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timeline - How long, in-universe, were each of the Star Wars movies?


Inspired by this question:


Why did Luke name his son Ben and not Obi-wan?


Currently, the only answer there addresses the fact that the "names you first know someone by are hard to shake". However, when thinking on this, I realized that another factor would be the amount of time during which Luke actually knew his mentor as Obi-Wan, in comparison to the length of their relationship beforehand.


Luke came to know the true name of Obi-Wan Kenobi fairly early in Episode IV. At this time, he was about 19 years old and presumably had known (or known of) "Old Ben Kenobi" all his life. So, to get a rough comparison of this against how long he actually knew "Obi-Wan Kenobi", we just need to know how long (in in-universe time) Episode IV was.


Starting from there, I'd like to expand the question to more generally encompass all six of the movies which are the primary canon of the Star Wars universe. So, over what duration (and, ideally, dates) did the events represented in each movie occur?



Answer



Wow, this is a tough question. Having a real hard time digging up any concrete answers. Here's what I have so far, movie-by-movie. Unless otherwise specified, dates are from Wookieepedia and shown in Years:Months:Days ArS (After ReSynchronization):




  • The Phantom Menace - The Invasion of Naboo took place completely during the year 32 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin). The only specific date I can find is the Siege, which began on 3:4:14. But definitely less than one year.

  • Attack of the Clones - The attempted assassination of Senator Amidala happened on 13:5:16. But it says the same date for the beginning of the First Battle of Geonosis. Seems very unlikely, especially given Anakin and Padme's vacation on Naboo and, later, wedding. This blog says 13:5:29. So either less than a day or more likely about 13 days.

  • Revenge of the Sith - The Battle of Coruscant ends on 16:5:20. Luke and Leia were born on 16:5:24. About 4 days. (As mentioned in the comments, this conflicts with the fact that Padme isn't yet obviously pregnant at the start of the movie, and yet has given birth by the end. That would suggest something closer to 3 or 4 months.)

  • A New Hope - Owen and Beru Lars were killed on 35:3:5 (the Tantive IV was captured a day or two previous). The Battle of Yavin also occurred sometime in 35:3. I've found a page that claims it happened on 35:3:9. So definitely less than a month, probably about 6 days.

  • The Empire Strikes Back - The Battle of Hoth occurred on 38:6:6 (Luke fought the Wampa probably a day or two previous). It's not clear when the duel in the Cloud City took place, but it's likely it was also sometime that month. Wookieepedia says this movie and the next are separated by 8 months, which would make it 38:7:3. So about 1 month.

  • Return of the Jedi - The Mission to Jabba's Palace began on 39:3:3. The Battle of Endor took place in 39:3. That neat blog cites 39:3:6. Which would make it about 3 days.


Sorry this is only sort of clear, and in at least one place there's some conflicting evidence. But this is the best I've been able to do so far. Lots of the Wookieepedia articles refer to The New Essential Chronology, so perhaps it has more detail about dates and durations.


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