Beyond crazy creatures, careening spacecraft and larger-than-life characters, the "Star Wars" saga does not just exist on the screen. It thrives on the tale of George Lucas' own life which began long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away - Modesto, Calif., to be exact.
 | George Lucas |
Debuting with the brooding "THX 1138," Lucas then made the coming-of-age comedy "American Graffitti." Earning $120 million and much critical acclaim in 1972, "Graffitti" opened the door for Lucas to go ahead with his next project, something called "The Star Wars." The only problem, reported The New Yorker, was that Universal wanted Lucas to make another comedy, prompting him to set up at fledgling 20th Century Fox. Lucas granted the magazine an extensive interview for its Jan. 6 issue this year.
Using Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces," "Flash Gordon," "Buck Rogers" and TV westerns as his inspirations, Lucas made his first attempt at writing the sprawling, mythological fable essentially about redemption. According to The New Yorker, the screenwriting lasted for 15 months and produced the equivalent of 12 hours of screen time.
On his second draft, Lucas divided the original screenplay in half, the second of which became the original trilogy.
Most executives and Hollywood insiders who read the script found the dialogue shoddy and the plot too visually driven, concluding that the film would be a flop. The New Yorker reported that a friend named Steven Spielberg protested, "No, that movie is going to make $100 million!"
With executive Alan Ladd Jr.'s permission to make an arc of three films, Lucas was given a budget of $10.5 million, which he thought excessive since he expected that the first film would make only about $35 million. ("Star Wars" eventually grossed around $325 million worldwide.)
With vivid images and new technology, Lucas set off on the casting of the first film, an ordeal that rivaled the fabled "Gone With The Wind" Scarlett search.
Lucas and casting director Diane Crittenden considered many talented young actors and actresses for the three lead roles which would become star-making performances.
Passing on too-plain Amy Irving as Princess Leia, too-strange Christopher Walken and too-"individual" John Travolta as Han Solo and too-old Nick Nolte as Luke Skywalker. Lucas cast unknown Mark Hamill as Luke, erstwhile carpenter Harrison Ford as dashing Han Solo and sassy Debbie Reynolds offspring Carrie Fisher as spunky Princess Leia, this month's Details magazine reported.
Landing living legend Sir Alec Guiness to play the pivotal role of wise old Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Star Wars" was set for production in March 1976. Alternately shooting in the deserts of Tunisia and on soundstages in London, Lucas faced unforgiving weather, disrespectful British crews and the tribulations of creating another world from only scattered images and sketches.
Basing Wookie Chewbacca on his wife's malamute and droid C-3PO on Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," Lucas succeeded at bringing most of his visions to life, relying heavily on the use of models, puppets and prototypical blue-screen technology.
Plagued by technological limitations, Hamill's severe automobile accident, extensive re-shoots and the trouble with Fisher's too-large chest, "Star Wars" was released originally on 32 screens on a Wednesday and expanded to more than 1,000 on the following Friday.
Met with unbridled enthusiasm and box office lines stretching for miles, George Lucas' "60 out of 100 percent" vision of "Star Wars" went on to become the greatest force in pop culture of the past 20 years, creating the largest multi-media marketing empire in history, winning three Academy Awards and becoming a film industry milestone.
The film was reserved as a film of "historical, cultural and aesthetic significance" by an act of Congress in 1989. But the power of the "Star Wars" trilogy still resonates today - action figures, books, CD-ROMs, videocassettes and even entire episodes of "Friends" feature the eternal influence of Lucas' vision.
Nowhere is Lucas' vision better represented than in the "100-percent" restoration of the trilogy to be released in the coming weeks and in the plans for the "Star Wars" of the future.
The second "Star Wars" trilogy, for which Lucas is presently finishing the screenplays and reportedly considering such diverse talents as Kenneth Branagh, Samuel L. Jackson and Minnie Driver, is slated for release in 1999, 2001 and 2003. It will concern the rise and fall of Luke's father and his relationships with Jedi master Yoda and a galactic queen.
As the subject of a Smithsonian exhibit this fall and undoubtedly incessant media hype, the "Star Wars" saga, both onscreen and off, will likely continue well into the next century.