The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, also known as the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition, as the was a theatrical anniversary edition of the original trilogy, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.
The three movies were shown in the U.S. from January through March at a monthly interval. A New Hope was debuted on January 31, 1997, followed by The Empire Strikes Back on February 21, 1997. Return of the Jedi was scheduled to premiere and debut on March 7, 1997, but due to the box-office success of the first two (mostly A New Hope, which grossed the most of the three re-releases), it was pushed a week, to March 14. Previously, the release was set to begin during the President's Day weekend, but it was pushed forward to January 31 by October 1996. Coverage on CNN in 1997 notes that George Lucas spent $10 million to rework his original 1977 film, which was roughly what it cost to film it originally. $3 million of that was spent on the audio track for the Special Edition. Lucas also spent $2.5 million each on Episodes V and VI.
The trilogy aimed to renew the movies in the minds of both the older and the younger audience, and to prepare the way for the upcoming release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.
The renewal was done by digitally remastering the image and sound with extensive clean-up and restoration work, Lucas also made a number of changes to the films in order to "finish the film the way it was meant to be" (as Lucas said in a September 2004 interview with the Associated Press) so that someone who started watching the saga from the prequel trilogy wouldn't notice the aesthetic difference between the 20 years.
The most significant alterations were cosmetic, generally adding special effects which weren't originally possible, like the addition of some originally filmed but cut scenes (like Han Solo's confrontation with Jabba the Hutt), the addition of new digitally made sequences (like the arrival at Mos Eisley) which sometimes included the replacement of older scenes altogether (like the flight to the Death Star).
Other changes, however, are considered to have affected plot or character development. These changes, such as the change often referred to with the phrase "Han shot first," have been controversial, inciting considerable criticism of George Lucas by fans.