Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a multimedia project created by Lucasfilm Ltd. in 1996. The original idea was to create a story set between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (a time no Star Wars novel had explored before), and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release, without actually making the film. The venture paved the way for the theatrical release of the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition in the following year, and the later releases of the prequel trilogy.