Star Wars was already playing in American cinemas when France carried out its last execution by guillotine.
It sounds like an internet exaggeration. The dates say it's true, with one catch that the famous version usually leaves out.
The dates really do overlap.
Star Wars opened in the United States on 25 May 1977. On 10 September 1977, 108 days later, Hamida Djandoubi was guillotined inside Baumettes prison in Marseille.
He was the last person executed in France, by guillotine or any other method. He wasn't the only one that summer, either. Another man was guillotined in Douai on 23 June, 29 days after Star Wars opened.
But Star Wars wasn't in French cinemas yet.
This is the catch. The fact is often told as if French audiences were watching Star Wars while France was still using the guillotine.
They weren't. The film, released in France as La Guerre des étoiles, opened there on 19 October 1977, according to France's national film centre, the CNC. That was 39 days after the final execution.
- 25 May 1977Star Wars opens in the United StatesIn American cinemas only
- 23 Jun 1977An execution in DouaiFrance's second-to-last, 29 days after the U.S. release
- 10 Sep 1977France's final execution108 days after the U.S. release
- 19 Oct 1977Star Wars opens in France39 days after the final execution
- 9 Oct 1981France abolishes the death penaltyFour years after the last execution
The guillotine was never medieval.
It feels like a relic from centuries ago, but the guillotine was a product of the French Revolution. A decree of 20 March 1792 made it France's method of execution, and the machine was first used in Paris on 25 April 1792. That decree was still in force in 1981.
It also lasted well into the space age. After Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in July 1969, France guillotined six more people. Executions had become rare, but they hadn't stopped.
The executions ended before the law did.
The death penalty stayed on the books after 1977. French courts were still sentencing people to death in 1980 and 1981, but none of those sentences was carried out.
The law abolishing the death penalty, championed by justice minister Robert Badinter, was promulgated on 9 October 1981, four years after the last execution. Since 2007, abolition has also been written into France's constitution.
The guillotine was still in use when Star Wars opened in America. By the time the film reached France, it had fallen silent.
France's last guillotine execution came 39 days before Star Wars opened there.
Sources checked 5 November 2026·6 sources ↓