Honestly, if you close your eyes and think of 1977, you probably see that specific shade of desert gold and a glowing lightsaber pointed at the sky. It's iconic. The Star Wars A New Hope film poster isn't just a piece of paper meant to sell tickets; it’s basically the blueprint for how we imagine modern mythology. Back then, nobody knew if this "space opera" would even work. George Lucas was stressed. Fox was nervous.
The marketing team had to do something impossible.
They had to explain a universe that didn't exist yet to an audience that was used to gritty 70s dramas and disaster movies. You’ve seen the image: Luke Skywalker standing heroically, shirt open, muscles rippling, while Princess Leia reclines at his feet holding a blaster. It’s pure pulp fantasy. It’s also technically "wrong" if you look at the actual movie, but that’s exactly why it worked.
The Tom Jung "Style A" and the birth of a legend
Most people don't realize there isn't just one Star Wars A New Hope film poster. There are dozens. But the one everyone remembers—the "Style A"—was painted by Tom Jung. Jung was a veteran. He’d worked on Gone with the Wind re-releases and Papillon.
His brief was simple: Good vs. Evil.
He used a pyramid composition. It’s an old trick artists use to show stability and power. Luke is the apex. Vader’s mask looms in the background like a ghost. Jung actually asked for photos of the actors, but the production was so secretive and chaotic he didn't have much to go on. That’s why Luke looks like a bodybuilder and Leia looks like she wandered off the set of a sword-and-sorcery epic. It was about vibe, not accuracy.
It's funny.
The color palette is actually quite limited. You have the dark blues of space contrasting with the bright, almost blinding light of the saber. This wasn't an accident. Jung wanted to emphasize the "light" in the Darkness. If you look closely at original 1977 prints, the airbrushing is remarkably soft for the era. It gives the whole thing a dreamlike quality that helped audiences transition from the "real world" into Lucas’s galaxy.
Why the Brothers Hildebrandt version exists
Things got weird right before the release.
📖 Related: Where to Watch Final Space: The Weird Truth About Why It Disappeared
While Jung’s poster was great, some executives at Fox felt it was a bit too "dark." They wanted something more "comic booky," something that popped with more color. Enter Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. These guys were fantasy legends, famous for their Lord of the Rings calendar art.
They had ten days.
Ten days to paint a masterpiece. They worked around the clock, reportedly taking turns sleeping so the brushes never stopped moving. Their version of the Star Wars A New Hope film poster is much more vibrant. The colors are cranked up to eleven. The light from the saber is more intense, casting heavy oranges and purples across the characters.
Surprisingly, this version was only used for a very short time in the initial theatrical run before being replaced by Jung’s more "sophisticated" Style A. Today, an original Hildebrandt "Style B" is a holy grail for collectors. If you find one in a garage sale, you’ve basically won the lottery. Seriously. They go for thousands because they represent that frantic, last-minute energy of the original 1977 launch.
The "Chantrell" and the international explosion
By the time the movie hit the UK, it was already a phenomenon. But the British audience needed something different. Tom Beauvais did an initial version, but it was Tom Chantrell who eventually created the definitive British quad.
Chantrell’s approach was different.
He didn't care about the mystical "Force" vibes as much. He wanted action. His Star Wars A New Hope film poster featured more ships, more explosions, and a more realistic depiction of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. He actually used his wife as a model for Leia, having her pose in the garden with a plastic toy gun to get the lighting right.
That’s the thing about these posters. They were handcrafted. No Photoshop. No digital layering. Just paint, sweat, and a lot of reference photos taped to easels.
Why collectors go crazy for "Half-Sheets" and "Inserts"
If you're looking to buy one, you need to know the lingo. It’s a minefield.
- One-Sheets: The standard 27x41 inch poster. This is the king.
- Half-Sheets: Printed on thicker cardstock. They're 22x28 inches. Great for framing because they don't take up a whole wall.
- Inserts: Tall and skinny (14x36). These were for those narrow frames in theater lobbies.
- Mylar posters: These are the shiny, silver ones. They were produced for the 1978 re-release and are incredibly prone to creasing.
If someone tries to sell you a "mint" 1977 poster for fifty bucks, walk away. It’s a reprint. Real ones have specific fold marks (they were shipped folded to theaters back then) and "GCIU" union logos that are hard to fake perfectly.
The psychology of the "Vader Mask" motif
Why does this imagery still work?
It’s the scale. In almost every variation of the Star Wars A New Hope film poster, Darth Vader is the largest element, yet he’s also the most transparent. He is the environment. He is the vacuum of space. This told the audience subconsciously that the villain wasn't just a guy in a suit; he was an all-encompassing threat.
The 1978 "Style D" poster—often called the "Circus" poster—flipped the script. Created by Charles White III and Drew Struzan, it looked like a poster being peeled off a wall. It was meta. It acknowledged that Star Wars was already a legend. Struzan, of course, went on to define the look of the entire saga, but it all started with these initial attempts to figure out what a "Star War" actually looked like.
How to spot a fake in 2026
The market is flooded with "anniversary" prints that look real but aren't. Honestly, the easiest way to tell is the "hairline" test. In the original 1977 Style A, the hair on Luke’s head has very fine, distinct lines from the airbrushing. Most reprints blur this into a solid brown mass.
Also, check the bottom margin. The "NSS" (National Screen Service) number is the DNA of the poster. For the original Star Wars, it should usually be 77/21. If that number is missing or looks digitally typeset rather than printed with a lithographic press, you're looking at a modern reproduction.
There's also the "GAU" logo. In 1977, the printer's union logo was tiny. On fakes, it’s often slightly enlarged because the image was scanned and blown back up. Little things. But they matter when you're dropping three grand on a piece of cinema history.
👉 See also: The Voice: How Many on Each Team (and Why it Keeps Changing)
Practical steps for starting your collection
Don't just jump onto an auction site and bid on the first thing you see. It's a bad move.
First, decide if you want "Theatrical" or "Commercial." Theatrical posters were actually in a cinema in 1977. They have history. Commercial posters were sold in gift shops. They look similar but have zero investment value.
Second, look for "Linen Backing." This is a conservation method where the poster is mounted onto thin canvas. it smooths out the fold lines and prevents the paper from acidifying. It’s the gold standard for high-end collecting.
Third, check out Heritage Auctions or Propstore. Avoid random sellers with "No Returns" policies. Genuine dealers will always provide a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) and a detailed condition report.
Finally, remember that condition is everything. A "C9" (Near Mint) poster is worth five times more than a "C5" (Good) poster with tape marks and pinholes. But honestly? Sometimes those pinholes tell a better story. They mean the poster was actually there, on a theater wall, while people were seeing the Millennium Falcon for the first time. That’s the real magic of the Star Wars A New Hope film poster. It’s a time machine.
To verify a poster's authenticity yourself, use a magnifying loupe to inspect the "dot pattern." Authentic 1977 posters were printed using a four-color offset lithography process. You should see a distinct pattern of tiny dots (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). If the colors look like they were sprayed on smoothly by an inkjet printer, it's a fake. Also, smell it. Old paper has a distinct, slightly sweet, musty scent that modern chemicals can't replicate. If you're serious about buying, join a forum like AllPosterForum where experts deconstruct fakes daily. Knowledge is your best protection against getting burned.