Star Wars Fun Facts You Should Know Now

The Star Wars films are the most studied, chronicled, and debated sci-fi franchise ever. Even 45 years later, there are still a lot of facts that even die-hard fans don’t know. Even if you’re thinking of Star Wars trivia Jedi Masters, there are still some new and mind-boggling facts. Here are some fun Star Wars facts you might not know.

Joseph Campbell’s Book Inspired The Original Star Wars Concept

Despite the fact that George Lucas was influenced by westerns, 1930s sci-fi serials, and fairy tales, the original Star Wars story was based on Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The book discussed accounts from around the world that had been passed down through the generations and followed common mythological characteristics. Atlantis is a great example from Greek mythology.

A hero travels from the mundane world into a realm of supernatural wonder, battling odd forces and triumphing in a decisive victory, according to Campbell’s book. After returning from this intriguing adventure, the hero gains the ability to bestow boons on his companions.These concepts were merely grafted onto Lucas’ story, which featured Luke as the protagonist.

The Initial Star Wars Movie Almost Caused A War

In Tunisia, Lucas discovered the appropriate location for the arid desert planet of Tatooine. However, he failed to recognize that even small-scale filmmaking might spark socio-political conflict. Libya, which dictator Muammar Gaddafi ruled, has a border with Tunisia.

Gaddafi threatened Tunisia’s administration, threatening war if the armored vehicles were not removed from the Libyan border. The military vehicle in question was a Jawa Sandcrawler. Since making a big issue out of it isn’t the ideal way to advertise a picture, Lucas opted to move the props.

Sir Alec Guinness Hated Star Wars

Sir Alec Guinness, the great actor, had a storied history of playing Shakespeare before signing on to play Obi-Wan Kenobi hated his role in the movie, according to multiple sources. Guinness whined in a letter to pals obtained by Mashable, “New trash language reaches me every other day on bits of pink paper, and none of it makes my persona clear or even palatable.”

Guinness recalls meeting a teenage fan who pleaded for an autograph and claimed to have seen Star Wars a hundred times in an instance described in his memoirs. On the condition that he never watches the film again, he agreed to sign the child’s autograph.

The New Hope Draft By George Lucas Was 200 Pages Long

Lucas made significant success with his film American Graffiti, which got nominated for five Academy Awards. He then gave Universal Studios and United Artists a 13-page screenplay of his story, titled “The Star Wars.” Both studios turned down the project, stating that the far-flung sci-fi spectacle was too complex.

Alan Ladd Jr., the head of 20th Century Fox, eventually picked up the script and offered Lucas the first agreement to make the film in 1974. On the other hand, Lucas’ “very final” screenplay grew to be over 200 pages long. At the time, the standard length for a script was 95-125 pages.

As a result, Lucas cut the final acts from the screenplay and presented the very first act as the finished plot. The screenplay was then expanded and stretched into The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, respectively, and the script became Star Wars.

NSYNC Was Featured In Attack Of The Clones

Lucas persuaded the boy band NSYNC members to make a brief guest appearance in the opening portion, Attack of the Clones, at a stop on the 2001 hour at the request of Lucas’ daughter. Other band members agreed to dress up as Jedi Knights, but Lance Bass and Justin Timberlake decided to make the most of the opportunity.

They fought droids and took part in real battles in the Battle of Climate Geonosis. According to Joey Fatone, the only instruction they had was to “pretend to be fighting a robot.” Their sequence was cut from the final cut of the movie.

Lucas Funded Empire Strikes Back

With Star Wars’ enormous popularity and the studio’s constant attempts to undermine it, Lucas funded the Empire’s counter-offensive with his own money. This was a first in blockbuster filmmaking. He chose to fund it on his own dime. After then, Lucas had complete creative control over the film, which was set to be released in theaters by major studios.

This procedure, on the other hand, had certain drawbacks. When Empire Strikes Back budget exceeded the original estimate by $ 10 million, Bank Of America’s entertainment section, which offered a loan to Lucas to pay the cost of the film, was also a relatively financially safe sequel. Despite the cancellation, it went on to become the all-time highest-grossing picture.

No One Knew About Darth Vader’s Big Reveal

Creator Leigh Brackett had Luke’s father appear to him in the form of a ghost, separate from Vader, in early drafts of the screenplay. Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan, however, omitted this in later drafts.

Lucas, Kershner, and producer Gary Kurtz were the first to realize that Darth Vader had become Luke’s father before the sequence was finished. Mark Hamill was notified of the best moments prior to the first take. To keep the events a surprise as long as possible, all scripts included a fake page with Vader’s speech claiming that Obi-Wan killed Luke’s father.

During takes, the actor who wore the Vader costume, David Prowse, even said, “Obi-Wan killed your father,” as Hamill acted out the scene with perfect recall of the original lines. The clues were then presented later, as actor James Earl Jones recorded Vader’s speech.

Empire Strikes Back Had Some Opening Credit Controversy

Lucas and the filmmakers decided to end the movie with the full Empire Strikes Back credits in order to maintain the original Star Wars logo with the opening prologue. The writers and directors however, tried to pull the film from theaters due to credit constraints.

The title of writer-director Lucas was at least mentioned at the start of Star Wars thanks to the Lucasfilm Ltd. title card, but the director and authors were pushed to the end credits for Empire Strikes Back. According to guild rules, they had to be at the start. This resulted in fines for Lucas and Kershner. Lucas, however, paid these fines in full.

After an attempt to derail the film by pulling it from theaters on a technicality, Lucas withdrew from the Motion Picture Association, the WGA, and DGA. To date, he hasn’t returned.

The Bike Chase Was Filmed Slowly

The one-mile bike chase between Luke, Leia, and many scout groups was filmed outside Eureka, California, at Redwood State Park. The professional camera operator wandered for hours through the woods to make the bike look like it was rushing, filming at three-quarters of a second. The film was then sped up to 24 frames per second to give it the look of a point-of-view shot.

There Won’t Be Any New Star Wars Movies Soon

Star Wars thrives on Disney+, with streaming episodes including Bad Batch and Boba Fett’s Books, but the future of this big-screen franchise is less certain. The most recent Star Wars film to be released in 2019 was The Rise of Skywalker. A new Star Wars film is unlikely to be released anytime soon.

Conclusion

These are just but a few fun facts of this incredible film. Consider watching it if you haven’t already.