• TikTok
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Star Wars Kids
Star Wars Logo

Search

My Account Logout
  • More More
    • NEWS + FEATURES
      • THE LATEST
      • ANDOR
      • CELEBRATION
      • QUIZZES + POLLS
      • BOOKS + COMICS
    • VIDEO
      • ALL VIDEO
      • THIS WEEK! IN STAR WARS
    • FILMS
    • SERIES
      • All Series
      • Andor
      • Skeleton Crew
      • Ahsoka
      • The Mandalorian
    • GAMES + INTERACTIVE
      • View All
      • Star Wars Outlaws
      • Games + Apps
      • VR + Immersive
    • DATABANK
      • ALL DATABANK
      • ERAS
    • DISNEY+
      • STREAM NOW
      • EXPLORE
      • THE DISNEY BUNDLE
Local Nav | Drop-Down Phase III - 20231020
Local Nav | Drop-Down Phase III - 20231020
My Account Logout
  • other
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • other
STAR WARS | DISNEY+ STAR WARS ON DISNEY+

All

  • Andor
  • Star Wars Celebration
  • Skeleton Crew
  • The Mandalorian
  • Ahsoka
  • The Acolyte
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • The Book of Boba Fett
  • The Bad Batch
  • The Clone Wars
  • Visions
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Books + Comics
  • Characters + Histories
  • Collecting
  • Creativity
  • Disney Parks
  • Disney+
  • Events
  • Fans + Community
  • Films
  • Games + Apps
  • ILM
  • Interviews
  • LEGO Star Wars
  • Lucasfilm
  • Merchandise
  • Opinions
  • Quizzes + Polls
  • Recipes
  • Rogue One
  • Solo
  • Star Wars Day
  • Star Wars Rebels
  • Series
  • The High Republic
Fans + Community
Star Wars in the UK: 1977, the First Star Wars Christmas

Star Wars in the UK: 1977, the First Star Wars Christmas

Long lines, bootlegs, and excitement for a popular American film marked December 1977 in the UK.

Mark Newbold
Mark Newbold
December 16, 2013

Long lines, bootlegs, and excitement for a popular American film marked December 1977 in the UK.

Star Wars in ihe UK
xmas_swituk_collage_1


As the 37th Star Wars Christmas arrives, it's a great opportunity to roll back the years to the very first, in 1977, and see what it was like here in the UK. Compared to the traditional Star Wars Christmases that have followed, it was distinctly unique.

Star Wars holiday card, 1977

After the release and record-breaking success of Star Wars in North America on 25th May 1977, the anticipation for Star Wars in the UK was palpable. As was the way back in the '70s and '80s, UK audiences had to often wait months for American films to cross the Atlantic, and so all summer and autumn we heard about this groundbreaking space fantasy that broke convention and records in equal measure, full of faces familiar to UK audiences.

An advertisement for Marvel's Star Wars adaptation

As the UK release date approached so the anticipation rose. The UK release of the film's adaptation had been published on 8th September 1977 and via Marvel comics adverts we were prepared for the arrival of Star Wars Weekly, which eventually hit shelves on 8th February 1978. Kids nationwide would read about the film coming in Look-In magazine, as BBC's lunchtime magazine program Pebble Mill at One reported on the mania surrounding it in the States. The week Star Wars arrived, London cinemas were showing such classics as The Giant Spider Invasion, Dark Star, Futureworld, Demon Seed, and Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster. "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings was well on its way towards selling 900,000 copies, the album Disco Fever was number one for the second week and The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show on BBC 1 attracted more than 28 million viewers -- one of the nations highest viewing figures to date. But as kids across the UK opened their presents to the news that the legendary English silent comedian Charlie Chaplin had passed away, Star Wars was yet to open. That momentous event was still 48 hours away.

Ad for the Star Wars UK premiere on 27th Dec 1977


Star Wars premiered in the UK on 27th December 1977, opening at the Leicester Square Theatre and the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road. During its first seven days at Leicester Square and the Dominion (a location closely associated with Star Wars releases in the UK) the film took a record-breaking £117,690, beating out Jaws' previous record of £90,655 from 1976. Back in the day, films always opened first in London and rolled out across the country afterwards, and as such the film remained at these two cinemas for over four weeks until 29th January 1978 when it broadened to twelve major cities around the UK and a further 16 cinemas in Greater London the week afterwards.

Star Wars 1977 London opening queues


The popularity of the film was instant. Police came down hard on touts, who sold £2.20 cinema tickets for up to £30.00 a ticket (and getting what they demanded). As in the States the demand for merchandise was high, and quickly-released bootlegs became prevalent, as did any sci-fi and space related toys and books. Easy wins such as jigsaw puzzles, T-shirts, and sweets began to arrive. And the press got on board with the film, as shown here by these reviews from UK papers.

Star Wars UK cinema brochure


On 16th December 1977 The Daily Telegraph sent its science correspondent Adrian Berry, 4th Viscount Camrose and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, to review the film and clearly he was pleasantly surprised.

"Until recently, space melodrama films have tended to be made with neither imagination nor money. With the brilliant exception of the Clarke-Kubrick 2001: A Space Odyssey, they have been badly-written B-feature affairs from producers with little knowledge of astronomy or technology.
Star Wars is far removed from these shoddy productions. It is the best such film since 2001, and in certain respects it is one of the most exciting ever made.
The story is unpretentious and pleasantly devoid of any “message.”

An ad for Marvel's Star Wars #2


On its day of release Derek Malcolm's review in The Guardian, entitled "Lucas In The Sky With Diamonds," offered mixed thoughts on the film.

"Quite whether George Lucas, of American Graffiti fame, is also a genius is another matter. Viewed dispassionately -- and of course that's desperately difficult at this point in time -- Star Wars is not an improvement on Mr Lucas' previous work, except in box-office terms. It isn't the best film of the year, it isn't the best science fiction ever to be translated to the screen, it isn't a number of other things either that sweating critics have tried to turn it into when faced with finding some plausible explanation for its huge and slightly sinister success considering a contracting market.

But it is, on the other hand, enormous and exhilarating fun for those who are prepared to settle down in their seats and let it all wash over them. Which I firmly believe, with the extra benefit of hindsight, is more or less exactly what the vast majority of the cinema-going public want just now. Last year it was Jaws, which gave us more dangerous frissons, and not long before that it was The Exorcist, with enough green slime to give us all nightmares. Inevitably 1977 was going to be the year of safer pleasures. Star Wars, let me tell you, wasn't given its U certificate for nothing. The only exclamation the producers want from you is "Wow!"

BBC1 Christmas


Also on 27th December the BBC had this to say:

"Thousands of people are flocking to cinemas in the UK to watch the long-awaited blockbuster, Star Wars -- a movie which is already setting US box offices alight.
Bracing the cold weather, young and old queued from 7:00 a.m. in London at the Dominion, and Leicester Square cinemas, to snatch up non-reserved tickets which are otherwise booked until March.

Star Wars, which was first released in America seven months ago, has taken audiences by storm and outstripped last year's blockbuster Jaws to gross $156m (£108m) at the box office.

Carrie Fisher, Sir Alec Guiness, and little known Harrison Ford star in this fairytale set in space."

"Little known Harrison Ford." How things change. Of course, that first Star Wars Christmas was very different in the United States with the film having been out for seven months and products filtering in. 1978 would herald the big explosion in merchandise and collectibles, but that innocent Christmas of 1977, when the deep impact the film would have on popular culture was yet to be apparent, was the start of a tradition, the Star Wars Christmas, almost four decades old, multi-generational, and many more to come.

Related Topics

star wars in the uk 1977

Related Stories

  • Star Wars in the UK: Flipping Through 1978's Star Wars Weekly #12!
    [object Object]

    Star Wars in the UK: Flipping Through 1978's Star Wars Weekly #12!

    April 24, 2017

    April 24, 2017

    Apr 24

  • Star Wars in the UK: Star Wars School Supply Offers and More from 1978's Star Wars Weekly #11!
    [object Object]

    Star Wars in the UK: Star Wars School Supply Offers and More from 1978's Star Wars Weekly #11!

    September 27, 2016

    September 27, 2016

    Sep 27

  • Star Wars in the UK: C-3PO Letters Page, Spot-the-Difference Contests, and More in 1978's Star Wars Weekly #10!
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Star Wars in the UK: C-3PO Letters Page, Spot-the-Difference Contests, and More in 1978's Star Wars Weekly #10!

    June 28, 2016

    June 28, 2016

    Jun 28

  • 'Star Wars Ambassadors' Hit the UK Convention Scene
    [object Object]

    'Star Wars Ambassadors' Hit the UK Convention Scene

    June 6, 2014

    June 6, 2014

    Jun 6

  • Star Wars in the UK: Farthest From 5 and Star Wars Fan Fun Day 5
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Star Wars in the UK: Farthest From 5 and Star Wars Fan Fun Day 5

    May 29, 2014

    May 29, 2014

    May 29

  • Star Wars in the UK: Lyons Maid Ice Cream
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Star Wars in the UK: Lyons Maid Ice Cream

    January 9, 2014

    January 9, 2014

    Jan 9

  • Star Wars in the UK: Action Transfers!
    [object Object]

    Star Wars in the UK: Action Transfers!

    December 20, 2013

    December 20, 2013

    Dec 20

  • Star Wars in the UK: Memorabilia, 23-24 November 2013
    [object Object]

    Star Wars in the UK: Memorabilia, 23-24 November 2013

    December 13, 2013

    December 13, 2013

    Dec 13

More From Star Wars:
  • TikTok
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • SWKids
  • Terms of Use
  • Additional Content Information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Disney Store | Star Wars
  • Star Wars Helpdesk
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved