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The Original 70mm Engagements Of "The Empire Strikes Back" | Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter |
| Written by: Michael Coate and William Kallay (Copyright 2003) | Date: July 15, 2003 |
 What follows is a list of the known 70mm engagements of the movie "The Empire Strikes Back" (aka "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back"). As one can glean from the list, 70mm engagements were aplenty on this title, with many "out-of-the-way" places often playing the movie in 70mm. What is noteworthy about the release of "The Empire Strikes Back" with regard to the 70mm presentation format is that the film was (at the time) distributed with a record number of large-format prints for a saturation, non-roadshow-type release, eclipsing the record set the previous year by "Alien"."The Empire Strikes Back" opened with a modest number of initial wave engagements, reportedly 127, most of which are identified in the list below (check this Web site periodically for updates). It appears that with the exception of a few drive-in bookings, all of the first-wave engagements were in the deluxe 70mm format. Additional 70mm engagements were added during the "expansion wave" releases throughout the summer of 1980. Also of interest to some may be that the 70mm prints of "The Empire Strikes Back" differed from the 35mm version in that some editing differences, additional shots, alternate takes, and extra dialogue can be detected through a comparison of the two versions. It is understood that when the movie was considered "finished," the elements were turned over to the lab and sound facilities so the desired 70mm print order could be prepared. The filmmakers, however, elected to "un-finish" the movie and make a few, albeit subtle, changes that, considering the expense and time involved in re-striking and and/or re-sounding 70mm prints, were reflected only in the film's 35mm prints. There is a bit of irony in all of this trivia: the majority of the public and media who saw the movie in its first month of release saw the "less complete" version. Additional contributors to this project: Peter Fraser José Gonzalez Mancera Rain Greene Bill Kretzel John Sharp If you have comments or corrections, or information to contribute to this list please contact Michael Coate, William Kallay or Thomas Hauerslev | Further in 70mm reading: "Star Wars" Newspaper References Additional references “Alien” 70mm openings “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” 70mm openings Internet link: |
 World Premiere on May 17, 1980Washington, D.C.: Kennedy Center Royal Premiere on May 20, 1980 London: Odeon Leicester Square NORTH AMERICA Opened May 21, 1980 (except where noted): ALBERTA, CANADA Calgary: Palliser Square Edmonton: Paramount ARIZONA Phoenix: Cine Capri Tucson: El Dorado (opened June 18) ARKANSAS Little Rock: Cinema 150 BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA Vancouver: Stanley CALIFORNIA Corte Madera: Cinema Fresno: Festival Hollywood: Egyptian Lakewood: Lakewood Center (opened June 27) La Mirada: La Mirada (opened June 27) Montclair: Movies* (opened June 27) Monterey: Cinema 70 (opened June 18) Newport Beach: Newport Orange: Cinedome 20 Orange: Cinedome 23 Sacramento: Century 26 San Diego: Cinerama San Francisco: Northpoint San Jose: Century 22 West Covina: Westcove (moveover; began Dec. 19) West Los Angeles: Picwood (moveover; began Dec. 17) Westwood: Avco Center Woodland Hills: Warner Center* (opened June 27) COLORADO Denver: Cooper CONNECTICUT East Hartford: Showcase Orange: Showcase Stamford: Ridgeway DELAWARE Claymont: Tri-State Mall DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, D.C.: K-B FLORIDA Miami: 163rd Street Miami: Dadeland Twin One Winter Park: Park West* GEORGIA Atlanta: Phipps Plaza HAWAII Honolulu: Cinerama ILLINOIS Calumet City: River Oaks Champaign: Virginia Chicago: Esquire Chicago: Ford City Lombard: Yorktown Moline: Parkway Niles: Golf Mill Norridge: Norridge Orland Park: Orland Square Peoria: Madison Schaumburg: Woodfield Springfield: Esquire INDIANA Fort Wayne: Holiday Indianapolis: Eastwood IOWA Des Moines: River Hills Dubuque: Cinema Center KANSAS Wichita: Mall KENTUCKY Erlanger: Showcase Lexington: Northpark Lexington: Southpark Louisville: Showcase LOUISIANA Metairie: Lakeside MARYLAND Towson: Hillendale MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Charles Brookline: Circle (opened June 18) Seekonk: Showcase West Springfield: Showcase Worcester: Showcase MICHIGAN Bloomfield Hills: Showcase Pontiac Burton: Eastland Mall Harper Woods: Eastland Livonia: Terrace Southfield: Americana Southgate: Southgate Sterling Heights: Showcase MINNESOTA Bloomington: Southtown Brooklyn Center: Brookdale Roseville: Har Mar MISSOURI Creve Coeur: Creve Coeur Kansas City: Midland NEBRASKA Omaha: Cinema Center NEVADA Las Vegas: Parkway (opened June 18) NEW JERSEY Edison: Menlo Park Moorestown: Moorestown Mall Paramus: Triplex Paramus Trenton: Twin Lawrenceville NEW YORK Cheektowaga: Holiday 2 Colonie: Colonie I DeWitt: Shoppingtown I Lawrence: Lawrence Levittown: Nassau Quad Manhattan: Astor Plaza Manhattan: Murray Hill Manhattan: New York Twin (opened June 18) Manhattan: Orpheum Rochester: Pittsford Triplex Yonkers: Central Plaza NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: Park Terrace Fayetteville: Bordeaux Greensboro: Terrace Raleigh: Cardinal Twin Winston-Salem: Thruway 1 & 2 OHIO Columbus: Cinema East Columbus: Continent Dayton: Dayton Mall Dayton: Salem Mall Springdale: Showcase Toledo: Showcase ONTARIO, CANADA Hamilton: Tivoli London: Park Toronto: University Windsor: Centre OREGON Beaverton: Westgate Eugene: Cinema World PENNSYLVANIA Allentown: Allentown 3 Cornwells Heights: Premiere 2 King of Prussia: Twin Plaza McCandless: Showcase North Monroeville: Showcase East Philadelphia: Sameric Pittsburgh: Warner Robinson Township: Showcase West QUEBEC, CANADA Montreal: Place Du Canada TENNESSEE Memphis: Park Nashville: Belle Meade TEXAS Austin: Americana Dallas: Northpark I & II Dallas: Prestonwood 5 Fort Worth: Ridglea Houston: Alabama Houston: Westchase 5 UTAH Ogden: Cinedome 70 Salt Lake City: Centre VIRGINIA Bailey's Crossroads: K-B Cinema 7* (opened June 18) Springfield: Springfield Mall Vienna: Tysons (opened June 18) WASHINGTON Seattle: Cinema 150 Tacoma: Tacoma Mall WISCONSIN Fox Point: Brownport Milwaukee: Southtown Wauwatosa: Mayfair ***** INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA Sydney: Hoyts (opened Aug 7) SPAIN Madrid: Reál Cinema Cinerama (opened Sept) Spanish title: "El Imperio Contraataca" UNITED KINGDOM London: Odeon Leicester Square (opened May 21) ***RE-RELEASES/ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMENTS & SCREENINGS*** 1981 re-release (Opened July 31) ARIZONA Scottsdale: Kachina CALIFORNIA Century City: Century Plaza La Jolla: La Jolla Village Monclair: Movies Orange: City Center San Diego: Glasshouse 6 Santa Barbara: Granada Torrance: Del Amo Woodland Hills: Warner Center* ILLINOIS: Bloomingdale: Stratford Square Calumet City: River Oaks MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Cheri 1-2-3 NEW JERSEY Cedar Grove: Cinema 23 Totowa: Cinema 46 Triplex NEW YORK Manhattan: Criterion Center Manhattan: Gemini 2 White Plains:: Galleria Twin ***** 1982 "Star Wars"/"Empire" double feature (Opened October 1) BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA Vancouver: Stanley ONTARIO, CANADA Toronto: University ***** 1982 re-release (Opened Nov 19) **Included "Revenge Of The Jedi" trailer** CALIFORNIA Costa Mesa: South Coast Plaza Hollywood: Paramount Lakewood: Lakewood Center Orange: Cinedome DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington, D.C.: Uptown ILLINOIS: Bloomingdale: Stratford Square Chicago: Ford City Northbrook: Edens Oakbrook: Oakbrook ***** 1983 "Star Wars"/"Empire" double feature (Opened July 29) NEW JERSEY Paramus: Route 17 Twin Totowa: Cinema 46 Triplex NEW YORK Manhattan: Warner Twin Nassau: Syosset ***** 1984 "Star Wars"/"Empire"/"Jedi" triple feature Nov 17-18 (United Way benefit) ONTARIO, CANADA Toronto: Cinesphere | |
 *****1985 "Star Wars"/"Empire"/"Jedi" triple feature (March 28 - one time, one day only) CALIFORNIA Hollywood: Egyptian San Francisco: Coronet Westwood: Avco Center COLORADO Denver: Continental ILLINOIS Chicago: Carnegie NEW YORK Manhattan: Warner Twin ONTARIO, CANADA Toronto: Uptown TEXAS Dallas: Northpark I & II WASHINGTON Seattle: Cinema 150 ***** 1987 CALIFORNIA Century City: Century 14 (Oct 02-04; Fox Retrospective 3-day engagement) ***** All of the engagements included in this document were presented in 70mm. The majority of the prints were in six-track Dolby Stereo. Selected engagements were in non-Dolby-encoded six-track stereo, and others were six-track Dolby Stereo prints booked into theatres that had non-Dolby-brand, Dolby-compatible equipment. These presentation variations were not always clearly accounted for on theatre marquees and in the original newspaper advertisement materials. | |
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