Top 10 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About 'A New Hope'
Released on May 25th, 1977, Star Wars: A New Hope turns 45 years old this month and has had a lasting impact on cinema and culture. We know all this. From the opening crawl to the triumphant medal ceremony, it has been picked apart by many a movie nerd and Star Wars aficionados. Its special effects are legendary, and it introduced the world to a galaxy of adventure, heroes, villains, and many a strange monster, custom, and the ever-present Force.
10. The Adventures Of Luke Starkiller, Anyone?
A New Hope has always felt like a good fit for Episode IV in what would eventually be part of the original trilogy. It wasn’t always destined to be called that, however. When working on the second draft of the script, George Lucas had a different, longer and weirder title in mind. George certainly doesn’t do things by halves.
What was that title? It’s a mouthful – The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the “Journey of the Whills.” So much to unpack. Perhaps another time? I can’t imagine rooting for a guy called Luke Starkiller, but maybe variants out there in the multiverse love a character with that very name, while we got Luke Skywalker.
9. Brian De Palma Assisted With The Iconic Title Crawl Text
There is speculative thought that what makes Episodes IV to VI so good is that George Lucas collaborated with a collection of some of the most talented filmmakers in the industry who stood up to him and reined in his ego. That seems to have been the case with the opening moments of A New Hope.
Brian De Palma, whose filmography includes some of the best genre films ever like Carrie, Scarface, Carlito’s Way, Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables, and Casualties of War, to name a few, gave Lucas his filter-free judgment on the opening crawl text.
That succinct bit of text that helps set the scene and lend some context to what unfolds in the movie was once six paragraphs long, each with four sentences. De Palma reportedly called it “gibberish” and helped cull all unnecessary words and guff to produce the masterful introduction that made it into the final cut.
8. Hindsight Could Have Saved Disney $4 Billion
Star Wars is an unstoppable cash cow. One that most studios then and now would have loved to have had a stake in it right from the beginning.
However, that wasn’t always the case.
Some of the biggest studios passed on Star Wars, like how The Beatles were turned down by Decca Records for believing that “guitar bands are on the way out.” An error in judgement every movie studio and Decca Records will never live down.
United Artists was impressed by Lucas’s vision but didn’t want to provide the cash necessary. Universal believed it would be a commercial success but didn’t feel Lucas was the man for the job (he was at the time untested in big-budget ventures).
Most interestingly and hilariously of all, though, was the fact that Disney turned it down. That is why Lucas eventually pitched to Fox, and the rest is history. The sting in the tail, though, is that Disney eventually paid $4B for ownership of Star Wars in 2012. Ouch!
7. Peter Cushing Spent Just 5 Days On Set
Yep, that’s right. Five days is all the legendary Peter Cushing took to film his intense and masterful scenes as Moff Tarkin. While not a huge role, it shows just how easy it was for him to do what he did best. Given that he commanded £2,000 a day because he was Peter 'Flipping' Cushing, he made just under £15,000 for five days of work. Can you imagine anyone else playing Tarkin, really? Lucas and Fox were right to pay up.
6. Interesting/Innovative/Different Casting Ideas
George Lucas has always been celebrated for giving his all to Star Wars. Without him and his mad vision, we would not have known about a galaxy far, far away, space wizards, a villain who badly needs a lozenge or three, and the Force.
Thank you, George Lucas. But, also, thank you, George Lucas, for reining in that creative innovation somewhat.
During the casting stages of A New Hope, Lucas had considered several intriguing ideas, including
An all-Japanese cast featuring Toshiro Mifune, most famous for his performances in Akira Kurosawa’s epics. (This makes sense given the parallels and points of inspiration that can be drawn between Star Wars and Kurosawa’s work).
An all-Black cast.
And an all little-people cast (which Lucas has reportedly suggested was due to the influence of Lord of the Rings).
5. R2-D2 – The Talking Sassbot?
Who doesn’t love the bleeps and bloops R2-D2 utters throughout A New Hope and every other appearance he makes? It is incredibly clever how those noises are used to perfectly convey his emotions. Something that has been replicated repeatedly in other movies and franchises, even within Star Wars with BB-8.
However, the little astromech droid did not always make the bleep and the bloop. In fact, Lucas originally had dialogue where he unceremoniously chastised his nervous golden sidekick C-3P0.
Check out Bad Lip Reading’s hilarious Star Wars clips for an example of what R2-D2 might have sounded like with dialogue.
4. George Lucas Accepted A Lower Salary For Full Merchandising Rights
This is not really something many Star Wars fans don’t know, but George Lucas had the good sense and faith in his brainchild to make one of the smartest moves in the annals of Hollywood history. He accepted the lower salary for making Star Wars of just $150K. With one caveat – he would retain the full merchandising and sequel rights. To say he outfoxed Fox is putting it lightly.
Star Wars became a merchandising behemoth and one that paved the way for other movies and franchises. Without even going into the staggering $3billion that Star Wars merchandise makes every year nowadays, between just 1978 and 1979, it is estimated that Star Wars made Lucas a cool $100m in toy sales.
3. Chewbacca Was Inspired By An Alaskan Malamute
The lovable and relatable Wookie, Chewbacca, is one of the iconic characters with undecipherable dialogue. Did you know, though, that the rough-haired and loyal companion of Han Solo was inspired by man’s best friend? At Star Wars Celebration in 2017, George Lucas finally confirmed that inspiration for Chewie came from his dog Indiana, an Alaskan malamute. Apparently, the dog used to ride shotgun with Lucas in his car, not driving, obviously, and he loved that imagery, and from that came one of the greatest double acts in movie history.
2. Who Killed Obi-Wan Kenobi? Vader? No Marcia Did
Along with the cold authority that Tarkin exercised to test out the Death Star by destroying Alderaan, one of the biggest gut-wrenching moments of A New Hope came with the untimely demise of Obi-Wan Kenobi at the hands, or should I say the lightsaber of Darth Vader. Throughout the movie, we grow to love Obi-Wan’s mysterious demeanor and apparent affection for Luke. But did you know that it was not always going to be that way?
In fact, Lucas experienced ferocious writer’s block while figuring out the end of this chapter of the saga. His wife at the time, Marcia, an editing master in her own right, at first suggested that Threepio should be the one to meet his maker.
However, Lucas was firm in his vision to have droids at the start and end of the film. It was only then that Marcia suggested that Kenobi should be the catalyst for Luke’s hero’s journey.
1. Some Other Guy Nearly Played The Stuck-up, Half-Witted, Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herder
That’s right, Harrison Ford was not Lucas’ first choice for Solo. He wasn’t even allowed to audition. This is partly because Ford had played a minor role in American Graffiti in 1973, and Lucas intended to make Star Wars with a completely new roster of faces and names.
While still a carpenter at that point, Harrison being the salt of the earth guy he is, agreed to give Lucas help audition different actors for roles. Among those reported to have auditioned for the grumpiest and most reluctant hero in the galaxy includes James Caan, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Nick Nolte, Bill Murray, Christopher Walken (Amazing!?), Al Pacino, Robert Englund (nightmarish?), Kurt Russell (makes sense), and Sylvester Stallone (Leeeeeeeeeia, anyone?).
The story goes, though, that after hearing Harrison read so many of Solo’s lines, he changed his mind, and that’s why we are sometimes allowed nice things!
Well, there you have it…How many did you already know? What was your favorite? I hope you enjoyed reading the list as much as I did research and compiling it.
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Source(s): Star Wars, Nerdist, WhatCulture