Star Wars has never been just one movie series. It is also a long trail of strange casting choices, risky business deals, lost short films, fan restorations, weird weather disasters, and behind-the-scenes stories that somehow became as memorable as the saga itself. This third part digs into more of those odd little stories fans still bring up, from George Lucas gambles to actors, toys, trailers, and moments that changed how people remember the galaxy far, far away.
For more from this series, read Part 1 | Part 2.
1 Admiral Ackbar Was Called Ugly
During the making of “Return of the Jedi,” the crew mocked Admiral Ackbar’s character design and considered him too ugly. Director Richard Marquand refused to change the design because he wanted the character to challenge easy assumptions about appearance. He said it was good to tell children that good people are not always good-looking and bad people are not always ugly.
2. British actor Anthony Daniels spent years enduring the uncomfortable C-3PO costume across the “Star Wars” films. When Alan Tudyk played K-2SO in “Rogue One” using a much more comfortable motion-capture suit, Daniels reacted with obvious annoyance and cursed at him. Tudyk later joked that getting a “fu*k you” from Daniels felt like one of the highest compliments he had ever received.
3. British actor Alec Guinness did not take a flat fee for playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars.” Instead, he received 0.45% of the films’ gross profits, a deal some people considered foolhardy at the time. Nine days after “Star Wars” opened in 1977, he wrote in his diary that he was pinning his hopes on his “Star Wars” percentage deal. He estimated it could bring him 100,000 pounds or more if the film did “Jaws” business, as people had predicted. The deal paid far beyond that, with Guinness later estimated to have earned about $95 million for roughly 20 minutes of screen time as Obi-Wan Kenobi, while his family continued to receive royalties 20 years after his death in 2000.
4. James Earl Jones chose to go uncredited for voicing Darth Vader in “Star Wars.” He believed David Prowse’s physical performance inside the Vader costume defined the character more than his own voice work did. Jones stepped back from the credit, even though his voice later became one of the most famous parts of Darth Vader.
5. Guatemalan-American actor Oscar Isaac specifically asked for Poe Dameron to come from the planet Yavin 4 while filming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Isaac made the request because the Yavin 4 scenes in the original trilogy were filmed in Guatemala, where he was born.
6 Bill Burr Mocked Star Wars
Comedian Bill Burr repeatedly mocked the “Star Wars” franchise and its fans before he joined “The Mandalorian.” He later accepted the role of Mayfeld, a former Imperial sharpshooter turned mercenary. He was cast because it was believed his past criticism of the franchise would make his casting more amusing.
7. The “Star Wars” theme was written in the same key as the 20th Century Fox fanfare that played before the movie began. This decision facilitated a seamless transition from the fanfare to the opening music, rather than creating a jarring interruption. It gave viewers a smoother entry into the film before the story even started.
8. When “MAD” magazine published a parody of “Star Wars,” George Lucas’s lawyers demanded that the issue be recalled and that Lucasfilm receive all revenue from it. The demand backfired because “MAD” had already received a letter from George Lucas himself. In that letter, Lucas expressed delight over the parody and even compared the artist to Leonardo da Vinci.
9. In “Return of the Jedi” (1983), the speeder chase used a clever filming trick by cinematographer Garrett Brown. Brown walked through the forest at about 5 mph while shooting at less than one frame per second. When the footage played back at 24 frames per second, the motion looked like it was racing through the forest at around 120 mph.
10. Porgs appeared in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” because the crew filmed on Skellig Michael in Ireland, where puffins were already part of the landscape. The production could not simply remove all the birds from the island during filming. Instead, the filmmakers turned the problem into a creature design, replacing the puffins with porgs in the final movie.
11 Jake Lloyd Quit After Bullying
Actor Jake Lloyd played young Anakin Skywalker in “The Phantom Menace” before leaving acting at age 12. He later said bullying after the film helped push him away from Hollywood, and he destroyed his “Star Wars” memorabilia. Years later, after a high-speed police chase, Lloyd was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
12. In 1977, while filming “Star Wars,” George Lucas took a $500,000 pay cut from his director salary. Instead of taking the money upfront, he secured full ownership of the franchise’s merchandising rights. That decision became one of Hollywood’s biggest business wins, as the first 6 films had produced about US$20 billion in merchandising revenue by 2012.
13. Actor Peter Mayhew played Chewbacca in every “Star Wars” film except “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Even though he did not perform the role in that film, the production still credited him as “Chewbacca Consultant.”
14. Actor Peter Mayhew was eligible to play either Chewbacca or Darth Vader in “Star Wars.” He chose Chewbacca because he wanted to play a hero instead of a villain.
15. Sir Alec Guinness disliked playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars” despite the money it brought him. He later wrote, “Apart from the money, I regret having embarked on the film,” and called the dialogue “lamentable.” When an autograph seeker told him he had seen the movie more than 100 times, Guinness signed for him only after making him promise never to watch it again.
16 Black Angel Vanished For Decades
When “The Empire Strikes Back” debuted in 1980, some screenings opened with the short film “Black Angel.” “Star Wars” art director Roger Christian directed the short, but the film was later thought lost for decades. It was eventually recovered and made available on YouTube.
17. James Earl Jones spent only 2.5 hours recording all of Darth Vader’s lines for “Star Wars.” He received $7,500 for the voice work, while David Prowse performed inside the Vader costume. The short recording session still produced one of the most recognizable villain voices in film history.
18. Weird Al Yankovic wrote all the lyrics to “The Saga Begins” two months before “Star Wars: Episode I” reached theaters. The parody retold the movie’s plot to the melody of “American Pie,” even though Yankovic had not seen the finished film yet. He built the song from leaked plot details he found online, and the final lyrics turned out to be almost perfectly accurate.
19. On May 19, 1999, “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” opened in theaters and pulled huge numbers of fans away from work. An estimated 2.2 million full-time employees missed work to watch the film on release day. That mass absence reportedly cost the United States about $293 million in lost productivity.
20. While filming “The Mandalorian” in 2019, the crew ran out of Stormtrooper costumes. Instead of delaying the shoot, the production contacted the local branch of a “Star Wars” fan organization. Members showed up with their own homemade Stormtrooper costumes and joined the filming as extras.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Mark Hamill Matched Guinness’s Age
Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker in “The Force Awakens” at the same age that Alec Guinness was when he played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original “Star Wars.”
22. The opening crawl of “Star Wars” begins with the storybook-style line “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” because George Lucas first imagined the films as stories told by an ancient race of immortals. Lucas later wrote those immortals out of the early films. The narration style remained, giving the saga its mythic, old-tale feeling before the story even began.
23. Star Wars released the Christmas music album “Christmas in the Stars” in 1980, including the track “R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” When the producers wanted a better lead singer for the song, they turned to a 17-year-old kid who was sweeping floors at the studio. He nailed the performance, and that teenager was future rock singer Jon Bon Jovi.
24. George Lucas gave “Star Wars: Episode II” the working title “Jar Jar’s Great Adventure” while developing the film. He used the title to troll the cast and crew after Jar Jar Binks had become one of the franchise’s most mocked characters. Lucas even labeled the original script drafts with the fake title before the movie became “Attack of the Clones.”
25. George Lucas created General Grievous as a “Saturday Morning Cartoon” style villain for “Star Wars.” But he did not clearly communicate that tone to animator Genndy Tartakovsky, who was working on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” in 2003. Tartakovsky instead followed Lucas’s earlier description of Grievous as a ruthless “Jedi Killer,” turning him into a far more terrifying villain than the lighter version Lucas had in mind.
RE: Fact #3 (Alec Guinness Star Wars Royalties) – >Guinness has received received more than $95 million and counting for his role as Obi-Wan. But, he earned only $6 million of that during his lifetime, with the rest of the amount being paid to his estate since his death in 2000. > To put this into perspective: Alec earned more money playing Obi-Wan Kenobi than he had previously earned from his other 40 major film roles… combined, including his Oscar winning role in The Bridge on the River Kwai. >Many of the actors and crew that worked on Star Wars were offered similar percentage deals, but turned them down, preferring to take the cash and move on. This is a move these people must have come to deeply regret. Even James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, only made $7, 000 for his part in the film. Jones has admitted in recent interviews that rejecting points cost him “tens of millions of dollars.”
RE: Fact #38 (George Lucas Joked About Vader-Luke) – This just proves that by the time Return of the Jedi rolled around, nobody was questioning Lucas’s ideas anymore. By the prequels, even he stopped pretending things were just “jokes.”
RE: Fact #17 (James Earl Jones Recorded Quickly) – He chose a flat fee instead of taking a share of the film’s success. Jones put it this way at the time: “$7, 000 was big money for me in those days. I was broke and needed the money to pay rent and buy groceries!”
RE: Fact #36 (Samuel Jackson Wanted Purple Lightsaber) – Can you imagine an actor demanding a black lightsaber just because it’s their favorite color?
RE: Fact #31 (Boba Fett Copied Oswalt’s Pitch) – Do people forget that Patton Oswalt was drawing inspiration from the ‘Tales of the Bounty Hunters’ novels from the 90s? Those books covered all the bounty hunters seen in ‘Empire, ‘ including Boba Fett. We knew about his escape back then, and it happened in a similar way to what Patton described in his bit. This is completely ignoring Daniel Keys Moran’s work!
RE: Fact #47 (George Lucas Wanted Microbiotic Star Wars) – The more I hear about Lucas’s original plans for the nine movies, the more I realize the original trilogy only stands out because the production team and technical limitations forced him to make something better.
And it was his wife and others editing his ideas that turned what could have been an incoherent mess into the clear, well-structured story we got.
Well, we ended up with an incoherent mess without his direct involvement anyway.
RE: Fact #29 (David Prowse Improvised Vader Lines) – Listening to the raw footage with Prowse’s actual voice explains why they dubbed him. No offense, but he sounds a bit like Dark Helmet.
Yea he sounded like a twenty-something Scottish kid doing a bad cosplay. Great body language, but he’s definitely not a voice actor.
I met him at a space event in town. He was a great guy and even joked about how people who didn’t know the voice and the actor were two different people used to give him grief about his vocal range.
He really got the short end of the stick. He was upset about the dubbing, wasn’t told about the ‘I am your father’ twist, and didn’t even get to be the one on screen for his own unmasking in Return of the Jedi.
RE: Fact #22 (George Lucas Kept Ancient Narration) – That choice also got Lucas kicked out of the Directors Guild because he broke their rules regarding pre-film credits.
RE: Fact #33 (Fans Paid For Phantom Trailer) – There was a different trailer playing before ‘Wing Commander, ‘ and a bunch of people walked out right after it finished. I thought they were being jerks, but after sitting through the whole movie, the joke was definitely on me for staying.
Not really. ‘Wing Commander’ is actually hilarious once you realize that while the editor was in on the joke, everyone else involved was acting like it was a serious sci-fi epic. Seeing Freddie Prinze Jr. and his buddy Shaggy trying to save the galaxy is a trip.
RE: Fact #20 (Mandalorian Fans Played Stormtrooper Extras) – Long live the 501st. Seriously though, it is my dream to improve my propmaking skills enough to build a suit that qualifies. They are such a talented and kind group.
RE: Fact #38 (George Lucas Joked About Vader-Luke) – He really wanted to kill off Han Solo, and Harrison Ford was on the same page. That’s why Ford only agreed to do Episode 7 if his character died.
Is there an actual reason Harrison hated playing Han Solo so much? I never really got that.
He wanted to be known for more than just Han Solo. He hoped Star Wars would launch his career, not be the only thing people associated him with. It was the same deal with Alec Guinness and Obi-Wan. Guinness was an Oscar winner and was genuinely annoyed that he’d be stuck being “that Star Wars guy” for the rest of his life.
RE: Fact #8 (George Lucas Praised MAD Parody) – The publisher simply sent the lawyers a copy of that letter with a note saying, “Gee, your boss George liked it!” and the legal threats stopped immediately.
RE: Fact #44 (R2-D2 Finally Obeyed Anakin) – It’s fun to go back and watch the original trilogy imagining R2 frantically trying to explain what’s happening, while Luke just goes, “It’s okay little buddy, beep boop to you too.”
Then again, we see R2’s beeps translated to text on Luke’s X-wing display, so either R2 didn’t know the orders or he was just keeping quiet.
It is funny because it would make sense if R2 was outside since space is a vacuum, but then again, space is weirdly loud throughout the Star Wars universe.
RE: Fact #2 (Anthony Daniels Cursed Alan Tudyk) – Supposedly, C-3PO was broken down into parts in The Empire Strikes Back because Anthony Daniels was in a contract dispute, so they just had Chewie carry him around. He comes across as pretty pretentious.
RE: Fact #32 (White House Rejected Death Star) – The White House really laid out three main points: ” The cost to build a Death Star is estimated at over 850 quadrillion dollars, and they’re trying to cut the deficit, not increase it. ” The administration has no interest in blowing up planets. * Spending taxpayer money on a weapon with a design flaw that any one-man ship can exploit makes no sense.
So are you saying it’s actually possible if I just had 850 quadrillion dollars?
RE: Fact #2 (Anthony Daniels Cursed Alan Tudyk) – Even if he’s supposedly a jerk, I can’t imagine wearing that costume in the desert without completely overheating.
Now think about Kenny Baker being stuck in a literal garbage bin with wonky wheels, getting way less recognition for it.
I remember reading that the crew once stopped for lunch and forgot to let Kenny out, so he spent the entire break stuck inside the droid.
RE: Fact #9 (Garrett Brown Faked Speeder Speed) – That sounds like it would have been an incredibly bumpy ride, especially following the terrain that closely. Did they use any kind of stabilization?
RE: Fact #50 (Norwegian Red Cross Played Rebels) – Every single one of them, that is, except for one guy who used to be a Boston mailman and a total regular at the local dive bar before he ended up defending Hoth.
“Norm, did I ever tell you about the time I lost my favorite flask inside a Tauntaun?”
RE: Fact #16 (Black Angel Vanished For Decades) – That is incredible. My brother and I saw Empire Strikes Back in Cheltenham when it first came out, and I am almost certain we saw this as well. I was seven at the time. We have spent years talking about some weird short film about knights that played before the main feature, and this has to be it. It is cool to finally solve a long-standing family mystery.
I remember it too. It was pretty common back then to have B-movies before the main event, but this one stuck with me because it was so strange and actually decent.
RE: Fact #49 (Mark Hamill Pitched Mother Boba) – That would have been terrible because it makes the galaxy feel so small. When everyone is related, it loses the epic feel. Imagine if Rey were revealed to be related to Palpatine, or if Vader had built C-3PO.
RE: Fact #23 (Jon Bon Jovi Sang R2-D2) – his cousin Tony Bongiovi owned the studio where the album was recorded. I highly doubt they would have randomly asked a random janitor to sing lead vocals otherwise.
RE: Fact #25 (General Grievous Became Jedi Killer) – Longtime fans definitely know the difference. The General Grievous from the 2003 animated series was a terrifying, god-tier killing machine. Then you see him in Episode 3 and he’s just coughing everywhere.
RE: Fact #3 (Alec Guinness Star Wars Royalties) – David Prowse really got the short end of the stick when he accepted the role of Darth Vader for the third film. He agreed to a percentage of the net profits, but thanks to Hollywood accounting, Return of the Jedi has technically never shown a profit, so he never saw a dime of that.
It feels like a bad deal, but then you realize most of us are the David Prowse of the world while the 1% are Alec Guinness. The system is rigged, and Alec was in the right spot to negotiate.
He should have altered the deal and made Lucasfilm pray he didn’t alter it any further.
RE: Fact #16 (Black Angel Vanished For Decades) – The atmosphere is really creative and visually interesting. The fight scene at the end is absolutely terrible, but otherwise, it is a great watch. If I recall correctly, it even influenced the visual style of Excalibur. It is a shame that Roger Christian’s later work isn’t great, he is the same guy who ended up directing Battlefield Earth.
Battlefield Earth was easily the worst movie-book experience I have ever had. My dad read the book and hated it, but for some reason, I decided to read it anyway. I hated it. Then the movie came out, and despite knowing better, I watched that too, and hated it. I have no idea why I did that to myself.
RE: Fact #27 (Team Negative One Restored Star Wars) – Disney, are you listening? The fans clearly want those original theatrical cuts released. Look at how much effort the community is putting into these fan restorations.
We’ll never see those originals released as long as Lucas is alive; he still holds a grudge against his ex-wife.
It’s not really his call anymore, is it? He sold Star Wars to Disney, and they bought up the distribution rights from Fox.
Wait, what does his ex-wife have to do with the original releases? I’ve never heard that before.
Since Disney owns Fox now, they have the rights to the whole original trilogy. They love making money, so I’d be surprised if we didn’t get an official restored release eventually.
RE: Fact #30 (James Earl Jones Scared Truckers) – Just imagine if he’d used his Mufasa voice and told those truckers to remember who they are.
RE: Fact #5 (Oscar Isaac Chose Yavin Four) – They should have just hired someone who is actually from Yavin 4. This is just another example of Hollywood “human-washing” its movies.
I don’t know about that. When people come from Yavin 4, they aren’t sending their best, they’re sending thieves, criminals, and people who put pineapple on their pizza. Though I suppose some of them are good actors.
In Star Wars, humans are native to a ton of planets. There is a convoluted reason for it in the expanded universe involving an ancient civilization that terraformed the galaxy and spread their DNA everywhere.
Funny enough, I recall the Rakatan empire basically used humans as easy breeding stock for slave labor.
RE: Fact #1 (Admiral Ackbar Was Called Ugly) – Aliens should look, well, alien. What I’ve never understood is how a species that looks exactly like a human evolved in a galaxy far, far away. Even accounting for parallel evolution, you’d think there would be more drastic biological differences.
A bit off-topic, but I loved the explanation in K-PAX for why the character looked human: “Why is a soap bubble round? Because it is the most energy-efficient configuration. Similarly, on your planet I look like you; on K-PAX I look like a K-Paxian.”
That also works because it was never made clear if he was actually an alien or just delusional.
RE: Fact #46 (Star Wars Weather Turned Brutal) – Was the Hoth shoot really hampered by a blizzard? I feel like that actually helped the production. I doubt they were out there in the thick of it; I always assumed the storm scenes where Han searches for Luke were just special effects.
RE: Fact #35 (Carrie Fisher Warned Daisy Ridley) – That explains why Padme seemed to have a new dress every time she walked through a door.
RE: Fact #45 (Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye) – I remember reading that. It is a book that could only have been written before Lucas decided Luke and Leia were siblings, because that is wild.
RE: Fact #48 (Michael Jackson Wanted Jar Jar) – I know ‘normal’ is a loose term, but I bet that guy never had a normal day in his life.
He was a child star. It is rare to find a child star who didn’t end up troubled after being exposed to such a cruel industry at a young age.
He actually had a grocery store closed down so his staff could pose as shoppers just so he could simulate a normal trip to the store.
I feel bad he never had a normal childhood. I like to think there were days later on where he could just have coffee, walk around his house, play video games, and go to bed. I would consider that normal, I guess.
RE: Fact #34 (Karl Urban Joined Every Franchise) – What DC role are you talking about? I’m guessing it might be from one of their side labels, because I don’t remember him in anything ‘core’ DC. Are you thinking of ‘Dredd’ or ‘The Boys’?
He was in ‘Red, ‘ which is an Homage Comics property owned by DC. ‘The Boys’ started at Wildstorm, a DC imprint, but is now published by Dynamite. ‘Dredd’ is from 2000 AD, which is owned by IPC. DC did license the character for a short run in the mid-90s, so I guess you could argue that, though ‘Dredd’ fans usually don’t consider those licensed DC comics, or the Stallone movie, to be canon.
RE: Fact #42 (George Lucas Forgot Opening Day) – This, paired with Jaws launching the blockbuster era and the disaster of Heaven’s Gate, really finished off the 70s American auteur movement. It made it way harder for directors like Scorsese, DePalma, and Coppola to get funding for their artistic projects.
RE: Fact #9 (Garrett Brown Faked Speeder Speed) – Star Wars was so groundbreaking because of how Lucas used practical effects to achieve such incredible results. It’s wild to think how amazing those films look, especially considering the limited and expensive state of CGI at the time.
I think the only computer-generated shot in the original Star Wars was the Death Star plans. I still prefer the practical effects of the original trilogy over the heavy reliance on green screens and CGI in the prequels. Lucas’s ambitions definitely outpaced the technology of that era, and I’m really not a fan of the extra stuff they patched into the original films years later.
My theory is that CGI often looks ‘off’ due to issues with lighting, shadows, and how the actors react. The lighting and reflections are rarely perfect, and the shadows are often missing or placed inconsistently. Plus, when an actor has to stare at a tennis ball instead of a person, the natural micro-reactions and eye contact are missing. It triggers that uncanny valley feeling where your brain knows something isn’t quite right.
They also relied heavily on compositing and matte paintings. My favorite example is the Star Destroyer bridge set. It was mostly just a small set with a few props, and they used matte paintings to fill in the rest of the frame for the wide shots. Even with that clever work, Rogue One ended up building a much larger, more complete version of the bridge, which actually had to be modified because the original set didn’t quite make spatial sense.
RE: Fact #18 (Weird Al Predicted Phantom Menace) – I feel like the only inaccuracy in the lyrics is that they imply Obi-Wan was hanging out on Tatooine with Qui-Gon instead of staying back on the ship.
That, and Qui-Gon never actually told Yoda to “stick it in your pointy ear.”
I always heard he changed a line about Amidala from dating to marrying her, but that is probably just hearsay.
RE: Fact #31 (Boba Fett Copied Oswalt’s Pitch) – Nerdist actually animated that whole filibuster bit.
This sounds crazy! Suggesting Daredevil belongs among the top-tier Marvel heroes is totally ridiculous.
The joke of Patton’s bit was that these were terrible ideas only a fanboy writing ‘hacky’ scripts would think of. It’s funny that things like Endgame and Boba Fett actually ended up happening.
At least Endgame and Deadpool were actually good. Boba Fett was so dull it felt like it had to be hijacked by another show just to stay interesting.
He also mentions ‘I’m sorry Red Widow and Hawkeye, we get the A tier, we go and get Spider-Man, we go and get Moon Knight, we go and get Daredevil, we go and get Hercules, ok.’ That means three out of four of those have actually happened so far.
RE: Fact #21 (Mark Hamill Matched Guinness’s Age) – The Hindenburg disaster was 40 years before the first Star Wars movie was released. And the release of the original film almost 50 years ago.
That must have felt like such an incredible technological leap. We went from cloth blimps and wood planes to Mach 15 rockets and sci-fi special effects.
RE: Fact #12 (George Lucas Chose Merchandising Rights) – George Lucas actually received a massive fine from the directors guild for refusing to put opening credits on his films, which led him to eventually quit the guild.
That’s exactly why Richard Marquand ended up directing Return Of The Jedi instead of someone like Spielberg, who was a guild member.
I sometimes wonder how Return of the Jedi might have turned out if Spielberg had directed it.
RE: Fact #47 (George Lucas Wanted Microbiotic Star Wars) – Because as we all know, what fans really loved about Star Wars was midichlorians and the idea that you could only use the Force if you had them.
The hate for midichlorians never made sense to me. Science is just understanding the rules of a world. In a world with magic, the study of how that magic works is essentially science. Attributing Force ability to a measurable chemical in the blood to explain the affinity doesn’t ruin anything. It is still magic.
Well, George did admit he knew fans would hate the movies if he had made them, but at least the story would have been complete.
I am not sure Lucas is the right person to tell that story. What is his midichlorian count?
There was a lot of great stuff in the prequel trilogy. Unfortunately, the great ideas were given as much or less attention than the bad ones.
RE: Fact #11 (Jake Lloyd Quit After Bullying) – He was treated terribly by the media. I remember Ron Howard wrote a pretty scathing letter to a media outlet defending him.
RE: Fact #19 (Phantom Menace Emptied American Offices) – This kind of thinking assumes people are perfectly productive unless they have an excuse to slack off, when in reality, they would probably be messing around at work anyway.
Exactly. Plus, we know that taking time off actually makes you more productive when you return.
Right. If I take a day off to see a movie, it isn’t costing the economy anything extra, because I am going to use my vacation time for something regardless.
RE: Fact #7 (Star Wars Theme Matched Fanfare) – Not to mention they had to basically trick Hollywood into accepting a movie with no opening credits, which was unheard of. The smooth musical transition and the opening crawl helped keep critics focused on the film rather than the missing credits.
Actually, it was The Empire Strikes Back that landed Lucas in hot water with the Directors Guild. It wasn’t about missing credits, but because he didn’t include Kershner’s name alongside his own.
I believe he still put Kershner’s name in the closing credits, just not the opening. He managed to get away with it for the first Star Wars because he was the writer, director, and producer, and his own company was producing it, so the “Lucasfilm” label was accepted as the credit. That didn’t fly for ESB, so the DGA made a scene.
RE: Fact #19 (Phantom Menace Emptied American Offices) – The claim about what it “cost the US” is just as made up as those estimates on how much piracy hurts the entertainment industry. It is just lazy math.
RE: Fact #2 (Anthony Daniels Cursed Alan Tudyk) – I keep seeing things about Anthony Daniels being difficult, but when I met him, he was nothing but kind and really went out of his way to be nice to people. I suspect his dry sense of humor just doesn’t land with everyone.
RE: Fact #11 (Jake Lloyd Quit After Bullying) – The dialogue George Lucas wrote is really hard for actors to pull off. Jake Lloyd actually did a great job in Jingle All the Way, though.
RE: Fact #45 (Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye) – I recommend everyone watch the 1980 film Flash Gordon. George Lucas wanted to direct it before making Star Wars, and there are a shocking amount of parallels between it and the original trilogy. Imagine if Flash Gordon had been the global hit instead.
Both films had major issues behind the scenes, but the story of Flash Gordon has been told so many times that I doubt it would have ever reached Star Wars levels of popularity.
The Flash Gordon serials were a major inspiration for Lucas; the opening scroll is directly inspired by them. It also explains the atmosphere of the Star Wars galaxy and why planets tend to be single-biome.
RE: Fact #43 (Carrie Fisher Defended Flying Coach) – I’ve never heard the term “fly coach” before. Must be a US thing.
RE: Fact #20 (Mandalorian Fans Played Stormtrooper Extras) – The holy grail for this community is having a screen-used stormtrooper uniform. The ones they wore on set were modified by the fans to fit them personally. When they walked off set, they technically owned screen-worn armor. They didn’t even know what they were getting into when they were invited, they were just told to show up in costume. It was the surprise of a lifetime. If you have Disney+, you can see it in one of the episodes of the show about making The Mandalorian.
Realistically, that is the day you buy a mannequin, put it on display, and build yourself a new suit to wear. Were the 501st members actually paid? Extras usually get paid, right?
RE: Fact #5 (Oscar Isaac Chose Yavin Four) – That’s cool, but I’ve got to be that guy: Yavin 4 is a moon, not a planet. The gas giant is actually called Yavin, and that’s its fourth moon.
RE: Fact #26 (Han Solo Met Indiana Jones) – After fleeing an Imperial fleet, Han and Chewie make a blind jump into hyperspace and end up crash-landing on a strange planet. They get attacked by locals, and Han takes some fatal hits. Chewie sticks around, and 126 years later, Indiana Jones finds Han’s remains while looking for a legendary monster, realizing too late that the “Sasquatch” he’s tracking is actually Chewbacca.
Why would an archaeologist be hunting for Bigfoot? I get some light anthropology research, but actual monster hunting?
Probably for the same reason he was holding a grenade launcher at Nazis over the Ark. Or why he healed his dad with holy water, or got brainwashed by a guy who could rip beating hearts out of people’s chests. That’s just how archaeology works for him.
RE: Fact #29 (David Prowse Improvised Vader Lines) – It turns out Prowse had a heavy West Country accent, which is the complete opposite of scary, the crew nicknamed him ‘Darth Farmer.’ Also, he actually had a small, non-speaking role in A Clockwork Orange as the bodyguard.
RE: Fact #12 (George Lucas Chose Merchandising Rights) – That figure is revenue, not profit, and there are huge costs involved in designing, manufacturing, and marketing those toys. Still, he’s worth $5.6 billion, which is a fair bit more than what I’ve got in my bank account.
At least you have a solid grasp of the difference between revenue and gross profit, and that’s something.
RE: Fact #4 (James Earl Jones Refused Credit) – If you’ve never heard Darth Vader’s original voice, you should look it up. There’s also raw footage of the Imperial conference scene where you can hear Prowse’s actual lines, including his use of the word “Sith.”
As far as I know, Prowse didn’t realize he was going to be dubbed until the movie was released. He spent the whole shoot delivering lines, emoting, and making performance choices, so it’s easy to see why he’d be disappointed that none of it made the final cut. Fun fact: Peter Mayhew used to deliver lines on set just so Harrison Ford had something to react to.
It’s wild how a voice can turn a guy in a suit into the most iconic villain of the last century.
RE: Fact #44 (R2-D2 Finally Obeyed Anakin) – That’s because Anakin was his original owner, and he wasn’t about to just take orders from Luke.
RE: Fact #36 (Samuel Jackson Wanted Purple Lightsaber) – Lucas: What do I need to do to get you to sign on? Jackson: I want a purple lightsaber. Lucas: I can do that, but under one condition. Jackson: Oh yeah? Lucas: You have to make it through a full day without saying motherfucker. Jackson: Aw, muthaf, Lucas: Excuse me? Jackson: Yes sir.
RE: Fact #8 (George Lucas Praised MAD Parody) – This reminds me of all those musicians whose lawyers went after Weird Al, even though the artists themselves loved the parodies.
When Chris Hadfield posted his cover of Space Oddity that he filmed in space, David Bowie’s lawyers tried to take it down, even though Bowie himself had already given his permission and loved the cover.
Funny lawyers, trying to enforce Earth jurisdiction in space! Not happening.
I’m always glad when musicians embrace the Weird Al treatment. It’s iconic.
I believe Dave Grohl said he knew Nirvana had truly made it once Weird Al wanted to parody them.
RE: Fact #33 (Fans Paid For Phantom Trailer) – That’s a shame, because ‘Meet Joe Black’ is a genuinely good film featuring some top-tier actors.
Exactly! The irony of skipping a quality movie just to watch a trailer for a bad one is pretty funny.
RE: Fact #44 (R2-D2 Finally Obeyed Anakin) – Oh, that’s actually pretty sad. It makes sense, though, he didn’t want to lose his favorite master again.
Wasn’t R2-D2 secretly a Jedi sleeper agent all along? And what about Jar Jar being a Sith lord?
R2-D2 and Chewie were definitely the real brains of the Rebellion. This was originally written in 2005 by Keith Martin.
RE: Fact #26 (Han Solo Met Indiana Jones) – It’s not the crash landing that bugs me, but the timeline. If it happened only 126 years before our time, it really clashes with that ‘a long, long time ago’ opening. That’s not even a full century of human history, which feels way too short for a galaxy-spanning civilization. I should just relax, but it still bothers me.
RE: Fact #43 (Carrie Fisher Defended Flying Coach) – When asked in a Vanity Fair interview how she landed the role of Leia, she said: “I slept with some nerd. I hope it was George… I took too many drugs to remember.” Now that’s honest.
She was totally joking, though. She said that as part of a speech where she also deadpanned: “Hi, I’m Mrs. Han Solo and I’m an alcoholic, ” before roasting the director for “ruining her life.” She called George a sadist while the audience laughed, saying, “like any abused child wearing a metal bikini chained to a giant slug about to die, I keep coming back for more.”
RE: Fact #17 (James Earl Jones Recorded Quickly) – He still walked away with more than David Prowse. They really did him dirty. Now he isn’t even allowed at official events, which was his main source of income.
What happened? Why was he banned from events?
In 2010, they blacklisted him from all events because he wouldn’t stop badmouthing George Lucas.
He was understandably frustrated after A New Hope because they didn’t tell him they would be dubbing over his voice. During production, he actually delivered all the lines himself thinking he was the whole character. He started lashing out and trying to leak spoilers, which is why even the cast didn’t know about the Darth Vader father reveal until they were actually shooting the scene.
He is old now. If he has to rely solely on Lucasfilm events to make money, he probably has other life choices to blame for that.
It was a rough ride for him: Star Wars: They replaced his voice without telling him. Empire Strikes Back: They gave him fake lines to read during the big climax. Return of the Jedi: They shot the scene where Luke removes the mask using a different actor and didn’t bother telling Prowse. It feels like they only kept him around for his height.
RE: Fact #34 (Karl Urban Joined Every Franchise) – He’s definitely one of my favorite actors. I really wish his show ‘Almost Human’ had lasted longer.
It was such a shame that Fox canceled it. Sure, it was a bit of a standard buddy-cop show, but the chemistry between the leads was fantastic and the world-building was top-tier. Michael Ealy was excellent in it, and I’d love to see him in more stuff.
If I recall, they aired the episodes out of order, which messed up the pacing and made Urban’s attitude toward Ealy feel really inconsistent. I loved the show too, but I definitely remember feeling confused about his character’s development.
RE: Fact #6 (Bill Burr Mocked Star Wars) – The best part of his cameo was that it low-key implies Space Boston exists.
Earth is technically in the Star Wars canon, though they never name-drop it. There are also plenty of non-canon stories featuring Earth, like when Han and Chewie crash the Millennium Falcon here in the 1800s. Han gets fatally wounded by Native Americans and passes away on the ship. Chewie ends up living in the woods and kicks off the Bigfoot legend. A century later, Indiana Jones actually finds the Falcon with Chewie still roaming the forest.
That isn’t canon; that’s legends continuity. Even then, it was just an alternate reality side story, kind of like Red Son Superman. Star Wars takes place in a galaxy far, far away. There’s no real confirmation that Earth exists within that universe. The closest we’ve come is just species that are extragalactic.
Star Wars has hyperspace, so I’m pretty sure Earth was just destroyed for a space bypass. The plans were definitely on display.
Also, the E.T. species appears in the senate during the prequel trilogy, and E.T. recognizes a kid dressed as Yoda on Halloween. Which obviously means E.T. is a Jedi.
RE: Fact #40 (Frank Herbert Considered Suing Lucas) – “Star Wars is essentially an amalgamation of many things that came before.” Basically all art is an amalgamation of previous work. Originality is just about how you mix those influences together.
“Green is essentially an amalgamation of things that came before.” Sure, but one person painted a bush and the other painted a tree.
People forget that’s how art, technology, and culture all work.
RE: Fact #22 (George Lucas Kept Ancient Narration) – The original script had a different opening for Episode 4: “The Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars” And the “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” line started as: “…And in the time of greatest despair there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as: THE SON OF THE SUNS.” ―Journal of the Whills, 3:127
I wonder if this is a good brainstorming technique. Write a really flowery, fancy rough draft and then cut it down into something more digestible.
I have a copy of the annotated screenplays and it gets even crazier. The first treatment from 1973 was about “Mace Windy, a revered Jedi Bendu of Ophuchi.” The name “Mace Windy” was reused later, and “Bendu” showed up in Rebels, but Ophuchi never made it. The Whills are still part of the lore, just barely mentioned.
RE: Fact #23 (Jon Bon Jovi Sang R2-D2) – Including classics like: “Grandma Got Run Over by an AT-AT” “Frosty the Snow Mandalorian” And who could forget… “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Vader” by James Earl Jones himself.
RE: Fact #1 (Admiral Ackbar Was Called Ugly) – I always loved the look of Ackbar and Nien Numb. Sure, they were weird-looking, but that was basically the point of Star Wars, it had such an incredible amount of diversity.
They looked properly alien, which was a great thing. That’s what made the franchise feel like such a living, breathing universe, starting with that Cantina scene, where fish-eyed musicians played music while tripod-headed smugglers walked around. It made everything feel so unique.
RE: Fact #6 (Bill Burr Mocked Star Wars) – You’re making it sound like that was the specific reason he was cast, but that’s not really how it happened. It was just a point Jon Favreau brought up to help convince him. Burr said, “I ran into Jon [Favreau] somewhere, and he was like, Hey, I’m doing this Star Wars thing, would you wanna do something? And I was like, I kinda always made fun of it.” Burr was worried about how it would look for him to join a Star Wars project, but Favreau countered with, “I think that’d be funny.”
Thanks for clarifying. I thought the same thing, and I remember him mentioning something like that on his podcast.
I think he did a great job for his biggest acting role so far. They gave him a character similar to his stage persona, and it worked really well.
RE: Fact #15 (Alec Guinness Regretted Obi-Wan Role) – It’s interesting to compare his perspective during and after filming. While on set, he wrote about how much he disliked the “rubbish dialogue” and how he couldn’t make the character bearable, but that the money was helping him get by. After the film was out, though, he spoke about the “wonderful freshness” of it and how invigorating it felt compared to the grittiness of London. He just didn’t get what the whole project was while it was being made. This 4-minute interview from the Parkinson show is worth watching.
In fairness, nobody had a clue what Star Wars was while they were filming it. The story was constantly being overhauled, so the connections between scenes were shaky at best. Characters like Leia would shift accents, Han Solo didn’t even show up until halfway through, and others like Biggs would just pop in and out. The cast and crew were really skeptical, and the initial plans for a sequel were so messy they wanted to cut the budget and cast down to next to nothing. The film was basically saved by the editing team. George’s wife had to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it from scratch, it was so intense they were still making edits right up until the premiere.
I share this whenever the topic comes up because it is a fascinating look at how much changed during the post-production of A New Hope.
It was definitely a nightmare shoot for everyone involved. Even so, Guinness stayed calm and professional the whole time, which really helped keep everyone else focused and sane through the chaos.
That explains why George only took the merchandising rights when he pitched it. The studio thought it was going to flop, so they didn’t want to pay him a real salary or a percentage of the (supposedly) nonexistent profits.
Tom Hardy was the same way on the Fury Road set. He was constantly griping about how ridiculous everything seemed, but once he saw the final cut, he actually reached out to George Miller to apologize for being such a pain during production.
part of what makes Fury Road so great is that it leans into the absurdity.
Fury Road was shot in such a unique way. There wasn’t really a traditional script; it was almost entirely built from storyboards. Plus, the conditions were brutal. It was seriously hot.
RE: Fact #18 (Weird Al Predicted Phantom Menace) – I heard in an interview that Don McLean loves that Weird Al parody, has it memorized, and is actually worried he might accidentally start singing the parody version during his own concerts.
My, my, this here Anakin guy. Maybe Vader someday later, now he’s just a small fry.
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye, sayin’ “soon I’m gonna be a Jedi.”
I tour with a 90s tribute band and we occasionally play “Gangster’s Paradise.” I’m always terrified I’m going to accidentally switch into “Amish Paradise” mid-song. The struggle is real.
I have the same problem when I try to sing “Ridin’ Dirty” but start slipping into “White and Nerdy, ” or when I sing “Ebay” lyrics instead of “I Want It That Way.” Weird Al’s versions are just more fun to belt out.
RE: Fact #24 (George Lucas Trolled Jar Jar) – The real tragedy of Star Wars is that the fan backlash prevented us from ever seeing that rumored Darth Jar Jar arc unfold.
George always maintained that Jar Jar was designed for kids from the start. It would have been pretty strange to turn the designated comic relief character into the main villain. It’s a fun fan theory, but it was never the plan.
The whole thing was geared toward kids, though those Trade Federation dialogue scenes at the start definitely weren’t written for anyone.
RE: Fact #9 (Garrett Brown Faked Speeder Speed) – When the snowspeeder got crushed in The Empire Strikes Back, they used a heavy prop of an AT-AT foot and dropped it onto a model while speeding up the camera to make it look like a heavy mechanical impact. The model was crafted from lead foil and microscope glass so it would break realistically, but they only had the budget to make one. If the shot had failed, like if the foot had tipped over and shown it wasn’t attached to anything, they would have been out of luck because their only model would have been ruined.
RE: Fact #45 (Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye) – It could not have ended up with a lower budget than the Holiday Special.
I watched that once late at night while I had a terrible fever. That was quite the experience.
RE: Fact #14 (Peter Mayhew Chose Chewbacca’s Heroism) – I can’t help but imagine hearing those Wookie roars coming from behind the Darth Vader mask. Darth Bacca.
RE: Fact #1 (Admiral Ackbar Was Called Ugly) – The character really works because of that commanding, authoritative voice. If they had gone with something goofy, it just wouldn’t have landed. It also helped that the Mon Calamari ships had such a unique design. Plus, he has one of the most iconic lines from the original trilogy.
That’s for sure. My friends and I always quote his line, “All craft, prepare to jump into hyperspace on my mark!” whenever we need to head out from a party or a bar.
Actually, his best line is, “Our cruisers can’t repel firepower of that magnitude.” Honestly, that one has so much untapped meme potential.
RE: Fact #28 (Jim Swearingen Backed Star Wars) – Growing up in the same town as Kenner was great. My best friend’s uncle was a supervisor there, so we ended up with tons of free toys.
RE: Fact #31 (Boba Fett Copied Oswalt’s Pitch) – Patton didn’t even come up with that concept. It was already in the books and comics decades before that ‘Parks and Rec’ bit. Plus, what did everyone expect? He landed in a Sarlacc pit, obviously he had to crawl out if he was going to show up in more Boba Fett stories.
RE: Fact #4 (James Earl Jones Refused Credit) – It’s a combination of both. Prowse’s physical performance mixed with James Earl Jones’s voice is what makes Vader who he is. If you swap either one, you can tell immediately.
RE: Fact #37 (Mark Hamill Played Jake Skywalker) – From Luke Starkiller to ‘Jake Skywalker.’ “Jedis don’t give up.” That’s my main issue with it. Luke would never turn his back on the galaxy or refuse to help. It just doesn’t fit.
RE: Fact #7 (Star Wars Theme Matched Fanfare) – I had a vinyl copy of the Star Wars soundtrack back in 1978 where the 20th Century Fox fanfare was the first track. As a kid, I just assumed it was part of the Star Wars theme.
RE: Fact #13 (Peter Mayhew Became Chewbacca Consultant) – Rest in peace, Peter Mayhew. He used to visit several subreddits, including the Star Wars one. His last post was just, “hello, I hope you are well.”
I really miss seeing random comments from Peter Mayhew. He dropped little gems like this all the time.
RE: Fact #34 (Karl Urban Joined Every Franchise) – I met his dad once, he was so sweet! He had a shop, and my mom, sister, and I stopped by. He asked if we liked ‘Lord of the Rings, ‘ and when we said yes, he immediately started showing us these huge binders of photos, saying, ‘My son was in it!’ It turned out to be Karl Urban! We were totally shocked, but in New Zealand, it seems like everyone knows someone who was in those movies, even my horse was an extra!
RE: Fact #35 (Carrie Fisher Warned Daisy Ridley) – Maybe I was just naive as a kid, but I always felt that the golden bikini slave outfit actually served a purpose and made Leia a stronger character. She infiltrated a crime syndicate by intimidating a mob boss to save a friend and got caught. Jabba put her in that humiliating getup to objectify her, but the second she got a chance, she used the chain he enslaved her with to kill him. It made her seem like a total badass to me. Probably overthinking it though.
That’s exactly it. And really, her slave outfit was the same as all the other female slaves Jabba had.
The issue for Carrie probably wasn’t just the message the outfit sent within the movie, but the way it was exploited for decades afterward.
I still feel that way about the movie, but outside of it, she had to do all that promotional stuff in that outfit, which must have felt more like being a pin-up model than an actress. George Lucas wouldn’t let her wear underwear with it, and who knows how uncomfortable she felt on set. I’m sure it was all a blur of drugs back then.
RE: Fact #7 (Star Wars Theme Matched Fanfare) – It’s wild, I never realized how much of an impact the Fox fanfare had on the Star Wars theme experience.
As a music enthusiast, I really appreciate those small details. I noticed something was different when I watched Episode 7, though it took me two years to figure out why.
Plus, for years before Star Wars, the version of the Fox fanfare used in movies was super abridged; Lucas was responsible for bringing back the full-length version.
RE: Fact #5 (Oscar Isaac Chose Yavin Four) – I learned that Oscar Isaac is also a talented guitar player who portrayed a struggling folk singer in Inside Llewyn Davis. That performance, alongside his villainous turn in Ex Machina, really put him on the map. Then he joined The Force Awakens and hit a whole new level of fame. He even played Apocalypse in the X-Men films. Fun fact: He also snagged a cameo in The Force Awakens for the uncle who originally introduced him and his brother to Star Wars.
I’ve been friends with his brother for a while now, and they actually appear on screen together in the movie Operation Finale. We had a small watch party for the Force Awakens teaser at his uncle’s place with some close friends and family, and Oscar grabbed his guitar to play a few tracks from Llewyn Davis for us. It was honestly one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had. P.S. Oscar is a huge Halo fan, we used to play Halo 3 online together all the time back in the day.
That is easily my favorite movie. It doesn’t just capture the 60s folk scene perfectly; it’s a spot-on look at a musician who won’t compromise his art and pays the price for it. Plus, there’s a cat.
RE: Fact #41 (Baby Yoda Scared Adam Pally) – This feels like money laundering. Five million dollars for a doll? A dedicated fan could probably build a perfect replica for under a thousand.
Hollywood accounting, man. That figure has to be total nonsense. There is no way that puppet cost 5 million dollars unless they actually created a living Yoda.
RE: Fact #33 (Fans Paid For Phantom Trailer) – Bram Cohen didn’t create torrents until April 2001, and ‘The Phantom Menace’ came out in May 1999. High-speed internet was barely a thing then, and while the trailer was on platforms like Hotline, it was a pain. I sat through ‘Wing Commander’ just to see the trailer because downloading it over dial-up would have taken days.
‘Wing Commander’ is a blast if you watch it realizing the editor and you are the only ones in on the joke, while everyone else involved in the production is playing it totally straight. Viewed that way, it’s a hilarious unintentional comedy.
I was five, and I remember waiting all day for just a few seconds of that trailer. I replayed the clip of the AATs creeping over the hill thousands of times, catching just a tiny bit more detail with every watch, but the hype was just incredible.
I remember that trailer being one of the better-quality downloads back then. It used the Sorenson Video 1 codec, which was brand new. It wasn’t supported on Linux, which really annoyed a lot of us open-source fans. Honestly, the quality of that video for an internet download in 1999 was mind-blowing.