The Original 70mm engagements Of "Star Wars" | Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Written by: Michael Coate and William Kallay (Copyright 2003) | Date: July 15, 2003 |
 What follows is a list of the known 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo engagements of the movie "Star Wars" (known today as "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope"). Standard 35mm engagements. which the film was also released in, are not included in this document. As one can glean from the list, 70mm engagements, contrary to popular opinion, were kept to a minimum during the initial wave of release (see article "The Original First-Week Engagements Of Star Wars"). It was in the subsequent months of release that most theatres (that ran the film in 70mm) received a 70mm print. For historical note, the newspaper ad hype is included here for selected entries.Additional contributors to this project: Peter Fraser José Gonzalez Mancera Rain Greene Bill Kretzel John Sharp If you have comments or corrections, or information to contribute to this list please contact Michael Coate, William Kallay or Thomas Hauerslev INITIAL FIRST WAVE RELEASE Opened May 25, 1977: CALIFORNIA Hollywood: Chinese Orange: City Center San Francisco: Coronet Westwood: Avco Center NEW JERSEY Paramus: Triplex Paramus NEW YORK Hicksville: Twin South Manhattan: Astor Plaza Manhattan: Orpheum FIRST-RUN ENGAGEMENTS THAT STARTED AFTER INITIAL MAY 25 RELEASE Opened July 06, 1977: Century City, CA: Century Plaza "Enjoy The Full Effects As Presented In Magnificent 70mm And Dolby High-Fidelity Stereophonic Sound" Newport Beach, CA: Newport "Star Wars At Edwards Newport Cinema Now On The Largest Screen West Of New York...75 Feet Wide By 35 Feet Tall...2625 Square Feet...Presented In Full 70mm And Six Track Stereo...Dolby System" | Further in 70mm reading: The Original First-Week Engagements Of “Star Wars” List of first-Week Engagements Of “Star Wars” "The Empire Strikes Back" "Return of the Jedi" 70mm Blow-ups 70mm Engagements by Title 35mm to 70mm Engagements by Year |
 ORIGINAL MAY 25/27 FIRST-WAVE ENGAGEMENTS THAT BEGAN IN 35MM AND SWITCHED TO 70MM:70mm began Aug 03, 1977: Denver, CO: Cooper "Now In 70mm & 6 Track Dolby Sound...*Even More Spectacular And Exciting" 70mm began Aug 03, 1977: Salt Lake City, UT: Centre "Now The Force Is With You In 70mm, 6 Track Dolby Stereophonic Sound" 70mm began Aug 19, 1977: Seattle, WA: Cinema 150 "70mm - Dolby System [logo] Stereophonic Sound" 70mm began Sept 14, 1977: Phoenix, AZ: Cine Capri "The Year's Best Movie Is Now In 70mm" "The Only Theatre In Arizona With 'Star Wars' In 70mm Dolby!" "The Force Is With You At The Cine Capri In 70mm-Dolby" 70mm began Sept 21, 1977: Boston, MA: Charles 1-2-3 "Exclusive New England Engagement Of 'Star Wars'...Now In 70mm Dolby Stereo" 70mm began Oct 21, 1977: Honolulu, HI: Cinerama "The Force Is With You at the Cinerama Theatre - Now In 70mm And Full 6-Channel Dolby Stereophonic Sound!" 70mm began Oct 21, 1977: Portland, OR: Westgate "The Force Is With You At The Westgate" "Now In 70mm & 6 Track Stereophonic Dolby Sound System" "All New Print" "New Sound System" 70mm began Nov 09, 1977: Detroit, MI: Americana "See It Again! It's A New Experience In 70mm & 6 Track Stereo Dolby Sound" 70mm began Nov 23, 1977: San Jose, CA: Century 22 "Now See 'Star Wars' As It Should Be Seen...In 70mm [and] Full 6 Track Dolby System Stereophonic Sound" 70mm began Dec 16, 1977: Washington, D.C.: Uptown "Now In Dolby Stereophonic And 70mm At The Uptown Theatre" "You Have Never Seen Anything Until You've Seen...Star Wars In 70mm With Full 6 Track Magnetic Dolby Stereophonic Sound!" 70mm began Dec 23, 1977: Dallas, TX: Northpark I & II "Now The Force Is With You In Dolby Sound And 70mm" 70mm began Dec 23, 1977: Houston, TX: Galleria "Now In 70mm And Dolby Sound" "Dolby System [logo] & Super Panavision 70" 70mm began Dec 25, 1977: Minneapolis, MN: Park "Now In 70mm & 6 Track Stereo Sound" 70mm began Feb 10, 1978: San Diego, CA: Valley Circle "Now In 70mm Stereophonic Sound" "Dolby System [logo] & Super Panavision 70" 35MM-TO-70MM MOVE-OVER ENGAGEMENTS 70mm began Sept 18, 1977: Santa Barbara, CA: Granada "The Force Moves To The Granada Theatre In 70mm 6 Track Dolby Stereophonic Sound" 70mm began Nov 04, 1977: Philadelphia, PA: Mark I "Moves Over Today! In Order To Accommodate: [logo] 70mm Dolby System Stereophonic Sound" 70mm began Dec 23, 1977: Chicago, IL: Oakbrook "Exclusive Area Showing [now at the] Oakbrook Presented In 70mm And Dolby System" 70mm began Dec 23, 1977: Cleveland, OH: Colony "70mm Wide Screen - 6 Track Dolby Stereo Sound System" 70MM-TO-70MM MOVE-OVER ENGAGEMENTS June 24, 1977: Hollywood, CA: Hollywood Move-over from the Chinese Theatre. "Star Wars" was contracted to play the Chinese for four weeks only (May 25 - June 23), with "Sorcerer" pre-booked to open June 24. Engagement of "Star Wars" returned to the Chinese on August 3 (see next entry). Aug 03, 1977: Hollywood, CA: Chinese "The Force Returns To The Chinese in 70mm-Dolby" Dec 14, 1977: Denver, CO: Continental "Denver Demands It! Today...The Most Successful Motion Picture In History Moves To The Continental Theatre To Continue Its Record Breaking Engagement In 70mm & 6 Track Dolby Sound!" Dec 16, 1977: Levittown, NY: Nassau Quad Dec 21, 1977: San Francisco, CA: Cinema 21 "The Force Returns In 70mm & Dolby Sound" Dec 23, 1977: Cedar Grove, NJ: Cinema 23 Dec 23, 1977: Lawrence, NY: Twin #2 INTERNATIONAL Opened Oct 27, 1977: AUSTRALIA Sydney: Hoyts Opened October ??, 1977: ITALY Milan: ??? Rome: ??? Turin: ??? Italian title: "Guerre Stellari" Opened November ??, 1977: SPAIN Barcelona: ??? Madrid: Roxy Spanish title: "La Guerra De Las Galaxias" Opened Dec 26, 1977: UNITED KINGDOM London: Dominion London: Odeon Leicester Square | |
RE-RELEASES/ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMENTS & SPECIAL SCREENINGS | |
 1978 re-release/extended first-run (Opened July 21)CALIFORNIA Century City: Century Plaza (continuation of original run) El Cajon: Parkway Plaza Orange: City Center San Francisco: Warfield (opened Sept 1) NEW YORK Manhattan: Astor Plaza (continuation of original run) 1979 re-release (Opened Aug 15) included trailer for "The Empire Strikes Back" CALIFORNIA San Francisco: Warfield NEW YORK Manhattan: Astor Plaza 1981 re-release (Opened April 10) First appearance of "Episode IV: A New Hope" in opening scroll CALIFORNIA Westwood: Avco Center DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, D.C.: Uptown MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Charles 1-2-3 NEW YORK Manhattan: Criterion Center 1982 re-release (Opened Aug 13) debut of "Revenge Of The Jedi" trailer CALIFORNIA Hollywood: Paramount Lakewood: Lakewood Center (move-over; began Sept 03) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, D.C.: Uptown NEW JERSEY Paramus: Route 17 Twin NEW YORK Manhattan: National Twin | |
 1982 "Star Wars"/"The Empire Strikes Back" Double Feature Opened Oct 01: BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA Vancouver: Stanley ONTARIO, CANADA Toronto: University 1983 "Star Wars"/"Empire" Double Feature Opened July 29: NEW JERSEY Paramus: Route 17 Twin Totowa: Cinema 46 Triplex NEW YORK Manhattan: Warner Twin Nassau: Syosset 1984 "Star Wars"/"Empire"/"Jedi" Triple Feature Nov 17-18 (United Way benefit) ONTARIO, CANADA Toronto: Cinesphere 1985 "Star Wars"/"Empire"/"Jedi" Triple Feature (March 28 - one time, one day only) CALIFORNIA Hollywood: Egyptian San Francisco: Coronet Westwood: Avco Center COLORADO Denver: Continental ILLINOIS Chicago: Carnegie NEW YORK Manhattan: Warner Twin ONTARIO, CANADA Toronto: Uptown TEXAS Dallas: Northpark I & II WASHINGTON Seattle: Cinema 150 1987 CALIFORNIA Century City: Century 14 (Oct 02-04; Fox Retrospective 3-day engagement) Universal City: Universal 18 (June 30; One-Day Celebration Festival) 1997 NORWAY Oslo: Spektrum (March 22-23; special 70mm-DTS screening of Special Edition) All of the engagements included in this document were presented in 70mm. The majority of the prints were in six-track Dolby Stereo. Selected engagements were in non-Dolby-encoded six-track stereo, and others were six-track Dolby Stereo prints booked into theatres that had non-Dolby-brand, Dolby-compatible equipment. These presentation variations were not always clearly accounted for on theatre marquees and in the original newspaper advertisement materials. | |
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