The three movies were shown in the U.S. from January through March at a monthly interval. A New Hope was released on January 31, 1997, followed by The Empire Strikes Back on February 21, 1997. Return of the Jedi was scheduled to premiere on March 7, 1997, but due to the box-office success of the first two (mostly A New Hope, which grossed the most of the three re-releases), it was pushed a week, to March 14. Coverage on CNN in 1997 notes that George Lucas spent $10 million to rework his original 1977 film, which was roughly what it cost to film it originally. $3 million of that was spent on the audio track for the Special Edition. Lucas also spent $2.5 million each on Episodes V and VI.