In early 1976 a small blurb appeared in the news section of Science Fiction Illustrated Magazine stating that film maker George Lucas was shooting some kind science fiction out in the valley north of Los Angeles. The project was way over budget and the executives at 20th Century Fox were getting scared and thinking about cutting their loses. It was the opinion of the reporter that the film would never be finished.
We all know that the unnamed project that George Lucas was wasting Fox's money on was Star Wars which by a shear miracle would end up becoming the top grossing movie of all-time and a pop culture phenomena the world had never seen.
By the winter of 1976 20th Century Fox had determined that they had sunk such a large amount of money into Star Wars that they literally had no choice but to go all-in on trying to promote the movie in hopes that it may actually break even. The first trailer for Star Wars hit theaters in December of 1976 and featured the best of the completed special effects shots. There were space ships, robots, monsters and lots of explosions.
There was some really interesting stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor.
Speaking recently as a guest on the Russo Brothers’ Instagram Live series, the Pizza Film School Hamill reflected on one of the earliest deleted scenes in Star Wars history. It would’ve seen Luke witness the Tantive IV and Devastator’s brief battle above Tatooine before heading on over to Tosche to get those power converters he loves whining about. There, Luke bumps into a few friends: Camie and Fixer, but also a returned Biggs Darklighter, who’s graduated from the Imperial Academy that Luke so desperately wants to flee to himself... but as Biggs confides to Luke, he’s got no plans of staying part of the Empire’s regime.
If you weren't around back in 1977 you probably missed the fact that the greatest Star Wars posters ever created were produced by the Coca-Cola company.
Yes my friends, Star Wars went all disco.
Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk is a disco album by Meco released in 1977. The album uses various musical themes from the Star Wars soundtrack arranged as instrumental disco music. A single from the album, "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band", reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 1, 1977, holding to that position for two weeks. The album was released on compact disc with two additional versions of the single.
Okay, I have just spent the morning practicing my best John Travolta moves from Saturday Night Fever to the sounds of Star Wars disco. I'm kinda hungry ... I would kill for a tuna sandwich!
You have to love Japanese TV adds.
There were toys, toys and more toys.
I honestly don't know how my parents managed not to go broke.
What was it like to be a Rebel pilot?
A day in the life of a princess.
“I wanted to do the role of Princess Leia because I wanted to have real conversations with people with bubbles on their heads,” Carrie explained, “I just wanted to be blasé about someone sitting across from me being a ‘small person’ or some strange looking person who was hired through the Ugly Agency. I love that there’s an agency in London called that. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to be casually sitting around with those people as if they didn’t have hair-dryer heads and things like that. I wanted to sit next to Wookies, which are tall, half-man, half-ape creatures, Jawas, which are tiny, shrouded creatures with glowing eyes, and all kinds of robots.
“The people in the restaurant wouldn’t react. I thought that was terrific. And we were in Borehamwood, which is the English version of Crazylady, Wyoming. If I saw someone who was seven foot two, like Peter Mayhew, who plays Chewbacca the Wookiee, with someone like me, who is really small, and all of the rest of the weird looking cast, I certainly would react. We looked like a Fellini congregation entering this little Chinese restaurant.”
Let the Wookie win.
(What was your favorite scene in Star Wars?) "Probably the chess match. I really didn't know how to play chess and since there weren't any pieces on the board anyway, I didn't feel very handicapped. I thought the final scene of the chess match as it was composited turned out really well. Well, at the very least, you should always let the Wookiee win." - Peter Mayhew
The Old Republic was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time. No need to note where it was or whence it came, only to know that… it was the Republic.
Once, under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the Jedi Knights, the Republic throve and grew. But as often happens when wealth and power pass beyond the admirable and attain the awesome, there appear those evil ones who have greed to match.
So it was with the Republic at its height. Like the greatest of trees, able to withstand any external attack, the Republic rotted from within though the danger was not visible from outside.
Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic.
Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears.
Having exterminated through treachery and deception the Jedi Knights, guardians of justice in the galaxy, the Imperial governors and bureaucrats prepared to institute a reign of terror among the disheartened worlds of the galaxy. Many used the imperial forces and the name of the increasingly isolated Emperor to further their own personal ambitions.
But a small number of systems rebelled at these new outrages. Declaring themselves opposed to the New Order they began the great battle to restore the Old Republic.
From the beginning they were vastly outnumbered by the systems held in thrall by the Emperor. In those first dark days it seemed certain the bright flame of resistance would be extinguished before it could cast the light of new truth across a galaxy of oppressed and beaten peoples…
From the First Saga
Journal of the Whills
“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes.”
Leia Organa of Alderaan, Senator
From the prologue of the Star Wars novelization - 1976/77
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