32 Interesting Facts About Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
It is the biggest phenomenon in Hollywood and one of the most influential films of all time. Here you will find the complete history of Star Wars in a series of fascinating facts.
Star Wars is one of the biggest films in cinematic history, and its influence cannot be overstated and is still felt today. However, in the mid-70s, the process of making a film was not easy for George Lucas, and the production was plagued by many problems. In this article we will tell you about the creation of this biggest blockbuster, presenting 32 interesting facts.
1. Lucas had a hard time making this film.
In 1973, George Lucas directed the film American Graffiti, a coming-of-age drama set in 1950s America, to great success. With a budget of just $777,000,American Graffitigrossed $140 million. In terms of budget to box office receipts, it was more than twice as successful as Star Wars!
After this success, United Artists asked Lucas if he had any other ideas, and he told them about a “space opera, a little like a Western, a little like James Bond.”
By this point, Lucas had a 14-page script called Star Wars, and UA turned it down. Universal and Disney did the same. Paramount had a division called the Director's Company, owned by Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin and Peter Bogdanovich. Coppola gave the script to Friedkin, and Friedkin puts it this way: "Francis brought us the script, and I said, 'What the hell is this? Who's going to direct this?' Francis said, “George,” and I said, “I don’t think so.” I didn't believe George could handle it, and I was wrong."
Lucas then presented his idea to 20th Century Fox head Alan Ladd.Of this presentation, Ladd says: “I had no idea what George was talking about, but I knew he was talented, so I invested in him,”and greenlit the film with a budget of $8 million.
2. The deal that Lucas made with the studio turned out to be quite profitable.
Lucas agreed to receive $150,000 from Fox to write and direct the film (a small sum at the time) subject to two conditions:
- Lucas will receive full rights to any sequels to Star Wars.
- He received the rights to all products in the Star Wars universe (toys, books, video games, clothing, etc.).
Movie-related merchandise was very cheap at the time, so Fox agreed and they were quite happy with the deal. However, the deal has netted Lucas $6 billion since 1977, making him the richest film director of all time.
3. Another legendary film director had a big influence on me.
The opening shot of Star Wars, where a massive Star Destroyer attacks a Rebel ship and streaks across the top of the frame, is one of the most iconic in history. Lucas essentially borrowed this idea - to start the film in the middle of events in a strange world - from Akira Kurosawa, the famous Japanese director (Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Run).Lucas said:
“Kurosawa began his films in the mid-14th century in Japan and did not explain anything. He trusted his audience. I thought, “This doesn’t just work, it works great!” That’s where it all came from.”
Kurosawa also inspired the creators of Star Wars. In 1958, Kurosawa made a film calledThe Hidden Fortress. This is a story about the rescue of a princess, told from the perspective of two peasants who become involved in the story.Lucas replaced the peasants with droids and decided to start the story of Star Warsfrom their point of view.
What's more, the famous transition effects used in Star Wars to change scenes were also borrowed directly from Kurosawa's films.
4. Darth Vader could have been completely different.
Pat Roach auditioned for the role of Darth Vader, but of course, David Prowse's famous costume and James Earl Jones' famous booming voice were played by Lucas himself. Initially, however, Lucas considered Orson Welles as Vader's announcer. Feeling that Welles would be too recognizable, Lucas chose James Earl Jones. This greatly disappointed Prowse and he said:
“I was a victim of reverse racism. Because there were no black actors in the film, they were afraid of losing part of their audience."
On the Internet you can find videos of the opening scenes involving Vader and Leia, even before they were dubbed, so take a look:
5. The opening credits were written by one of Lucas' famous film director friends.
Before the release of Star Wars, Lucas arranged a screening of the film for his filmmaker friends, one of whom was Brian De Palma.
The version of Star Wars that Lucas showed had no opening credits, and audiences were immediately thrust into his alien world without any context. De Palma told Lucas that he had no idea what was going on and that Lucas needed a prologue to explain everything. Lucas agreed and wrote six long paragraphs of explanation. He showed them to De Palma, who said:
“George, you're crazy. This is nonsense and it goes on forever. Looks like it was painted on the driveway. Let me write it for you."
So De Palma took six paragraphs of Lucas' nonsensical jumble of words and rewrote them.Therefore, what we now see as the opening credits for Star Warswas written by Brian De Palma.
6. Before the advent of computer graphics, creating opening credits was not easy.
In more modern Star Wars filmsthe opening credits are created using digital effects, but in 1977 it was a physical creation. They had a huge, six-foot sheet of black paper with yellow text pasted on it. They moved the camera over the paper and filmed in such a way that it seemed as if the words were being removed.
7. Brian De Palma's contributions didn't end there.
Talking about the casting for the film, Lukes said: “Star Wars casting took a whole year, auditions were every 5 minutes,”and he did what he called “mass auditions.” At the time, Brian De Palma was auditioning for a role in the film Carrie (1976), so they joined forces and held auditions together.
8. R2 and 3PO didn't get along.
The droids R2-D2 and C-3PO were inspired by the three robots from the film Silent Running (1972), and it is now well known that Kenny Baker (the man inside R2) and Anthony Daniels (3PO) did not get along then or since.
Daniels reportedly called Baker “baby” (Baker was 112 centimeters tall), and when Baker was invited to a Star Wars convention as a guest of honor in the early 1980s, he said:
“Depends on the circumstances. If His Lordship - the one with the golden balls - goes, then I don’t believe in resignation.”
9. Peter Cushing did not immediately receive the script.
Legendary Hammer Horror actor Peter Cushing plays the fearsome Grand Moff Tarkin in the film, but Lucas originally considered Cushing for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi. And when Lucas offered him the role of Tarkin, Cushing said: “What is a Grand Moff?”Sounds like something that came out of the closet."Lucas said he hired Peter Cushing because: "I feel like he will be remembered fondly for the next 350 years."
Cushing did not find the Imperial uniform very comfortable, and in scenes where he appeared in medium or close-up, he preferred to wear fluffy slippers instead of long black boots.
10. During filming, Lucas had to deal with one problem after another.
Given all the problems Lucas had to deal with during production, it's surprising that Star Wars was even released, let alone became such a big hit. Here are some of the problems Lucas had to contend with:
- The scenes on Tatooine in the first act of the film were filmed in Tunisia. On the first day of filming, Tunisia experienced its first heavy rainfall in fifty years, causing a delay.
- There were serious problems with some technical aspects, mainly with setting up the R2 robot to behave and move correctly. This also led to delays.
- The final scenes were filmed at Elstree Studios in England. Elstree had strict working hours and Lucas was not allowed to film after 5:00 p.m. This again led to delays.
- The film was made on a smaller budget than planned, and the creators ran out of money. Production was halted for 2 weeks until Fox approved an additional $3 million.
- This whole situation worsened Lucas' condition. He was diagnosed with hypertension and exhaustion and was advised to reduce his stress levels.
At this point, there were about 6 weeks left in the filming schedule, but Alan Ladd, under pressure from the studio's board of directors, told Lucas that he had to complete production within one week.Lucas replied that it was impossible, and Ladd said: “Either you do it, or we stop production.”So the crew was divided into three parts, and the race began to finish the work on time, which they succeeded.
11. Lucas was not a director who knew how to work with actors.
Perhaps because of the stress he was under, or perhaps because he is a self-described introvert, the main actors ofStar Warsdon't have much praise for Lucas when they talk about working with him. Mark Hamill said: “If there was a way to make movies without actors, George would have done it.”And the general consensus among the actors was that they thought Lucas was a very taciturn director. His instructions usually came down to one of two things: either fasteror more intense.
At some point during filming, Lucas lost his voice, and the crew gave him two boards as a gift. One said “faster”, the other said “intensified.”
12. The role of Luke could be played by Freddy Krueger.
Lucas knew from the very beginning that he wanted an unknown actor to play Luke, and there were several other names - unknown at the time - who auditioned.
William Katt (whom Brian De Palma had cast in Carrie) was one of the contenders. Lucas also considered Charles Martin Smith. They worked together on the filmAmerican Graffiti, and Martin Smith is best known for his role as Oscar Wallace, an accountant inThe Untouchables (1987).
Robert Englund also auditioned for the role of Luke. He rose to fame in the '80s by playing the iconic horror movie villain Freddy Krueger. After the audition, Englund complained to his friends about how poorly he had done, but told one of them, also an actor: “Actually, I think you’d be great for the role.”That friend was Mark Hamill. Hamill auditioned and the rest, as they say, is history.
13.Many famous actresses also auditioned for the role of Leia.
As with Luke, casting the role of Princess Leia was a massive process. Thousands of actresses auditioned, many of whom later became famous:
Karen Allen, Nancy Allen, Kim Basinger, Bonnie Bedelia, Glenn Close, Geena Davis, Farrah Fawcett, Melanie Griffith, Barbara Hershey, Anjelica Huston, Margot Kidder, Jessica Lange, Jane Seymour, Cybill Shepherd, Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Kathleen Turner, Sigourney Weaver, Dianne Wiest, Linda Blair and Debra Winger all auditioned for the role of Princess Leia.
And another very famous actress turned down this role - Jodie Foster wanted to play her, but was already working on two other films.
When Carrie Fisher auditioned, Lucas said that he liked her immediately because when she walked in, she was asked: ““Are you Debbie Reynolds’ daughter?” and she replied: ““No, Debbie Reynolds is my mother.” (Debbie Reynolds was a Hollywood star in the 1950s and starred in the film Singin' Along rain"in 1952).
14. Nobody believed that the film would be a hit.
Mark Hamill said he didn't expect the success ofStar Wars. He tells the story of Christmas 1976, when he and Carrie Fisher spent the weekend in New York. They went to see a movie and one of the trailers was forStar Wars. At the time, no one knew what the movie was, and when the trailer ended, someone shouted: ““Coming soon to CBS!”
15. Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford had an affair during filming.
Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, who was married at the time, had a three-month affair during the filming of the film - she was 19, he was 33, and they had two children.
Fisher's thoughts on this topic were published many years later in her memoirs, The Princess Diary. This memoir includes a poem she wrote about Ford and the end of their relationship when she was 19 years old. It says:
The compromise I made was not easy for me.The choice
was between you and me, and I chose you.
Even though you were no joker, you spoke in ironic, ironic riddles.
I could give you so much, but you needed so little.
I thought you could give me a little tenderness that I lacked
but of all that I offered, you took spirit.
And now I want it back.
16. Fisher and Lucas had a disagreement over Leia's hairstyle and outfit.
Princess Leia has a very famous hairstyle, but Carrie Fisher didn't like it and teased Lucas on set by calling her hair "Navarones Buns". She said: “I don’t know why, but George wouldn’t like it very much when I said that. Of course, this only made me repeat it more often.”
Fischer also didn't really like her costume because Lucas wouldn't let her wear underwear. (Which is quite strange).
Fisher joked: “As we all know, there are no underwear in space,”and added that Lucas explained it to her this way: “In space, you become weightless... But then your body expands. But your bra doesn’t, so your own bra is suffocating you.”
In her memoirs, Fisher wrote:“I want my obituary to say that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.”When she sadly passed away in 2016, some online publications reported Carrie Fisher's death with this headline.
17. Han Solo could have become completely different.
Lucas has said that he based the character of Han Solo on his film director friend Francis Ford Coppola, and he originally planned for a black actor to play Han Solo. Billy Dee Williams (who later played Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back) auditioned, and Lucas chose Glynn Turman, best known for his role in Coolie High (1975).Then Lucas changed his mind and decided to cast a white actor.
At these new auditions there were again many candidates for the role of Khan:
Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, Christopher Walken, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, Chevy Chase (!) and James Woods were considered.
James Caan, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Burt Reynolds turned down the role. Pacino said: “She was mine, but I didn’t understand the script.”
Harrison Ford had already worked with Lucas before, in the film American Graffiti, and a year later starred in Coppola's film The Conversation (1974), but after that the roles began to appear less frequently, and Ford, having a young family, took an honest job as a carpenter.
However, due to their previous connections, Lucas asked Ford to help audition for the roles of Luke and Leia, as well as read for the role of Han Solo. During these auditions, Lucas realized that Ford was perfect for the role of Han Solo.
18. The inspiration for Chewbacca came from an unusual but familiar place.
Han's companion and co-pilot is his faithful Wookiee, Chewbacca. For the character's appearance, Lucas was inspired by his dog. His dog's name was Indiana, hence the name Indiana Jones.
When studio executives first saw the footage, they were concerned that Chewbacca was naked. They told Lucas: ““We’re not sure he’ll walk around naked all the time. Maybe he'll wear Bermuda shorts?
Lucas discouraged them by saying: ““It's okay. Chewie doesn't have a penis,"which, oddly enough, reassured the studio.
19. Alec Guinness was not Lucas' first choice for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Lucas knew that Obi-Wan needed to bring a certain gravitas to the film, so he always wanted a famous actor to play him. Inspired by Kurosawa, he considered inviting Toshiro Mifune (who starred in 16 of Kurosawa's films).According to Mifune's daughter, he turned down the role because, as she put it:
“He was worried about how the film would look and how it would devalue the image of the samurai... At that time, science fiction films still seemed quite cheap because the special effects were not very advanced, and he had a lot of pride in the samurai.”
Undeterred, Lucas turned to England—and veteran master Alec Guinness—to play Obi-Wan. Before Star Wars, Guinness won an Oscar for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)and was nominated for 4 more awards, and also starred in other classic films such asThe Man in the White Suit (1951),The Ladykillers (1955),Lawrence of Arabia (1962)andDoctor Zhivago (1965).
Guinness agreed to play the role of Obi-Wan for two reasons:
1. He was a big fan of Lucas's previous film,American Graffiti.
2. He read the script and said that although he didn't like the dialogue, he thought the plot was brilliant and couldn't stop reading it until the end.
However, the respected actor had one condition - he would not participate in the film's advertising campaign. The studio agreed on the condition that they reduce Guinness's fee slightly and instead pay him 2% of the film's profits, which he reluctantly agreed to. On top of this, Lucas gave Guinness another 0.25% as a thank you for improving some of the film's dialogue. This 2.25% ultimately amounted to $18 million.
20. It made him a lot of money, but Alec Guinness hated Star Wars!
Guinness was a true professional on set, but unknown to anyone, during production he sent letters to his friend Anna Kaufman, criticizing the film and everything connected with it. Below is an excerpt:
“Dear Anna,
I was offered a new film. It's sci-fi, which I'm a little confused about, but it's going to be directed by Paul Lucas, who directed American Graffiti, which makes me think I should star.A big role, fabulous nonsense, but it could be interesting.”
Then, later, he wrote:
“Every day I receive new, meaningless dialogue, and none of it makes my character understandable or even tolerable. I just think about great bread and it keeps me going. Now it's time for me to go to the studio to work with the dwarf (who has to wash himself in a bidet) and your compatriots Mark Hamill and Tennyson Ford, a tall, languid young man who is probably smart and funny. God, they make me feel ninety."
There is another famous story told by Guinness in his memoirs, where he said:
“In 1979, a twelve-year-old boy with a sweet face told me that he had seen Star Wars more than a hundred times. Looking into his eyes, I noticed the incipient madness in them and said:
“I would really like you to do something for me.”
“Anything, sir, anything!” — the boy answered.
“ Could you promise me that I will never watch Star Wars again?
He burst into tears. His mother said, “What a terrible thing to say to a child!” - and took the poor fellow away. She may have been right, but I just hope this guy, now in his thirties, doesn't live in a fantasy world filled with borrowed, childish platitudes."
21. Lucas was inspired by one of his favorite TV shows from his childhood.
The original inspiration for Star Wars was the Flash Gordon television series that Lucas watched as a child. Moreover, he tried to buy the rights to Flash Gordon from Francis Ford Coppola in order to make a film based on them.Lucas said:
“I especially liked the Flash Gordon series... Of course, I understood how crude and poorly made they were, but having loved them so much, despite their terribleness, I began to wonder what would happen if they were done really well.” (I think we know the answer now).
Also, for the design of the prologue (the yellow text that scrolls up the screen and goes into the distance), Lucas borrowed it from the old Flash Gordon television series that he watched before, which began in the same way.
22. Lucas drew inspiration from many other sources.
Lucas and Coppola couldn't afford the rights to Flash Gordon, so Lucas decided to come up with his own version, drawing on a variety of fictional and real-life sources:
1. The film was inspired by a true story. The empire originated from the Ancient Roman Empire.
2. The X-Wing and TIE Fighter battles are based on World War II films such asThe Battle of Britain (1969)andThe Dam Busters (1955). The Imperial uniform was based on that of the Nazi SS.
3. Lucas borrowed elements from real religions. “May the Force be with you” is a Catholic saying“May peace be with you.” When asked about the origin of the Force, Mark Hamill replied: “They are, in fact, the best examples of religion.”
4. Lucas borrowed elements from science fiction and fantasy novels. From Frank Herbert's Dune he took things like "The Moisture Farmers" and "The Spice Mines." Frank Herbert said this: “When David Lynch came to direct Dune, he was embarrassed that Star Wars used so many of my ideas. We identified 16 borrowings and calculated that the probability of this being a coincidence was greater than the number of stars in the Universe.”
5. Other science fiction films. R2-D2 was inspired by the robots from Silent Running, and C-3PO was inspired by Maria, the robot from Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1927).And the spaceships and the way they were filmed were inspired by Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
23. Lucas's first drafts were very different from what eventually appeared on screen.
There were some dramatic changes to Lucas' original drafts. Here are some of the main ones:
1. Lucas's first draft of the script was not called "Star Wars" but "The Whill Diary".
2. The first sentence of this draft was:“The story of Mace Windu, revered Bendu Jedi Opuchi, relative of Usby C.J. Tape, Padawan apprentice to the famous Jedi.”The first person to read this draft was Jeff Berg, Lucas's agent. Berg left only one comment: “I don’t know what that means.”
3. After being told it was too confusing, Lucas changed the title fromThe Diary of the WhillstoThe Diary of the Whills, Saga I: A Star Wars.
4. At one point, all the main characters were robots. At another moment they were all dwarves.
5. Luke's original name was Luke Starkiller. At various stages he was a 60-year-old general and a woman.
6. And Han Solo was originally not a man, but a huge green-skinned monster without a nose or gills.
24. Lucas originally planned not to use John Williams' music.
Originally, Lucas planned to follow the example of Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey and use classical tunes rather than original music to give the film grandeur.
Lucas mentioned this to Steven Spielberg, who said: ““You're making a very original film, you need an original score for it.” Spielberg had recently worked with John Williams on the film Jaws (for which Williams won an Oscar) and introduced him to Lucas.
Williams proposed the idea of a classic 19th century Romantic style with the repeated use of leitmotifs (a leitmotif is a recurring musical theme in a film). He also took inspiration from classical works.Gustav Holst and Stravinsky were two of them, but for the main theme ofStar WarsWilliams borrowed the melody from the 1942 filmKing's Row, which was scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Listen to it below and try to hear Star Wars:
Lucas also wanted the theme song to fit perfectly with Fox's 20th century fanfare, so Williams composed something appropriate and in the same key.
25. And it’s good that he did it!
For his work on Star Wars John Williams received his third Oscar. Today, the American Film Institute (AFI) considers the score for Star Warsto be the greatest in film history, ahead ofGone with the Wind (1939), Lawrence of Arabia, Psycho (1960)andThe Godfather (1972). Williams also ranks 6th on this list with theJaws score.
In addition, the Star Wars soundtrack entered the top 20 on the US Billboard chart. This has never happened before, and to this day it is the best-selling film soundtrack of all time.
George Lucas Shimselof said of Williams' music: "Hearing Johnny play this music for the first time was an incredibly exciting experience that words cannot describe."
26. Lucas didn't get along with his co-star.
The director of photography for Star Wars was the experienced Gilbert Taylor, who worked on Kubrick's A Hard Day (1964) and Dr. Strangelove (1964). They disagreed on many issues, including:
1. Lucas gave advice on lighting scenes, which Taylor didn't like.
2. One of the reasons Lucas hired Taylor was that he wantedStar Warsto have a documentary feel, and withDr. StrangeloveandA Hard Day and a Nighthe believed Taylor could deliver that. Taylor didn't like this idea.
3.Producer Gary Kurtz attempted to replace Taylor mid-production with a cinematographer named Harry Waxman (The Wicker Man, 1973). However, the crew made it clear that if Taylor left, so would they.
4. 20th Century Fox settled the dispute by essentially backing Taylor over Lucas. Thus, the way Star Wars was filmed largely depends on Taylor.
Gilbert Taylor passed away in 2013, but he said the following about his participation in Star Wars:
“I hated almost every second I spent on set. George avoided any contact with me from day one, so I read the very long script many times and made my own decisions about how to shoot it. I experimented with photographing lightsabers and other things... and I'd say I got pretty good at it."
As a quick note to bring things full circle, Gilbert Taylor directed Flash Gordon, the film Lucas originally wanted to make, in 1980.
27. George Lucas' wife at the time“saved Star Wars.”
Marcia Lucas was George Lucas' wife at the time and, often called ""the person who saved Star Wars," was involved in editing the film.
The first editor of Star Wars was John Jimpson, who had previously edited Zulu (1964), A Hard Day and Mad (1972). He had a ton of experience, but his first job onStar Warswas, in Lucas's words,"a complete disaster.".
In the original version of the film, the opening space battle scene constantly switches to Luke and his friends on Tatooine. You can watch snippets of the first version online below, and as you'll see, the pace of the story is not as fast as the final version.
Lucas was devastated when he saw the cut. He understood that everything was bad and did not know how to fix it. Marcia Lucas says this: “George had his face in his hands and I said, ‘Yeah, this is a mess, but it could make a great movie.He can be saved.’”
So Lucas fired Jimspon and asked Marcia to do it for him. She brought in Richard Chu and Paul Hirsch (they had recently edited The Conversation and Carrie). They removed all unnecessary exposition (such as scenes with Luke) and re-edited the film so that the pacing was dictated by the cuts rather than the actors. According to Marcia: “We sped up the pace and made it more dynamic.”
Marcia and George divorced in 1982, and she still talks quite modestly about working on the film:
“George knew something was wrong, and I told him how to fix it. Here it is in a nutshell. And when the movie came out, it was a lot of fun. I'm very, very proud to have worked on Star Wars."
28. The conceptual artist and sound designer also played an important role.
Ralph McQuarrie was the film's conceptual artist and, among other things, designed the following works:
- Darth Vader.
- Stormtroopers.
- Two droids - R2-D2 and C-3PO.
- Chewbacca.
- X-Wing fighters, TIE fighters, Star Destroyers.
- Death Star.
- Lightsabers.
When Lucas first presented the Star Wars script to Alan Ladd at 20th Century Fox, he included concept art from Ralph McQuarrie to help visualize the idea. Alan Ladd said: “Without those drawings, the script would never have passed muster.”So McQuarrie’s importance to Star Wars is enormous.
The sound designer was Ben Burtt, and he created almost all of the now iconic sound effects in Star Wars.So this included:
- Blasters.
- Breath of Darth Vader.
- Sounds of R2 signals and whistles.
- Chewy's growl.
- Lightsabers.
- The scream that TIE fighters make as they fly past the camera.
Burtt won his first of four Oscars for Star Wars. He also won awards forIndiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981),E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)andIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
29. Cinemas (at first) did not want to show this film.
When 20th Century Fox tried to distribute the film, only 32 theaters in the United States agreed to show it. So Fox said that any theater that refused to show Star Warswould not get the rights to show The Other Side of Midnight, the World War II romance they were about to release. As a result, The Other Side of Midnight took about 5% of the grosses ofStar Wars.
By the end of the summer, Star Wars was shown in 1,098 theaters across the United States, which was an astronomical figure at the time. By comparison, Jaws significantly surpassed this record in 1975, when the film was shown in 400 theaters.
30. It was a huge success (obviously).
With a budget of $11 million, Star Wars collected $530 million in its first weekend, overtaking Jaws to become the absolute box office leader. To date, their total grosses are $792 million.
It is still the second most watched movie of all time. Star Wars sold 178 million tickets, second only to Gone with the Wind, which sold 202 million tickets in 1939.To put the scale of this figure into perspective, it's worth noting that Avengers: Endgame (now the highest-grossing film of all time), released in 2019, sold 93 million tickets.
Around the same time that Star Wars was released, Francis Ford Coppola was in the Philippine jungle looking for money to complete his war epic Apocalypse Now (1979). He jokingly sent a telegram to Lucas' hotel asking for financing.
31. The pre-selection test gave a glimpse of what was to come.
We previously mentioned the test screening of Star Wars, where Lucas showed the film to several filmmaker friends, as well as executives at 20th Century Fox.
Steven Spielberg knows a lot about hits and told Lucas: “This will be the highest-grossing film of all time.” . Alan Ladd was delighted and told Lucas: ““I finally understand what you’ve been talking about for the last 5 years.” . And a Fox executive named Gareth Wigan was so blown away byStar Warsthat he burst into tears during the screening and told Lucas:“This is the best movie I've ever seen.”When Wigan returned home, he gathered his family around the kitchen table and said:“I want you to remember this day, because I just experienced one of the most wonderful events of my life.”
32. Star Wars changed more than just the film industry.
As we mentioned at the beginning, Lucas struck a deal with Fox that gave him full rights to sell Star Wars merchandise. Movie merchandise sales were something of a small thing at the time, but Star Wars changed everything, especially with the line of Kenner action figures released after the movie. Another statistic: TheStar Warsmovies have grossed about $10 billion to date.If you add all the goods, the total amount will be about 40 billion dollars.
Starting with Star Wars, blockbusters are followed by the release of action figure series, and following Star Wars, iconic series such as Masters of the Universe, Transformers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all rise to Star Wars.
So, there you have it - the history of the creation of Star Wars in the form of interesting facts