THX 1138

THX 1138
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorge Lucas
Screenplay by
Story byGeorge Lucas
Based onElectronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB
by George Lucas
Produced byLawrence Sturhahn
Starring
Cinematography
  • David Myers
  • Albert Kihn
Edited byGeorge Lucas
Music byLalo Schifrin
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • March 11, 1971 (1971-03-11)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$777,777[1][2]
Box office$2.4 million

THX 1138 is a 1971 American social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, the film stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence, with Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie, and Ian Wolfe in supporting roles. The film is set in a dystopian future in which the citizens are controlled by android police and mandatory use of drugs that suppress emotions.

THX 1138 was developed from Lucas's 1967 student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, which he created while attending the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The feature film was produced in a joint venture between Warner Bros. and American Zoetrope. A novelization by Ben Bova was published in 1971.

The film received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office upon its initial release,[3] but it has subsequently received critical acclaim and gained a cult following, particularly in the aftermath of Lucas's success with Star Wars (1977). A director's cut prepared by Lucas was released in 2004.

  1. ^ Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138 (DVD bonus disk accompanying THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut). USA: Warner Bros. 2004.
  2. ^ Pollock 1983, p. 89.
  3. ^ Gilbey, Ryan. It Don't Worry Me. Faber & Faber.