---
title: "Which came first, Netflix or Star Wars?"
description: "Netflix vs Star Wars: Star Wars came first, by 20 years — 1977 against 1997. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/netflix-vs-star-wars/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Netflix or Star Wars?

**Which came first, Netflix or Star Wars?: Star Wars**

1977 — 20 years before Netflix

Star Wars came first, by 20 years. The first film opened in 32 American cinemas.

## Side by side

|  | Netflix | Star Wars |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1997 | 1977 |
| Date | 1997-08-29 | 1977-05-25 |
| Category | technology | media |
| What happened | Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company. | The first film opened in 32 American cinemas. |

## Netflix

Netflix was founded in August 1997, a year before Google, and posted DVDs for a decade before streaming launched in January 2007. The famous origin story — Hastings founding it after a $40 late fee on Apollo 13 — has been called a useful myth by co-founder Marc Randolph. Blockbuster declined to buy the company for $50 million in 2000.

## Star Wars

Star Wars opened in May 1977 on fewer than forty screens because the distributor had little faith in it, and it went on to be the highest-grossing film made to that point. Fox let Lucas keep the merchandising and sequel rights in exchange for a lower directing fee, a decision that transferred an extraordinary amount of money. It is eleven years younger than Star Trek.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Netflix or Star Wars?

Star Wars, by 20 years — 1977 against 1997.

### When did Netflix start?

1997. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company.

### When did Star Wars start?

1977. The first film opened in 32 American cinemas.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]