The numbers behind the 'Star Wars' franchise

Breaking down the many box office records 'Star Wars' has broken

The first "Star Wars" film made history in 1977 when it surpassed "Jaws," considered the first Hollywood blockbuster, for the highest-grossing movie of all time. But that's just the first in a long line of records that the franchise has broken in the decades since then, with impressive records set by films like "The Force Awakens," "Revenge of the Sith," and "The Last Jedi."

Visualizing the highest-grossing movie franchises from 1979 to 2019

A few dozen major movie franchises have dominated the box office in recent decades, including "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," and Marvel. This video shows the change from quarter to quarter in gross revenue for each movie franchise over the decades.

The 'Star Wars' series begins where George Lucas believed the story was most accessible

The director originally conceived 'Star Wars' as a single long story, but recognized it was far too big for a single movie, so he split each act into its own film. He began with the fourth act, which would later be renamed "A New Hope."

How 'Star Wars' turned toys into collectibles

George Lucas licensed the "Star Wars" franchise to Kenner Products, which created small figurines that became wildly popular. By the 1977 Christmas season, they were facing a shortage and sold mail-in rainchecks, effectively allowing customers to purchase figures that weren't yet produced. The strategy worked, portraying the toys as valuable collectibles whose price would appreciate.

The original 'Star Wars' was quietly showcased at Comic‑Con in 1976 to little fanfare

In a bold pre‑release move on July 22, 1976, Lucasfilm set up an eight-foot booth and slideshow at San Diego Comic‑Con, introducing the then‑titled "The Star Wars"—with no premiere buzz, just intrigue among a few hundred early fans.

A deep dive into the long road to making 'Star Wars'

In this podcast, Chris Taylor, author of "How 'Star Wars' Conquered the Universe," details the long road—lined with studio rejections, a dismissive crew, glacially slow special effects, and last-minute edits—George Lucas traveled to see "Star Wars" through to its release.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

The ‘Harry Potter’ franchise is valued at more than $32B

Combining book sales, films, theme parks, and merchandise, Harry Potter ranks among the world’s highest-grossing media franchises—estimated at more than $32B in total value, alongside giants like Star Wars and Marvel.

Disney movies pulled in over $5B in 2024

2024 was a banner year for Disney, with the global film studio finding success with "Inside Out 2," "Moana 2," and "Deadpool & Wolverine." While Disney has faced criticism for its reliance on sequels, reboots, and offshoots, the 2024 numbers suggest the public is still eager for its content.

Listen to the 'Star Wars' disco album

The 1977 film inspired disco producer Meco to record danceable covers of sections of John Williams' score. The lead single from "Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk" eventually topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks.

How 'Star Wars' changed science fiction

The popularity of "Star Wars" shifted the market away from the more literary, and sometimes cynical, science fiction of the 1960s and '70s. In the wake of George Lucas' space opera, publishers and studios wanted similarly optimistic adventure stories. In time, though, writers like William Gibson would react against that and, in turn, create the "cyber punk" subgenre.

The data on sequels in 11 charts

Sequels, reboots, and other adapted content are generally on the rise in Hollywood, with nearly half of all movies based in some previous film or story. This set of 11 charts dives into the data on sequels, including their budgets, critical success, performance in relation to the original, and more.

Why many critics and fans hated 'The Phantom Menace'

The 1999 film, and the first piece of the larger Skywalker storyline, was supposed to be a grand event. It did well commercially, but it was mocked by critics and fans, who felt the story, dialogue, and the off-putting comic relief of Jar Jar Binks were a disgrace to the franchise. This NPR retrospective unpacks that reaction, and how much has changed in the decades since.

Many critically panned cult classics did well at the box office

Franchise flops like 1997's "Batman & Robin," 1983's "Jaws 3-D," and 2015's "Fantastic Four" were panned, though that didn't stop them from selling hundreds of millions of dollars in tickets.

'Attack of the Clones' was the first major feature film to be shot digitally

George Lucas was frustrated by the degradation of film and began testing digitally shot scenes with 1999's "The Phantom Menace." For the 2002 "Star Wars" film, he decided to go all in with HD digital cameras, leading to brighter pictures, a quicker review process, and a more seamless editing process.

Some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters were designed by Drew Struzan

The artist is responsible for iconic posters advertising "Indiana Jones," "Hook," "The Goonies," and more. His distinctive style—sometimes painted by hand, sometimes drawn with an airbrush—defined the era of the family-friendly family blockbuster.

The best movies about Wall Street

From Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” to “American Psycho” starring Christian Bale, Hollywood has no shortage of Wall-Street-centric filmography. These films often distinguish themselves by interrogating why excess wealth and success are so often deemed synonymous in American culture.

The film industry is responsible for more than 200K jobs in California

Hollywood films generate roughly $49B for the US economy each year. In California, the film industry provides more than 200,000 jobs. Industry employees were paid more than $42B in wages in 2022.

'The Wizard of Oz' flopped in theaters but exploded on TV

The film cost $2.7M to make—$1M more than the average production in 1939, but didn’t recoup it for almost two decades. Its success is mainly due to television. It aired annually from 1956 to 1965 and was watched by more than 49% of all television viewers.

BTS makes big profits, and spends just as big

While the band has been on hiatus since 2022, there are remarkable insights into the band’s success, like a $44M profit from a six-show tour. Their profits allow them massive spending, with investments like a shared mansion in addition to owning their own multimillion-dollar apartments.

Steven Spielberg purchased Oscars won by Clark Gable and Bette Davis and donated them back to the Academy

Since 1951, all Oscar statuettes have been awarded with a caveat—if the recipient wants to sell their Oscar, they have to first offer it back to the Academy for the price of $1. As a result, there's now a black market for the golden knights. Some buyers are anonymous movie buffs, but some are the stars themselves.

NASA economic impact (and budget history)

It's estimated that for every dollar NASA spends on its programs, $8 is produced in US economic growth. With a 2023 budget of roughly $25 billion, that means NASA helped create $200 billion in economic value. The administration's investments pay off so massively due to the technologies it develops, many of which become commercially appealing. Dive into the economic impact of NASA's development here.

Southwest Airlines was profitable for nearly 5 decades

Business History hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith explore how a carrier with just four airplanes shuttling across Texas revolutionized flying by offering free whiskey, cheap late-night tickets, and free-for-all seating allocation, despite how hard it is to make money running an airline. However, the success story didn't last forever.

Starbucks operates more than 38,000 stores on six continents

The brand started with a single Seattle cafe and grew into an international sensation, thanks to former CEO Howard Schulz’s bold move toward “reigniting the emotional attachment with customers” rather than focusing on expansion.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Contrary to popular belief, Netflix didn't kill Blockbuster

Blockbuster was definitely the loser in its years-long battle with Netflix, but the conventional wisdom that the streaming giant killed the established video store chain is incorrect. Blockbuster’s large debt load—and an activist shareholder who didn’t fully appreciate the threat Netflix posed—led the chain to squander its advantages.

Michelin stars don't guarantee financial success

A Michelin star generally increases customer traffic for a restaurant. Still, prestige does not guarantee improved finances. According to a 2017 report, half the European restaurants with more than one star weren’t making a profit. However, losing a star can also be devastating.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

Fireworks make a loud booming sound after exploding due to air expanding faster than the speed of sound.

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.