The evolution of poster design for Star Wars a New Hope

Typically, a film gets a limited number of cinema posters produced for its initial release, a teaser and then a main poster. However, for hotly anticipated, larger releases or those that persist in cinemas for a long time, many more can be created along the way. Given its meteoric and enduring rise when released, Star Wars - A New Hope was one such film.

Some film franchises and studios relied heavily upon the same artists for their promotional poster designs. Such as Robert McGinnis and Frank McCarthy designing many of the James Bond promotional material and Hammer Horror favouring Tom Chantrell. In stark contrast, the design mantel for the different Star Wars US and UK posters was passed to a different artist each time.

Star Wars 1976 US Poster, Howard Chaykin :

So it is only natural to start at the beginning... a long time ago in a Comic Con, far far away... well, San Diego actually in the summer of 1976, where the first introduction for unsuspecting attendees to the Star Wars saga came in the form of, not a film poster but, a promotional poster created by American comic-book artist Howard Chaykin. Created to promote the yet-to-be-released Marvel comic series and help generate interest for the film's release a year later. Chaykin's famous “Poster #1” (colloquially referred to simply as 'The Chaykin') features the fabulously comic-book style design of the core Star Wars elements that we have grown to know and love and expect to see on any Star Wars design! Luke Skywalker at the forefront with lightsaber in hand, backed by a blaster-wielding Han Solo, Princess Leia and Obi-Wan Kenobi - with, naturally, Darth Vader in the background looming menacingly over all. Other key elements include the Death Star, X-Wings, Y-Wings and T.I.E Fighters adorning the design. For sale at the show for a mere $1.25. It now, understandably, sets you back a considerable number of Galactic Credits!

Star Wars 1977 US Teaser A Silver Mylar Film Poster:

The next design released, and actually the first ever movie poster released in cinemas for the title were the Teasers 'Coming to Your Galaxy This Summer'. Released in the US in 1977 in two formats, the first was printed on a foil-coated paper (Mylar) and another, with the same design, was a regular teaser poster with a black background and grey text and borders. Both are very collectible, but naturally, the 'blingier' Mylar version is the most. A 'Style B Teaser' 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away' advance was also printed prior to the film's release.

Star Wars 1977 US Teaser A Film Poster:

The artists behind these teaser designs are unknown and what's interesting to note is the Star Wars logo appears as a work in progress with its design differing between the first foil version, subsequent teaser posters and the eventual final design used on all future promotional material.

Star Wars 1977 US 1 Sheet 1st Printing Film Poster, Tom Jung:

American artist Tom Jung was commissioned to design the first poster for the film's actual release. His design for the US "Style A" poster featuring Luke Skywalker standing heroically with lightsaber raised and Princess Leia beside him with blaster in hand is undeniably iconic. A popular design that persisted long enough for a total of four different print runs, with, naturally, posters from the first run being the most collectible. 

Star Wars 1977 UK Quad Film Poster, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt:

Jung's, rightly much-loved design was actually deemed "too dark" by some Fox executives and, when it came to the film's British promotion, it is reported that George Lucas himself wanted something more 'comic booky' than Jung's design. So the next artists to be commissioned to work on the release were Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, who, with an incredibly tight deadline, with just a week to go before the release, produced one of the film's most notable designs within 72 hours. They were told not to worry about likenesses with the stars as 'nobody knows who these people are' and created a highly distinctive and painterly design. Widely admired for its romantic, almost fantasy-novel aesthetic, which stands in contrast to other Star Wars promotional art of the time. However, the UK quad's (also known as the Style B design) reign was short-lived.

Star Wars was released in America in May 1977 and did not get released in the UK until December of the same year. By that time, the studio felt that the characters were already well known, and the Hildebrandt Brothers' artwork not reflecting this was replaced with another design. Hence, the Hildebrandt is one of the rarest designs - used briefly a few months before the film's release, mainly in London on the Underground. As such, very few were initially produced and even fewer survived to this day. The design was also never used for any US posters at the time (but was used much later in the US as a 15th Anniversary poster).

Star Wars 1977 UK Quad Style C Pre-Oscars Film Poster, Tom Chantrell:

For the next 'Style C' poster, British artist Tom Chantrell was commissioned and tasked with enhancing the star appeal and the merchandising opportunities for Fox and George Lucas. Working off a pack of film stills and publicity photos to use as a reference for his painting, he took one month to complete the design, the longest he had ever worked on one poster. The result became one of the most widely recognised and celebrated works of the prolific artist. The design was used on the UK Quad and also the Style C US poster. Two versions of Chantrell's Quad exist, with and without the Oscars text, with the early non-Oscar version printed in only limited numbers, making this version significantly rarer than the Oscars version.

Star Wars 1977 UK Quad Style C Oscars Film Poster, Tom Chantrell:

Star Wars 1978 Happy Birthday US 1 Sheet Film Poster:

In 1978, a year after its original release, Star Wars was still running strong in theatres across the United States. To celebrate this milestone, these theatres were presented with a special "Happy Birthday" one-sheet poster. With fewer than 1500 printed, they have always been extremely difficult to pick up.

Star Wars 1978 US 1 Sheet Style D Film Poster, Drew Struzan & Charles White:

Lastly, later in July 1978, whilst Star Wars was still in continuous first release, the final, Style D, poster was released in the States. Star Wars stayed in theatres for an incredibly long time, and Lucasfilm decided to 'refresh' its marketing with a new poster designed by Drew Struzan and Charles White III. As stated by Struzan in the book Star Wars Art:Posters "Charles White III was commissioned to create this new poster. Charlie had seen my work and decided to call me in as a collaborator. I painted the portraits while he painted the hardware. Lucasfilm liked the artwork, but there was not enough space left open for the "billing block". Necessity being the mother of invention, we decided to enlarge the dimensions of the art to increase the open space and give the work an early-twentieth-century, wild-posted [wilding] circus-style look. So it came about that it took the two of us to paint what would come to be known as the "Circus" poster for its throwback style."

Reportedly George Lucas’s favourite poster from the original trilogy era, with the original artwork said to hang in his personal collection.

Naturally, given the success of the film, many different poster designs were created for other markets. Below are some of our favourite Star Wars Poster designs from around-the-World....

Star Wars 1979 Polish B1 Film Poster, Jakub Erol:

Star Wars 1977 Italian 2 Foglio Film Poster, Michelangelo Papuzza: