Star Wars Trilogy  The "Star Wars" Trilogy, often colloquially referred to as the original trilogy or the classic trilogy, is the first set of three films produced in the "Star Wars" franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox, and consists of the original "Star Wars" film (1977), "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983). The films center on the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the tyrannical Galactic Empire, as well as the archetypical hero's journey of Luke Skywalker in his quest to become a Jedi under the tutelage of exiled Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Luke joins forces with Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2 and the Rebel Alliance in facing the Empire and the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader. Beginning "in medias res", the original trilogy serves as the second act of the nine-episode Skywalker saga. It was followed by a prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019. Collectively, they have been referred to as the "Skywalker Saga" to distinguish them from films set within the same universe. In 1971, Lucas wanted to film an adaptation of the "Flash Gordon" serial, but could not obtain the rights. He began developing his own story inspired by the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Immediately after directing "American Graffiti" (1973), Lucas wrote a two-page synopsis for his space opera, titled "Journal of the Whills". After United Artists, Universal Studios and Disney rejected the film, 20th Century Fox decided to invest in it. Lucas felt his original story was too difficult to understand, so on April 17, 1973, he began writing a 13-page script titled "The Star Wars", sharing strong similarities with Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" (1958). By May 1974, he had expanded the script into the first draft of a screenplay, but found that the script had grown too long for a single film. Subsequent drafts evolved into the script of the original film. Lucas negotiated to retain the sequel rights. Tom Pollock, then Lucas' lawyer writes: "We came to an agreement that George would retain the sequel rights. Not all the [merchandising rights] that came later, mind you; just the sequel rights. And Fox would get a first opportunity and last refusal right to make the movie."