

The film was well-received by critics, with strong praise going to the special effects and action sequences, performances, John Williams' score, and emotional weight. It grossed $374 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1983. The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983.

Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to May 1982 ( 1982-05). Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on the film's effects in post-production. While writing the shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it. The production team relied on Lucas' storyboards during pre-production. Steven Spielberg, David Lynch and David Cronenberg were considered to direct the project before Marquand signed on as director. Meanwhile, Rebel hero Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Knight, struggles to bring his father, Darth Vader, back to the light side of the Force.įollowing Lucas and Kasdan's discussion on making Return of the Jedi, the film went into production. With intel that the Emperor will be onboard, the Rebel fleet launches a full-scale attack on the Death Star in hopes of both destroying it and the Emperor.

Set one year after The Empire Strikes Back, the Galactic Empire is constructing a second Death Star to exterminate the Rebel Alliance. The film stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew and Frank Oz. The sequel to Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), it is the third installment in the original Star Wars trilogy, the third film to be produced, and the sixth chronological film in the " Skywalker Saga". The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who was also the executive producer. Return of the Jedi (also known as Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi ) is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand.
