It’s hard to believe but Star Wars is turning 40 years old and it appears the brain child of movie producer/ director George Lucas continues to thrill new audiences. The escapism escapades of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo first premiered in a mere 40 theaters in the United States on Friday, May 25, 1977 because executives at 20^th Century Fox believed the $9 million film would be a box office bomb. But audiences proved them wrong, and it wasn’t long before the movie would become the biggest money-maker for years, spawning three prequels and three sequels and an empire of merchandising that has no equal. The franchise, now owned by Disney, continues to grow today with the latest installment, Chapter 8, The Last Jedi, debuting this coming December and a new area of Disneyworld devoted to Star Wars coming out in 2018. Just like the Millennium Falcon, it looks like Star Wars will continue to push ahead in hyper-drive for many years to come.