You really can't call them films any more. Many of the biggest movies (and some of the littlest ones) are shot not on the 35mm film stock that prevailed for a century but on digital disc. More and more, they're shown that way too. Lucas is frustrated that exhibitors have been slow to convert all theaters to digital projection (the changeover would cost billions), but the multiplexes will eventually come around (it saves money in the long run). Oh, yes, multiplexes. "It was the money from Star Wars and Jaws that allowed the theaters to build their multiplexes," Lucas told TIME last year. Half of the box office goes to the theater owners, and with spare change in their pockets they built theaters with multiple screens. That required new product, and expanded the kinds of movies that could be shown in the plexes. Lucas: "All the little Miramaxes came up and said, 'We'll help you fill those.' And they started doing that."
The 10 Ways Star Wars Changed the Movie Industry
On the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Wars TIME film critic Richard Corliss looks at how the groundbreaking film changed everything about the movies