51

Please dispel (or confirm, but I doubt) this thing I keep hearing about Star Wars. I heard that all 6 Star Wars movies had been written many years before their filming, even before the first movie came out. This is something that came to me over the years in bits and pieces. I remember some basic elements, namely:

  • That the movies started with episode IV because at the time (1977), filming an all city planet like Coruscant was technologically impossible.
  • That the original character that became JarJar Binks was actually an engineer/inventor of sorts, and smart.
Improve this question
12
  • 10
    I have nothing to back this up, but from the anecdotes I've heard over the years, he had the very broad strokes for 9 movies laid out, but 1 2 and 3 weren't actually written until well after 4, 5 and 6 were filmed
    – Jonny Blaze
    Jan 18, 2011 at 23:11
  • 3
    @neilfein: Disproving a false rumour is not material for a good question?
    – MPelletier
    Jan 19, 2011 at 0:14
  • 2
    @MPelletier - A question like this is an invitation to share other rumors, speculate, and in general engage in chit-chat.
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Jan 19, 2011 at 0:23
  • 2
    @neilfein - If the premise of scifi.SE is to refuse all "is this true?" or "where does X come from?" questions, then I believe I will wish it a swift death. Many of the questions are very argumentative, like "what is the best X?" I'm disappointed.
    – MPelletier
    Jan 19, 2011 at 0:34
  • 13
    @neilfein if people post rumors as answers, those answers should be flagged, not the rumors. The question is interesting and on-topic, no need to vote for a close.
    – Samuel Herzog
    Jan 19, 2011 at 4:40

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
42

According to The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas wrote out a guide that eventually became the original trilogy, but after submitting it to Fox, they said cut it down to the size of one movie, which became A New Hope.

Before The Empire Strikes Back, there was at least some sort of guide, or at least thoughts in Lucas' head, but the script went under a huge number of changes between the original Brackett script.

As for why Empire was numbered 5, the same book says that it was originally titled Star Wars II; the five was added later after Lucas decided he wanted to explore Vader's past. The reason it was the first numbered movie was because Lucas didn't have the idea for a prequel trilogy until Empire was written.

Improve this answer
39

The original theatrical release in 1977 did not have a number. The "Episode IV: A New Hope" in the scroll text was not added until the 1981 re-release, a year after Empire came out.

The Empire Strikes Back did have "Episode V" in the scroll text of its original theatrical release.

According to a May 1978 article in Time Lucas had begun planning ten sequels. Quotes and comments over the years indicate that he had notes and ideas for other stories, but nothing that could be considered the Star Wars storyline. These are basic things such as "a battle in an asteroid field" which we saw in The Empire Strikes Back, or a war with Wookiees in a forest, which was adapted to the Ewok battle in Return of the Jedi. It was only in later years that he began to claim that he had written the entire original trilogy up front and had to break it up into parts.

All this combines to point to an organic 'origin' for the Star Wars universe. It started with his ideas for the first movie, and then grew slowly over the years, piece by piece.

Improve this answer
8

Found a site with a timeline. When I was growing up I remember the stories that Lucas has the ideas for the three trilogies, but that they weren't written as screenplays. The timeline on the site indicates that Lucas felt that the fourth episode was the most exciting and that was why he decided to start there.

Improve this answer
1
  • 6
    Supershadow's site is quite possibly the least trustworthy site on the web when it comes to Star Wars. When so much of the content is flat out lies, it makes it hard to trust the things which are even partially accurate.
    – phantom42
    Jan 2, 2013 at 13:42
4

Lots of answers from real-world sources, but it seems somewhat clear to me from the movies themselves that they could not have been written together before the release of episode IV.

The basic premise I propose is this: For someone who watches Episodes I-III before IV-VI (like I did), there's not much surprise in the later series. Most of the climax from V is wrapped around the fact that Darth Vader is Luke's father. Anybody who's seen I-III knows this and the moment seems disappointing. (They even talk cleverly around it in Episode IV: Anakin Skywalker's son is alive). It's like showing the murder at the beginning, and then at the end, the detective points out dramatically "You! You did it."

You could argue, of course, that Lucas wrote three good stories (episodes I-III) and then wrote three more stories (episodes IV-VI) that would be much better if only nobody knew the first three. But I doubt it.

Improve this answer
1
  • 3
    Lucas said he started in the middle because that was the exciting part and that way we got to see the fun stuff first. When he made IV, he had no idea if others would be made, so he went with the fun part. He also, originally, got started because he and Gary Kurtz saw there were no more fun "Flash Gordon" type movies anymore, so they made one. And that's what it started as: Fun. When Ep. V was released, it was very likely Ep. VI would also be made, but for those of us who were around, it was a big shock, made Lucas millions, and left us waiting 3 years to find out if it was true or not.
    – Tango
    Jun 6, 2011 at 2:49
1

Not an expert, but in the reviews of Star Wars made by redlettermedia, George Lucas specifically says about still having to write drafts of the plot. So my guess is that prequels were written a few days before starting the production (considering the quality)

Improve this answer
1
  • 7
    But you also can't count on what George Lucas says. Just like the whole "Han shot first" issue, he tends to revise with what sounds good. Originally he had outlines for a number of movies and Star Wars carried the subtitle of "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker," but as Lucas got more impressed with himself and grew more connected to Joseph Campbell, he shifted the focus. Gary Kurtz stated he left after Empire because Lucas abandon the original outlines that would have given them years of movies with a focus on fun and adventure rather than deep hidden meaning. Lucas disclaims all of this.
    – Tango
    Jun 4, 2011 at 3:42

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.