Why did GL do all of these movies out of order?

Forgive if this is posted already, but why was episode 4 released first? In my opinion, maybe it's because things are finally getting exciting. I and II do not compare to the 1977-1983 trilogy. Why not just put them in order?

 

He felt that
? the OT era would be cheaper and easier to do
? ANH would be a good starting point to tell a story
? people would be more likely to flock to the OT story first-off, because it was more action-adventure-oriented, less political or subtle



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

ORIGINALLY THOUGH, ANH had no EPISODE IV on the opening scroll (i think), it was just A NEW HOPE

 

Actually, it was originally just "Star Wars."

No "Episode IV," and no "A New Hope." Just "Star Wars" (which is, of course, why so many people today refer to it as simply "Star Wars" instead of ANH).

 

since the PT was just random backstory concepts until the mid-90's

You mean it isn't still???

Indy

 

It was always a new hope. Back in '77 at the drive-in it was a new hope. Just so ya' know.

 

Lucas wanted to make STAR WARS (what would later be known as EPISODE IV), but before he could start, he created a bunch of backstory for all the characters so that he would have a better feel for things while writing it. (He wanted to be able to know Vader had become Vader, exactly who Obi-Wan was, how the Empire came to power, etc.) When it became a huge hit and he realized he'd be able to follow up with ESB and ROTJ, he thought perhaps one day he could go back and tell the backstory stuff in another trilogy that would lead up to STAR WARS. Thus, "Episode IV" was attached to the film during its (1978?) re-release.

 

he wanted to build Skywalker Ranch, and super duper computer effects for the PT

 

It was always a new hope. Back in '77 at the drive-in it was a new hope. Just so ya' know.

No it wasn't, just so ya' know.

 

I believe that Lucas had little or no backstory when he wrote the script for Star Wars back in the mid-1970s. It was meant to simply be a rousing good space fantasy.

Nobody, NOBODY thought it would be a blockbuster. At best it would be modestly successful. At worst it would fall flat on its face.

In the aftermath of Star Wars making a zillion dollars and becoming a never-to-be-equalled cultural phenomenon, Lucas started thinking-up sequels (whether set before or after the events in SW).

 

I agree with Binary. I'm fairly certain that Lucas had a concept on what to do with his "story" after ANH. I say story, as I believe that SW is a true story and not fiction. Anyways, I don't think he had any intent on making movies set during TPM or even movies that resememble TPM and AOTC.

It was probably after the sucess of ANH did he begin to contemplate having a sequel trilogy and a prequel trilogy, of which only one has been done.

 

i was always under the impression that he had this huge story and if he only had one movie to make out of this story he would make the second part, which is the galactic civl war.

i also agree that he had no back story. what i think all this "back story" is, is just notes.

 

That's what it was, notes. Notes on who Darth Vader was, who Obi-Wan was, how they were connected, how Vader became Vader, how the Empire came to power, etc. When ANH became a hit, Lucas thought one day he'd be able to turn those notes in a prequel trilogy, but just concentrated on ESB and ROTJ for the time being. He's said it before: he had all these notes that could be used to make the prequel, but the actual stories were not thought up until the mid-90s when he started seriously pursuing the idea of prequels.

 

Spacehunter24 has it right, IMO. Thats pretty much the way I have always understood it. He wrote the OT story with the PT stuff in mind as backstory to help write the OT characters. I really dont think he ever thought the PT would actually be movies when he was doing episode 4.
He always wanted to do ESB and ROTJ, but he didnt know if he'd be able too. I swear Ive heard GL say this or something VERY similar to this at least a few times: "It was like a three act play, and I chose act 1 to make my first movie from, not knowing if I would be able to make the other two."
Calling it E4 instead of E1 left us curious and told us that there was more to know about these people. Thats just good storytelling. It makes you curious. I dont think he intended to do the PT until he realized that he could and just said, "sure. why not? that'd be fun."

Ralph McQuarries original concept art (that Lucas used to sell the idea of doing a Star Wars movie) includes a Luke and Vader lightsaber battle. Since that didnt make it into ANH, and obviously, it would have been cool - I think thats a good indication that he was thinking about the whole story and only producing what he could at the time.

 

always a new hope.

 

Lucas originally had no intent of making prequels. He just needed a backstory for the story he was writing.

 

Where do you people come with some of this stuff? Lucas selected the OT because it's "more compelling...people would relate to these characters better". The title of ANH came later. The backstory was not developed and there were several versions of 'Star Wars' prior to the final script.

Many of the incarnations of the characters in these previous versions were nothing like what we see on screen in the OT. Lucas saved many of the names and locations from the previous versions for the PT.

 

You guys are referring to quotes that Lucas says NOW. There was no plan for prequels and sequels. He had no VISION. He took the Journal of the Whills and basically combined some of the plot points to make one stand-alone movie. He decided to leave Vader's fate unresolved because of the possiblity of a sequel if ANH were successful. He had no plans to do a 6-part or 9-part saga. It wasn't until the sucess of ANH that Lucas decided to do sequels and prequels. That's why ESB came out with the Episode V subtitle and confused the hell out of everybody. Lucas later added Episode IV: A New Hope to "STAR WARS" in 1982 for the re-release.

If ANH never made all that money, we would have just one Star Wars movie instead of six.

 

That's right. In fact, before SW was released in May 1977, Alan Dean Foster had already finished writing Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Lucas had hired him to write a novel that could be the basis of a low-budget sequel movie to Star Wars (assuming he got lucky and Star Wars made any money at all). Remember, NOBODY thought SW was going to be a big success. A low-budget sequel was the most anyone could hope for.

That's why there are no space battles in Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

That's why all the action takes place on a single planet.

That's why the planet is misty, so any crappy, low-budget sets could be shrouded in mist.

Also, Lucas told Foster not to include Han and Chewie in the book since Lucas wasn't sure that Harrison Ford would sign-up to do a SW sequel.

All of this is not the hallmark of a man with a plan. Lucas shot his whole wad with the first SW released in 1977. It's all been make-it-up-as-you-go since then.

 

I disagree. Some of the original concept art shows events that came after the events of ANH in the timeline. Now, Im sure a lot of that was shuffled around, but it was always a pretty big story as I understand it.

I think we all agree that he didnt know if SW would flop. He knew he might not be able to make a sequel.

But I think he had some basic story ideas in mind. Probably nothing really concrete, except the father/son thing. I think that was always there. It ends up being the main point of the story, and they do refer to it in ANH.

 

"Some of the original concept art shows events that came after the events of ANH in the timeline."

What art are you referring to? Could you please post a link?

 

The way I understood it:
GL wrote some detailed stuff (to create a backstory) for the what later became known as "Star Wars"...

...Having "A New Hope" was always his intention, but studio executives felt it would confuse audiences (being a stand alone movie). GL later unleashed his legal "force-lightning" on the suckers, and RE-edit ANH into the opening scroll...

..and GL wanted to make his first film during the middle of the story because: 1 - the production costs/abilities were limited, and OT era was easier to do. 2 - he thought audiences could connect with the characters/story of this era better (always the chance at a sequel)

 

^^^
That's what Lucas claims now.

Any original concept art the takes place after ANH in the timeline was made after ANH. I'm talking abou the 2 Death Stars around Endor and the Emperor's lair in a lava pit (stuff like that).

The whole father/son thing was not decided till after ANH as well.