Since A new hope premiered in May 1977, not a single day has passed without Star Wars has stopped being news. Spain succumbed to galactic fever a few months later, in November. Star Wars: A New Hope (the subtitle was not incorporated until 1981) was one of the first blockbusters of cinema and raised more than $775 million.
Star Wars it is like The Lord of the rings, one of the few franchises that the public and academia lend equally. Lucas’ creation has 10 Oscars, most of them won for A new hope. The awards cycle has closed with the honorary Palme d’Or that Cannes has awarded to George Lucas, who has not directed for almost two decades and whose last film outside the universe Star Wars was American Graffitifrom 1973. In it, an overwhelming and still unknown Harrison Ford. Four years later, the force was with him.
Why do we celebrate Star Wars Day on May 4?
Although the first six films in the franchise (the original trilogy and the prequel) were released in May, none of them hit theaters on the 4th of this month. George Lucas, for his part, was born on May 14. The month bustles with midichlorian activity, but the page for May 4, however, remains blank. The explanation is somewhat less obvious and, to develop it, you have to go to English. Already Margaret Thatcher.
On May 4th it is pronounced, in the native language of George Lucas’s galaxy, May the fourth. Likewise, one of the most popular phrases of the franchise, May the Force be with youappears in the original scripts as May the force be with you. The sound is similar and, phonetically, there is not much difference between “May the force be with you” and “may the Fourth of May be with you.” The why could end there. But not. There is still Margaret Thatcher to join the equation.
The iron lady and Jedi master of neoliberalism was congratulated by her party colleagues, following her arrival at Downing Street, in a British newspaper. The headline under which the praise was mixed was this: May the 4th Be With You, Maggie (“May the Fourth be with you, Maggie.”) Thatcher began her term on May 4 1979 and this was, supposedly, the first time that day and phrase were linked.
May 4 informally became World Star Wars Day in 2011. Since then, this date has had several memorable celebrations, such as the Star Wars movie marathon that Star Wars astronauts watched in 2015. Space Station, or the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame awarded to Carrie Fisher in 2023.
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