
Since its initial release, American Graffiti has earned an estimated return well over $200 million in box-office gross and home video sales, not including merchandising. Produced on a $777,000 budget, it has become one of the most profitable films ever. The film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. As a result, production was moved to Petaluma.Īmerican Graffiti premiered on August 2, 1973, at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, and was released on August 11, 1973, in the United States. Filming was initially set to take place in San Rafael, California, but the production crew was denied permission to shoot beyond a second day.

He was unsuccessful in pitching the concept to financiers and distributors, but found favor at Universal Pictures after every other major film studio turned him down. The genesis of American Graffiti took place in Modesto in the early 1960s, during Lucas' teenage years. While Lucas was working on his first film, THX 1138, Coppola asked him to write a coming-of-age film.
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Through a series of vignettes, it tells the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of a night.

Set in Modesto, California, in 1962, the film is a study of the cruising and early rock 'n' roll cultures popular among Lucas's age group at the time. Suzanne Somers, Kathleen Quinlan, Debralee Scott, and Joe Spano also appear in the film. American Graffiti is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny Howard), Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins, and Wolfman Jack.
