A black limousine pulled up to the curb on Hollywood Boulevard.
Duke peered through the tinted glass at the crowd outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
He'd attended many premieres over the past decade, but the number of people tonight was a little too much.
A typical Hollywood premiere in 1977 drew some industry insiders and a few autograph hounds that would like to just be around famous people.
But this crowd stretched far down the block for some strange reason.
Surprisingly, they weren't straining to see the cast.
Pierce Brosnan, Geena Davis, and Harrison Ford were still relatively unknown.
Of course, Harrison Ford was only unknown cause his last few movies had been, for a lack of better word, shit.
A lot of people still recognized him as the actor from Love Story.
The fans screaming over the barricades looking for the studio boss himself.
His chauffeur opened the rear door, letting the sound of the crowd spiked.
Duke fixed his suit, as he stepped onto the red carpet.
He turned to offer his hand to his date, Kate Jackson emerged in a ocean blue designer gown.
Jackson was a new television star, who was apart of the hit ABC series Charlie's Angels.
The show was a Spelling-Goldberg production in collaboration with Paramount.
But Duke's Paramount was negotiating to acquire the company since Spelliung and Goldberg were going their separate ways.
She linked her arm through his, as they walked toward the barricades, while fans shoved items over the ropes for Duke to sign.
Curiously, very few held the Star Wars book out for him to sign.
Instead, they clutched paperback novels and worn magazine covers talking about him or his movies.
Folded posters of Jaws were also among the bunch, he took a black marker from a teenager and began signing the images.
"Thank you, sir!" a young boy shouted.
He clutched a signed copy of a behind-the-scenes filmmaking book that as far as Duke knew had nothing to do with him.
Duke smiled and posed for a Polaroid with a group of teenagers in denim jackets.
"Duke! Will this be the biggest movie of your career?" a reporter shouted at him while he signed a Jackson 5 disc for a black girl.
"Will you direct Jaws 2?" another yelled.
"Would you like to respond to Andy Warhol comments?" a tabloid reporter yelled while Duke ignored the qustions for the most part.
He offered polite smiles and professional waves as he guided Kate down the carpet.
As they broke away from the main press part.
A distinct group of fans stood waiting near the ticket booth, wearing meticulously tailored Starfleet costumes from Star Trek.
Sci-fi fandom in 1977 was passionate but often marginalized.
Mostly stuck in small hotel conventions and mail-order fan clubs.
Yet, they were here standing on the red carpet, waiting for him.
A young man in a gold command shirt stepped forward.
He clutched a clipboard. "Mr. Hauser," he asked, his voice trembling. "Are you a fan of Star Trek?"
Duke looked at their hopeful faces and just lied without hesitation.
"Of course," he said warmly. "I grew up watching it every week. Amazing storytelling."
The fans faces lit up.
In an era where most executives viewed sci-fi as children's entertainment, hearing the Owner of Paramount validate their beloved franchise was a victory.
A man with a short beard wearing Vulcan ears, pressed further. "Are you planning to do more sci-fi after tonight? Could you tell us what are Paramount's plans with Star Trek?"
Duke nodded slowly. "We're in pre-production on Star Trek: The Motion Picture," he revealed.
The fans faces light up, with even some of them hugging each other, after the animated series was cancelled, they had not gotten even a single news on the franchise.
"And we have a new original property called Alien in development. You'll see much more from us soon in Sci-Fi."
He left the happy fans buzzing and guided Kate through the doors.
The lobby was usually a place for quietness, yet tonight, there were a lot of people inside.
Duke paused, as his attention was drawn to a crowd huddled in the corner.
A group of custom wooden arcade cabinets stood against the wal, that read Star Wars: Trench Run.
Kids in casual clothes and adults in suits were lined up shoulder-to-shoulder playing a vector-graphics video game based on a movie they hadn't even seen yet.
The arcade industry was tecnically still young.
Mostly dominated by simple games like Pong and Breakout. Of course that would change with the new Atari console that would come out at the end of the year.
Duke watched a man in a tuxedo jerk the plastic flight joystick, trying to evade TIE fighters.
Kate watched the arcade players with amusement. "You really do think of everything, don't you?" she murmured, taking a glass of champagne.
"We try to cover all the bases," Duke replied modestly.
He guided her away from the lobby toward the main auditorium doors.
They walked down the carpeted aisle to the auditorium where every seat was already taken.
Executives, rival studio heads, celebrities, and lucky contest winners sat shoulder-to-shoulder.
Duke settled into his reserved seat in the prime center row, besides Robert Evans.
The velvet curtains slowly parted as the white screen appeared.
The familiar Paramount mountain logo appeared on the screen.
The bold text appeared.
'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...' The audience held their breath.
This king of intro was a play into the Fairy Tale, 'Once upon a time' intro.
The iconic opening of John Williams's score came through the sound system.
The camera then drops us straight down onto the dunes of Tatooine, where twin suns could be seen in the sky.
Here, the story slows down to introduce us to the C-3PO and R2-D2.
The practical creature effects were astonishing, specially since these weren't cheap rubber masks.
Part of the reason, Star Wars became a huge movie was simple. The effects were beliavable.
We follow the droids get into the hands of a young farm boy named Luke Skywalker, a restless young man stuck on his uncle's moisture farm, staring longingly at the horizon.
One good thing, about Pierce Brosnan casting, was his height but most importantly his handsomeness. Way better than Mark Hammill.
Soon, Luke crosses paths with Obi-Wan Kenobi, an old hermit living out in the dunes.
When Obi-Wan hands Luke his father's lightsaber, the theater stayed quiet as they admired the lightsaber, first time the americans saw what would be a big part of their culture.
Through holographic projections of a desperate Princess Leia pleading for help, the stakes shift from a local desert adventure into a galactic rescue mission.
Needing a pilot, the duo heads straight into the hive of scum.
The Mos Eisley Cantina.
The camera went around showing a bunch of practical puppets musicians, that ended in the introduction of Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca, lounging in a dim booth next to a table.
Before they realize it, they are in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.
The Falcon gets tractor-beamed straight into the technological monstruosity known as the Death Star.
While in it.
Han and Luke disguise themselves in ill-fitting stormtrooper armor.
They navigate corridors that feel less like a movie set and more like a brutalist utilitarian industrial factory.
Finally they rescue Princess Leia, only to plunge headfirst down a garbage chute into a murky, trash filled compactor where a tentacled lunges out of the sludge.
As Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and the droids scramble to escape the Death Star tractor beam, they find their path blocked.
Knowing that they cannot escape unless someone disables the tractor beam, the aging Jedi Master Ben Kenobi slips away into the corridors of the battle station to complete his final mission.
Walking down a dim hallway, Obi-Wan comes to a halt.
Across the corridor, heavy mechanical breathing echoed as the imposing silhouette of Darth Vader stepped out of the shadows.
Its their first face-to-face meeting since their duel on Mustafar nearly two decades prior.
(I dont consider a lot of Disney Lore to be canon)
Vader: "I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master."
Obi-Wan: "Only a master of evil, Darth."
In the original 1977 cut, the ensuing lightsaber fight reflected the limitations of 1977 and the physicality of the actors.
Sir Alec Guinness and stunt double Bob Anderson engaged in a slow, careful exchange.
The doors shut down.
In the silence of the Death Star corridor, Obi-Wan Kenobi lowers his weight, turning on his blue lightsaber.
Opposite him, Darth Vader also activates his own lightsaber, a strong red.
Vader doesn't wait. He rushes forward, driving down into Form V: Djem So.
Vader's first strike is a two-handed overhead smash meant to split Obi-Wan in half.
But Obi-Wan is already in form III: Soresu, his blade angled to catch the lightsaber and redirecting the force past his shoulder.
Vader presses the advantage, launching relentless slashes.
Every blow carrying decades of hatred, the sheer force of his cybernetic limbs threatening to shatter Obi-Wan's guard.
Obi-Wan walks back, spinning his blade in tight circles, to keep a sphere of defense.
"Your skills are weak, old man," Vader rumbles through the mask.
Vader pivots, driving a backhand strike that bounced off Obi-Wan's lightsaber breaking his balance.
Before Obi-Wan can recover, Vader throws a kick straight into the Jedi's chest.
Obi-Wan flies backward, sliding across the metallic deck and slamming hard against the cold wall.
Vader closes the distance slowly walking, throwing his red lightsaber in the air and almost hitting the side of Obi-Wan's face.
Obi Want and Vader stare at each other for a moment. Vader swipes his hand horizontally making his lightsaber move across in an attempt to decapitate Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan twists his torso, with the red lightsaber cutting a somewhat straight line into the wall.
Channeling the Force, Obi-Wan thrusts his palm outward.
A shockwave that hits Vader mid-stride, forcing him to stagger back two steps, his boots scraping against the floor.
Obi-Wan springs up, executing a low hit aiming at Vader's head.
Vader parries it, their lightsabers locked, inches from each other's faces.
Vader leans his weight forward.
With a blinding blur of motion, Obi-Wan disengages, ducking beneath a sweeping decapitating arc.
He spins and pivots behind Vader, his lightsaber launching a quick attack on Vader's back, forcing Vader to spin around to block a sudden influx of strikes.
Vader roars in frustration, abandoning finesse entirely.
He unleashes a large amount of heavy strikes, that Obi-Wan with his current physical level could not face against.
Each blow drives Obi-Wan further back toward the open hangar bay.
The old master's breathing is ragged now, his boots sliding on the floor as the heavy attacks of Djem So grind down his stamina.
Across the cavernous hangar, Luke screams out: "No! Ben!"
Obi-Wan hears the boy. He looks past the red glare of Vader's lightsaber, catching sight of Luke, Han, and Leia by the ramp of the Falcon.
In that split-second division of focus, Vader reads the moment.
Vader winds up a two-handed vertical strike, funneling everything into one final blow.
Obi-Wan doesn't block.
He stands completely upright and deactivates his lightsaber.
Vader's lightsaber cleaves through empty air where Obi-Wan's body stood a millisecond before, striking the hollow robes that collapse gently onto the floor.
The climax shifts to the Rebel base on Yavin 4, where the pilots suit up in orange jumpsuits for an impossible suicide run against the Death Star.
At the last possible second, guided not by targeting computers but by a whisper from the Force, Luke fires his missiles down the exhaust port, triggering an explosion that shatters the Death Star into a bloom of fire.
The movie finishes with Luke, Han, and Chewbacca stand tall on the grand ceremonial stage to receive their medals while Princess Leia looks.
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Next Chapter will be reactions