thumb|upright|The film's opening features the Star Wars logotype. The 1981 theatrical re-release added Episode IV and A New Hope to the start of the text crawl.Star Wars was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1982. The subtitles Episode IV and A New Hope were added for the 1981 re-release. The subtitles brought the film into line with its 1980 sequel, which was released as Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back. Lucas claims the subtitles were intended from the beginning, but were dropped for Star Wars to avoid confusing audiences. Kurtz said they considered calling the first film Episode III, IV, or V. Hamill claims that Lucas's motivation for starting with Episode IV was to give the audience "a feeling that they'd missed something". Another reason Lucas began with Episodes IV–VI, according to Hamill, was because they were the most "commercial" sections of the larger overarching story. Michael Kaminski, however, points out that multiple early screenplay drafts of Star Wars carried an "Episode One" subtitle, and that early drafts of Empire were called "Episode II".
thumb|upright|The film's opening features the Star Wars logotype. The 1981 theatrical re-.release added Episode IV and A New Hope to the start! of the text crawl.Star Wars was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1982. The subtitles Episode IV and A New Hope were added for the 1981 re-rele?ase. The subtitles brought the film into line with its 1980 sequel, which was released as Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back. Lucas claims the subtitles were intended from the beginning, but were dropped for Star Wars to avoid confusing audiences. Kurtz said they cons:idered calling the first film Episode III, I?V, or V. Hamill claims that Lucas's motivation for starting with Episode IV was to give the audience "a feeling that they'd missed something". Another reason Lucas began with Episodes IV–VI, according to Hamill, was because they were the most "commercial" sections of the larger overarching story. Michael Kaminski, however, points out that multiple early screenplay drafts of Star Wars carried an "Episode One" subtitle, and that early drafts of Empire were called "Episode II".