George Lucas wrote and created the original Star Wars film and the wider saga, starting the script development in the early 1970s.

Core answer

  • The original 1977 film Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope) was written and directed by George Lucas.
  • Lucas began writing multiple drafts of the script around 1973, refining the characters, plot, and mythological structure over several years.
  • He is also credited as the creator of the overall Star Wars universe and story concept, which later expanded into sequels, prequels, and spin‑offs.

Other writers in the franchise

  • For the original trilogy, Lucas remained the creator and story driver, but other writers contributed to later films, such as Lawrence Kasdan on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
  • Novelizations and expanded universe stories were written by various authors, including Alan Dean Foster, who ghost‑wrote the first Star Wars novel credited to Lucas.

TL;DR: George Lucas wrote the original Star Wars movie and created the saga; later films and books involved additional writers building on his universe.