'Star Wars' Is Officially Crushing Streaming Charts Across the Globe Ahead of the 'Mandalorian' Movie

What do you consider the most rewatchable movie of all time? Is it an Old Hollywood classic like The Wizard of Oz or Gone With the Wind? Perhaps it's a trilogy like The Lord of the Rings? Back in 2015, statistics giant FiveThirtyEight (now owned by ABC) conducted a poll that asked audiences which films they considered to be the most rewatchable. Of all the answers the data site collected, the results were fundamentally clear: Star Wars, as in the original 1977 flick dubbed Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, reigned supreme. George Lucas' first romp into the galaxy far, far away proved to be a favorite among viewers, and it's a sci-fi classic that remains at the top of its game to this day. No wonder it was just back on Disney+'s Top 10.

The Original 'Star Wars' Is a Hit With Audiences on Disney+

Since it first premiered, Star Wars has always been a staple of pop culture. According to the data obtained by FiveThirtyEight, any audience response labeled "Star Wars" without specifying A New Hope was counted in favor of the original film, which makes sense when you factor in the film's impact. But even when you consider the entries that noted Star Wars as a film franchise, the space opera won by a landslide with men and ranked within the Top 5 for women (just behind The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, and Gone With the Wind). Thousands of entries landed on Star Wars as the most rewatchable film total, with 98 distinct submissions to its name. A decade later, Nielsen compiled streaming data on Disney+ and Hulu for May 4, 2025, revealing that, of all the films in George Lucas' stellar saga, A New Hope was the most-watched on both platforms. In fact, it was the second most-watched Star Wars entry on streaming behind the two-season Andor.

Star Wars was a cultural landmark that helped change the way that movies were made. It showed the blockbuster appeal of pulpy science fiction and, through merchandising, quickly became a household name. Star Wars was everywhere, and its immediate sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, only further expanded the universe, leading to spin-off novels, comic books, cartoons, video games, cursed holiday specials, and more. With Star Wars, Lucas made a name for himself as one of the most important filmmakers of the late 20th century, paving the way for our contemporary pop culture landscape. As the first installment in the original trilogy, it's understandable that folks would consider it to be the most rewatchable. Everyone remembers when they first saw Star Wars, and it's that brilliance that keeps it relevant in our hearts and minds all these years later.

Disney Plans To Bring 'A New Hope' Back to Theaters in 2027

In the late 1990s, just in time for the film's 20th anniversary, Lucas went back to the cutting board with the original films, remastering them for the famed "Special Editions" and later 2004 remasters that have since become the only widely available cuts of the film. Still, longtime fans yearning to revisit the film on the big screen are in luck, because in honor of next year's 50th anniversary, Star Wars will be re-released into theaters. Whether this means that we'll be seeing the same edited versions currently available on streaming or the original theatrical cuts in honor of the film's anniversary remains to be seen, but many of us are hoping for the latter.

Star Wars is a powerhouse of Hollywood entertainment, with The Mandalorian and Grogu being the most recent release. It's everything that makes good, old-fashioned blockbusters worthwhile rolled into a "hero's journey"-style adventure that's as campy and fun as it is daring and creative. The artistry on display in Lucas' attempt at a revised space opera is impressive, with a fascinating blend of practical creatures and effects that combine well with the digital effects that were quite remarkable at the time. It introduced audiences to stars like Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher, and first shared with the world the brilliance of John Williams' triumphant score. If there's one movie worth rewatching without reservation, the original Star Wars is certainly up there.