Skip to main content

20 Little Known Facts About Star Wars The Rough Drafts


George Lucas went through many drafts for Star Wars before coming up with the final version we know and love today. Here are 20 facts about the Star Wars rough drafts and preparation for filming you may not know.

1 - In George Lucas' rough draft of 1974, the first occurrence of "May The Force Be With You" was uttered by King Kayos of Aquilae. He actually says "May The Force Of Others Be With You All." In fact, the force was known as the force of others.

2 - Han Solo resembled a "swamp creature" again in the rough draft.

3 - Chewie was a nickname for Devil Two, a hot shot pilot, later changed to Wedge.

4 - The Death Star was originally referred to as just a space fortress.

5 - Skywalker decided to train Wookiees to fly ships to help destroy the flying fortress.

6 - In the second draft Han had changed to human. He was teamed up with Chewbacca and also in debt to an enormous fat character called Oxus.

7 - A pirate ship makes a jump to "hyper-skip" in the second draft.

8 - In the third draft, Ben explains to Luke about the force. It can be collected and transmitted through the use of a kiber crystal. Ben explains his was taken at the Battle of Condawn.

9 - It wasn't until the third draft that the term light sabre was used. Up until then it was laser sword.

10 - Han Solo built his own ship in draft three, which Jabba paid for.

11 - At one point, George Lucas had considered doing the whole movie in Japanese with English subtitles.

12 - Much work was done on the front part of the X-Wing's nose so it didn't look "obscene."

13 - In the original fourteen page treatment way back in 1973, the planet Yavin was a jungle planet for Wookiees.

14 - In the opening shot of the first rough draft, a ship orbits the fourth moon of Utapau in the Kessil system.

15 - Originally DaiNoga was a name for a Jedi in the first draft.

16 - In the second draft the story opens with a prophecy - "And in the time of greatest despair there shall come a saviour, and he shall be known as The Son Of The Suns" - Journal of the Whills 3:127.

17 - The evil (dark) side of the force was known as Bogan.

18 -Luke told Biggs about a young Padawan who ran away and taught the Bogan to Sith pirates. His name was Darklighter.

19 - In the second draft, Chewbacca was described as an eight foot tall, savage looking creature, resembling a huge grey bushbaby monkey with fierce "baboon-like" fangs.

20 - Han agrees to take Luke and the two robots to safety (Ogana Major) for a million credits. He, however, doesn't have a ship, so fakes a reactor leak on the ship he's serving on, causing the crew including Jabba to flee in terror.

Know of any facts I may have missed? Let me know in the comments below.

Can't get enough of these facts? Get the incredibly detailed book, The Making Of Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler here

The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Did Paul Freeman Accidentally Eat A Fly In Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The Famous Indiana Jones Fly In Belloq's Mouth Scene.  Did It Really Happen? I've always wondered if Paul Freeman unintentionally consumed a fly in this scene in  Raiders of the Lost Ark ?  It's the scene where Indiana Jones shouts down to Bellosh...I mean Belloq and threatens to blow up the ark.  Did a fly go in his mouth? I remember watching this scene back in the early eighties and my ten year old mind thought he definitely had a snack while filming.  I recall talking about 'flygate' in my school playground at the time and the general consensus with my friends was that Freeman definitely had a sneaky snack. Paul Freeman talks about the famous 'fly' scene in an interview with TheIndyExperience.com  and settled 'flygate:' This is a bit of a dicey question so don’t get too upset. (Laughs) A movie’s always got bloopers in it, some have a lot, and some only have three or four. And the most remarkable blooper was right before the opening of th

Star Wars VII Movie Poster - Every End Is A New Beginning

Star Wars VII Movie Poster Just saw this Star Wars VII movie poster on Kyle Newman's Facebook fee d.  The poster is by  Lyndon Berresford and Paul Bateman.  I am loving this.  Who do you think the two characters are?  Lando and Leia?  Han and Leia's children? Have you seen other Star Wars VII movie posters?  Let me know. Rob Wainfur @welshslider

Explaining That "Weird" Cut In Poltergeist. Read The Missing Scene

Why Is There A Strange Cut In The 1982 Horror Classic, Poltergeist? If you're a fan of the 1982 Horror classic, Poltergeist then you will be very familiar with that "weird" cut in the movie.  It's 32 minutes and 47 seconds in to the movie and the scene is where Diane is explaining the strange phenomenon that is happening in the kitchen.  First, she shows to Steve a chair scraping across the floor all on its own then she does the same with Carol Anne.  Steve leans up against the kitchen wall and is completely shocked at what just happened.  It's at this point Diane starts to explain the sensation of being pulled and then...A very abrupt cut.  One moment we are listening to Diane and suddenly it cuts to Diane and Steve at their next door neighbours door.  Why the sudden cut?  It's on the VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and even the streaming versions.  Why does this awful and weird cut exist in the movie, Poltergeist?  Watch the clip below to see the cut: Well, the ans