Saga BTS The scripts of the Skywalker Saga

Last year, with the last film in the Skywalker Saga releasing, I tried to put together a record of all the scripts for all 9 films. I've spent the last couple of weeks adding to it and expanding it. I wrote it all up in an article on Medium, but I thought it might be a good idea to post what I found here, as well. Thanks to the excellent J. W. Rinzler books, we know all of the drafts for the original trilogy. The prequel and sequel trilogies are trickier. I've done my best to track down evidence of as many drafts as I can for them. This is what I've got, counting only treatments or full drafts and not counting notes, outlines, or minor revisions. The Medium article has a couple more notes and some pictures, but all the drafts I found are here.

Original Trilogy

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Source: The Making of Star Wars by J. W. Rinzler.

• Journal of the Whills (1 and a half page partial handwritten outline — 1973)
• The Star Wars (Story Synopsis) (Treatment — May 1973)
• The Star Wars (Rough Draft — May 1974)
• The Star Wars (First Draft — July 1974)
• Adventures of the Starkiller. Episode I: The Star Wars (Second Draft — January 28th, 1975)
• The Star Wars: From the Adventures of the Starkiller (Third Draft — August 1st, 1975)
• The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills. Saga I: The Star Wars (Fourth Draft — January 1st, 1976)
• The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills. Saga I: The Star Wars (Revised Fourth Draft —March 15th, 1976) (Includes contributions from Willard and Gloria Huyck)

Notes:

• The rough draft and first draft are essentially identical. Names of characters and places were changed, but events and dialogue were the same.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Source: The Making of The Empire Strikes Back by J. W. Rinzler.

• The Empire Strikes Back (Treatment — November 28th, 1977) (By George Lucas)
• Star Wars Sequel (First Draft — February 17th, 1978) (Screenplay by Leigh Brackett, from The Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas)
• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Second Draft — April 1, 1978) (By George Lucas)
• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Third Draft — August 1978) (By Lawrence Kasdan) (I couldn't find a date for this, but The Making of The Empire Strikes Back says director Irvin Kershner read it on the 10th, so it's from before then)
• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Fourth Draft — October 24th, 1978) (By Lawrence Kasdan)
• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Fifth Draft — February 20th, 1979) (By Larry Kasdan)

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Source: The Making of Return of the Jedi by J. W. Rinzler.

• Star Wars: Episode VI Revenge of the Jedi (Rough Draft — February 24th, 1981) (Written by George Lucas)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Revenge of the Jedi (Revised Rough Draft — June 12th, 1981) (Written by George Lucas)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Revenge of the Jedi (Second Draft — September 21st, 1981) (Story by George Lucas/Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (Revised Second Draft — November 1st, 1981) (By L. Kasdan and G. Lucas)
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (Third Draft — December 1st, 1981) (Story by George Lucas/Screenplay by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan)

Notes:

• A leaked draft purporting to be the second draft from December 19th, 1982 is available online. It is not the second draft, as neither the dates nor the content match that of the second draft as described in The Making of Return of the Jedi. The date is likely accurate, however, as the draft includes things that did not exist until late 1982 [Luke pulling a glove over his mechanical hand in the cockpit of his X-Wing before setting off for Dagobah and Vader’s body being burned on a funeral pyre]. It’s possible that it was created for the pickups that were shot the very next day, which included the shot with the glove, but it’s missing one of them: Luke constructing a new lightsaber. The script library of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences appears to have a copy of this draft, so it is likely real.

Prequel Trilogy

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Sources: The Cinema of George Lucas by Marcus Hearn and The Star Wars Episode I Insider’s Guide PC CDROM unless otherwise noted. All drafts by George Lucas.

• The Beginning (Rough Draft — January 13th, 1995)
• The Beginning (Revised Rough Draft — June 13th, 1996)
• The Beginning (Second Draft — March 13th, 1997)
• The Beginning (Revised Second Draft — May 9th, 1997)
• The Beginning (Third Draft — May 13, 1997)
• The Beginning (Revised Third Draft — June 6th, 1997)
• The Beginning (Fourth Draft — June 13th, 1997) (Source)
• The Beginning (Revised Fourth Draft — August 10th, 1998) (Source)

Notes:

• The Insider’s Guide does not mention any “first draft” of the movie but has a fairly comprehensive rundown of other drafts through the revised third draft. I am assuming that there is no “first draft” but that instead, George considered the rough draft the first draft. He appears to have done the same thing on Return of the Jedi.
• The wording on the Academy’s page for the fourth draft is the same as the wording for the revised third draft that they have: a draft from one date revised through another. Since the Insider’s Guide seems to point to the third draft and the revised third draft being distinct [with dates that match those given in the Academy listing], I am assuming the Academy listing for the fourth draft means it also got a distinct revision, in this case on August 10th, 1998. This would make sense as a series of pick-ups were done in August 1998.
• One of the widely disseminated transcripts of the revised third draft appears to not actually be of the revised third draft but possibly some hybrid of that and the final draft. The actual revised third draft features differences from the transcript such as Anakin not blowing up the droid control ship from the inside but instead it detonating from a direct hit to the bridge from outside and Qui-Gon falling into the “melting pit” during the final duel with Darth Maul while Obi-Wan, who does not fall into it, watches. I’ve created a transcript of the revised third draft here.
• The “final draft” that can be found in many places, including the Insider’s Guide, is not technically the final draft. It is missing the final thing filmed for the movie: Palpatine briefly speaking to Obi-Wan and Anakin at the very end of the film (“We will watch your career with great interest”). That was filmed in March 1999, after the last known date for the revised fourth draft. Because of its small size, it likely would not have been considered a brand new draft. Incidentally, this means that the available “final draft” is actually the revised fourth draft as of August 10th, 1998.
  

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Sources: The Cinema of George Lucas by Marcus Hearn and leaked drafts.

• Star Wars Episode II: Jar Jar’s Great Adventure (Rough Draft — March 13th, 2000) (By George Lucas)
• Star Wars Episode II: Jar Jar’s Great Adventure (Second Draft — June 24th, 2000) (By George Lucas and Jonathan Hales)
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Revised Second Draft — July 31st, 2000) (By George Lucas and Jonathan Hales) (Source)
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Third Draft) (By George Lucas and Jonathan Hales)
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Revised Third Draft — September 5th, 2001) (By George Lucas and Jonathan Hales)

Notes:

• Again, I’m guessing the rough draft is considered the first draft. George had a habit of using the terms “rough” and “first” interchangeably as seen above for Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.
• Similar to the fourth drafts of The Phantom Menace above, I am assuming that the wording in the Academy’s script library means there were distinct second and revised second drafts.
• I can’t find a direct source for a third draft, but the existence of a revised third draft means there very likely was one.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Sources: The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith by J.W. Rinzler. All drafts by George Lucas.

• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Rough Draft — January 31st, 2003)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (First Draft — April 10th, 2003)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Second Draft — May? 2003)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Revised Second Draft — June 13th, 2003)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Third Draft — June 2003)
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Fourth Draft — June 26th, 2003)

Notes:

• The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith makes no mention of a second draft, jumping straight from the first draft to the revised second draft. I am assuming there was one since there was a revised second draft and gave it an approximate date.
• Likewise, there’s no direct mention of a third draft. The text skips right to a fourth draft. I’m assuming there was a third draft and gave it an approximate date.

Sequel Trilogy

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Sources: The Art of The Force Awakens by Phil Szostak unless otherwise stated. Information on script drafts for this film are scarce. The movie also underwent somewhat substantial rewrites during filming, though it’s unknown if any of this activity was qualified as a new draft. There are no exact dates for any of these drafts and exact credits are unknown.

• Sequel Trilogy (Treatment — Fall 2012) (By Michael Arndt)
• Episode VII (Work-In-Progress Draft — August 2013) (By Michael Arndt)
• Episode VII (First Draft — December 2013) (By Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams)
• Episode VII (Draft — Spring 2014) (By Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams) (Source)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Final Draft) (By Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt) (Released by Lucasfilm/Disney for award consideration. It’s been conformed to match the final film exactly.)

Notes:

• The Art of The Force Awakens says that Abrams and Kasdan turned in their first draft just a few days after giving a presentation about it on December 13th.

(According to Deadline, and consistent with what Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a conference call to discuss the purchase of Lucasfilm, Michael Arndt turned in a treatment for the entire trilogy at the time of the sale. Since Rian Johnson has said he was not beholden to it and it appears that neither he nor any of the writers for Episode IX used it, I’ve left it out of the lineups for the latter two episodes.)

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Source: The Art of The Last Jedi by Phil Szostak

• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (Rough Draft — March 4th, 2015) (By Rian Johnson)
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (First Draft —June 3rd, 2015) (By Rian Johnson)
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (Second Draft — July 29th, 2015) (By Rian Johnson)
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (Third Draft — December 11th, 2015) (By Rian Johnson)
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (Fourth Draft — February 1st, 2016) (By Rian Johnson)
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (Revised Fourth Draft — April 21st, 2016) (By Rian Johnson) (Source)

Notes:

• The Academy library has a copy of what they call “Version 5" of the script, which is called the shooting draft and is dated February 1st, 2016. I am assuming that this is the fourth draft with the “Version 5” also including the rough draft.
• Similar to The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, I am assuming that the verbiage on the Academy’s page is indicating that there is a distinct revised fourth draft.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

Sources are listed with the drafts. Again, like The Force Awakens, there are few concrete sources for drafts. Most are guesswork. There are only dates for two. Credits are best guesses except for the leaked Duel of the Fates draft. The movie also underwent somewhat substantial rewrites during filming, though it’s unknown if any of this activity was qualified as a new draft.

• Star Wars Episode IX: Duel of the Fates (Draft — December 16, 2016) (By Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly)
• Star Wars Episode IX: Duel of the Fates (Draft — Spring 2017) (By Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly)(Source)
• Star Wars Episode IX: Duel of the Fates (Draft — Summer 2017) (By Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly)
• Episode IX (Draft — Summer 2017) (By Jack Thorne, Colin Trevorrow, and Derek Connolly)
• Episode IX (Draft — Early 2018) (By J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio) (Source)
• Episode IX (Shooting Draft — July 25th, 2018) (By. J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio) (From The Art of The Rise of Skywalker)

 

Impressive

 

I'd really love to read that Jack Thorne script. Also Ardnt's full saga treatment.

 

Are there links to the actual scripts online anywhere?

 

Some of the scripts have leaked. The Starkiller Jedi Bendu site has most of these, but they're missing the two scripts that are available for the sequel trilogy and their transcript of the revised third draft of The Phantom Menace is inaccurate and is mostly the final draft. The link below for it is a transcript I made from a scan of a copy of the revised third draft. These are the scripts you can search for:

• The Star Wars Story Synopsis
• The Star Wars Rough Draft
• The Star Wars First Draft
• Adventures of the Starkiller. Episode I: The Star Wars (Second Draft)
  
• The Star Wars: From the Adventures of the Starkiller (Third Draft)
  
• The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills. Saga I: The Star Wars (Fourth Draft)
  
• The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills. Saga I: The Star Wars (Revised Fourth Draft)
  
• Star Wars Sequel (By Leigh Brackett)
• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Fourth Draft)
  
• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Fifth Draft)
  
• Star Wars: Episode VI Revenge of the Jedi (Revised Rough Draft)
  
• The Beginning (The Phantom Menace) (Revised Third Draft)
  
• Star Wars Episode II: Jar Jar’s Great Adventure (Second Draft)
  
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (Revised Third Draft)
  
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Fourth Draft)
  
• Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (Final Draft submitted for award consideration)
• Star Wars Episode IX: Duel of the Fates (12-16-16) (First Draft)

 

Thanks

 

Is there anywhere that drafts for the ST can be found?

 

So I just discovered two dates for drafts of The Force Awakens. The 2016 edition of the book Star Wars: Year by Year says that a "working draft" was turned in on April 24th, 2014, and the "first completed draft" was finished on May 20th. The former is likely when Poe was made to survive the TIE fighter crash at the beginning so he could appear later on and is also assuredly the draft used for the cast read through a couple of days later. The latter might be when Rey got her name since Daisy Ridley has said that her character's name was "Kira" until J.J. told her he was thinking of changing it while on location in Abu Dhabi.

So would I. Oh, what I would give to read Arndt's trilogy treatment!