Building the Legendary A New Hope Movie Poster from Three Thousand LEGO Bricks

Fifty years after the original Star Wars film hit theaters, LEGO has turned the artwork that first sold the galaxy far, far away into a large wall display built from bricks. Set 75467, the A New Hope Movie Poster, recreates Tom Jung’s famous Style A one-sheet from 1977 as a three-dimensional piece meant for adult fans. It measures more than 23 inches high, 16 inches wide, and about 2 inches deep, with 3,209 pieces total, and carries a price of $299.99 in the US, £269.99 in the UK, and €299.99 in Europe.

Luke Skywalker stands with his lightsaber raised in both hands, its white illumination extending out and up to the edge of the narrow white frame. Princess Leia appears in front of him, holding a blaster, while miniature Lego copies of C-3PO and R2-D2 rest on the uneven ground nearby. In the background, a huge silhouette of Darth Vader’s helmet stands out against a black starfield, with the Death Star situated in the top left corner and an X-wing squadron speeding by in purple and blue. This LEGO rendition does not feel flat or two-dimensional like a basic mosaic, thanks to the layered plates and slopes that provide a sense of depth, as well as the colors and shading that almost closely match the original artwork.

The designers had to experiment with scale until they got the dimensions exactly perfect. They started with the big bold “STAR WARS” logo at the bottom and opted on a 32-stud width so they could create it with genuine LEGO bricks rather than a pre-printed tile. One of the team members printed out the logo at the proper size on paper, meticulously stacked Lego parts over it to fit the angles, and then transferred it all to the computer to ensure it was locked in perfectly.


The thin white line between “Star” and “Wars” is only a single plate thick, which is very cool because the top word is built on a sliding portion that clicks into place when assembled. The sky and ground had an intriguing trick under their sleeves, as they created the gradients diagonally rather than flat to achieve much more variance in the colors while also ensuring they matched the original painting. Early prototypes were far too bright and obnoxious with red, purple, and brown, but they eventually toned it down to make it one of the most colorful Lego Star Wars sets yet.




Building this set closely follows the film’s storyline. You begin with the logo and title crawl area, then progress through the essential characters, culminating with Vader as the main villain, and then ending with the Death Star and X-wing strike. There are a few little features that result in wonderful reuses of elements from other themes, such as the cool little Ninjago scythe blades in metallic color for the tiny X-wings that they eventually opted to keep with from the very first concept models.



The white Darksaber blades shape the lightsaber flare, while other ingenious parts placement creates the gentle haze around Vader’s helmet that appears to drift away into space. The actual frame is substantially thinner than most of the LEGO Art releases, allowing them to fit more of the artwork within the picture rather than losing it to the border. Because the finished item is not completely symmetrical, there are two small wall hangers that are off-center.