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THE SCREENING ROOM

By

Michael Coate

“Star Wars” Trivia And Additional Information (U.S. and Canada release)
 
Release schedule/total number of engagements during weekend beginning…
May 27: 43
Jun 03: 2 (45)
Jun 10: 3 (48)
Jun 17: 109 (157)
Jun 24: 203 (360)
Jul 01: 136 (496)
Jul 08: 81 (577)
Jul 15: 51 (628)
Jul 22: 183 (811)
Jul 29: 145 (956)
Aug 05: 88 (1,044)

Number of engagements at widest point of distribution: 1,098 (original); 1,756* (1978 re-release)

Number of theatres equipped with Dolby Stereo on film's opening week of release: 27
 
Opening day box office gross (32 theatres): $254,809
 
Opening weekend box office gross (four-day holiday weekend, 43 theatres): $1.5 million
 
Opening weekend per-screen average: $36,150
 
Top-grossing movie in North America during opening weekend (May 27-30): "Smokey And The Bandit" ($2.7 million, 386 engagements)
 
Number of days in release when gross surpassed $100 million: 81
 
Total boxoffice gross during summer season (Memorial Day - Labor Day): $133.7 million
 
Total domestic box office gross original run: $265.1 million**
 
Place on all-time domestic box office gross and film rental lists at end of original run: 1
 
Longest-running engagement: 76 weeks, Westgate (Portland)
 
Highest-grossing engagement: Astor Plaza (New York)
 
Highest per-screen average: Coronet (San Francisco)
 
Current domestic box office gross (including all re-releases): $461 million
 
Current place on all-time domestic box office gross list: 2
 
*Included here because there was never a point in time where all of the prints from the original release had been withdrawn. The "original" release "ended" on July 20, 1978 and the "re-release" began the following day, July 21. This was in effect an "extended first-run" but is often referred to as a "general release" and a "re-release," though not a re-release in the conventional sense. (The film had official re-releases in North America in 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1997.)
 
**Includes 60-week original run (05/25/77 - 07/20/78) + seven-week extended first-run/general release/re-release (07/21/78 - 09/07/78) + nine-week extended Portland run (09/08/78 - 11/07/78).
 

 
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