Live with it now: Lucasfilm has renamed the original Star Wars trilogy to "The Central Trilogy"
Lucasfilm has quietly retitled what many fans long called the original Star Wars movies — they now go by "The Central Trilogy." The announcement coincides with a collector's Blu-ray release on April 7.
The label covers the three films released from 1977–1983: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi (i.e., Episodes IV–VI). These entries introduced Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo — and yes, Darth Vader — and they’re the set that anchored the saga for early audiences.
Calling them "central" points to their placement in the numbered sequence and, perhaps, to a desire for clearer terminology. After prequels and sequels arrived, the phrase "original trilogy" got muddled; different groups used it with different meanings, e.g., casual viewers vs. longtime fans.
People still talk about these films a lot. Directors and writers reference scenes or beats from them; viewers note effects that were groundbreaking at the time; and stories like Luke’s — from a farm planet kid to a bigger figure — keep getting revisited. That doesn’t mean everyone agrees they’re flawless, but their influence persists in conversations about the franchise.