THX 1138 is a
1971 science fiction film directed by
George Lucas, from a screenplay by Lucas and
Walter Murch. It depicts a
dystopian future in which a high level of control is exerted upon the populace through omnipresent, faceless, android police officers and mandatory, regulated use of special drugs to suppress
emotion, including
sexual desire.
It was the first feature-length film directed by Lucas, and a more developed, feature-length version of his student film
Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, which he made in 1967 while attending the
University of Southern California, based on a one and a quarter page treatment of an idea by
Matthew Robbins. The film was produced in a joint venture between
Warner Brothers and
Francis Ford Coppola's then-new production company,
American Zoetrope. A
novelization by
Ben Bova was published in 1971.