Star Wars is now a film with cult status. But before the premiere, George Lucas was anything but sure whether his space opera would resonate with audiences. So he quickly packed his suitcases.
From today’s perspective, it seems absurd: When George Lucas offered Star Wars to the Hollywood studios after his two films THX-1138 and American Graffiti, he received a lot of rejection. Big names like Universal and Disney didn’t want to take the risk of taking on the unusual project.
After all, it would cost a lot and contain a lot of strange aliens – trust in Lucas and his ideas was low. Only the then president of 20th Century Fox, Alan Ladd Jr., finally agreed.
When the film was almost finished, Lucas showed it to his best friends. Your verdict? Well, let’s say mixed.
We have all 15 films from the saga ranked on MeinMMO – feel free to stop by there and let us know your opinion.
Star Wars Episode IV – trailer for the download version
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Brilliant film or clear flop?
Who did Lucas show Star Wars to? Two of his best friends were Steven Spielberg and Brian De Palma. The two directors watched an early version of Star Wars.
At this point, large parts of the visual effects were missing and Lucas still used archive footage from old war films in some places. It was correspondingly difficult to judge the unfinished film.
Spielberg and De Palma still came to an opinion. While Spielberg, who was never allowed to direct a Star Wars film himself, predicted a great success, de Palma was skeptical. Since he and Lucas were good friends, he didn’t hold back in his scathing judgment.
Lucas probably agreed with him and lost confidence in his own film. As the premiere approached, he got cold feet. That’s why he took an unusual step.
What did Lucas do? Instead of going to the premiere and seeing directly how the film was received by the audience, Lucas grabbed his friend Spielberg and went on vacation with him. Yes, you read that right. The two traveled to Hawaii, where, according to Spielberg, the idea for Indiana Jones came about (via vanityfair.com).
Was Lucas right to worry? Today we know: no. Already at the premiere and the subsequent screenings, long lines formed around the blocks near the cinemas. It wasn’t until the president of 20th Century Fox called Hawaii that Lucas learned of his film’s surprise success. And the rest is history. Did you know that there is a major inconsistency in the first 5 minutes of Star Wars?