bring the original film in line with the titling of its sequel The Empire Strikes Back, which was released in 1980 with the subtitle Episode V.[8]
Star Wars (film) Star Wars was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1982.[108] After ILM used computer-generated effects for Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park, Lucas claimed that digital technology had caught up to his "original vision" for Star Wars.[5] For the film's 20th anniversary in 1997, Star Wars was digitally remastered and re-released to movie theaters, along with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, under the campaign title Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. This version of the film runs 124 minutes.