May the force be with you

A couple of days ago, I was watching a movie when I start wondering why is there opening credits? My friend argued that it was an obligation by the Directors Guild of America (for American film or course). I then said ... what about Star wars ... and then it the silence came.

So I felt compelled to find the answer. In recent years, many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing, Batman Begins, and The Mummy Returns not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. George Lucas is credited (or blamed) with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America. However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane and The Godfather. However, it was with the release of Lethal Weapon 2 in 1989 that the "title only" opening became an established form for summer blockbusters. Clint Eastwood has done away with opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982.