when were the prequels announced?

I was just wondering--when exactly was it officiallyt announced by Lucas that he was working on the prequels? I seem to recall the first draft of episode I was done in 1995 or so, but i believe the films were announced as early as 1994, or even 93? Does anyone have an exact date?

 

I think after Jurassic Park came out (1993) Lucas decided the prequels were possible.

He started writing TPM on Nov. 1, 1994.

 

I didnt even hear about it til 1997. I was 9 at the time though.

 

They were announced in 1997. Rumblings had been pretty real since 1996.

 

George Lucas talked a little about them on the THX trilogy in those little Leonard Maltin interviews and those came out in 95. If I remember right, Maltin asked why such a long wait for the prequel trilogy and Lucas said he was waiting for the technology to catch up with his imagination. He said that the OT is really about the redemption of a guy the audience doesn't even know yet and did that little chuckle he always does. I think he also said that the PT is the real story.

 

It was announced in 1994. Originally they planned to release Episode I in 1997, but it was pushed back obviously to 1999.

 

I have a soundtrack recording of ESB that was released in 1992 that talks about the next trilogy of films being released in 1997 for the 20th anniversary.

 

I think after Jurassic Park came out (1993) Lucas decided the prequels were possible.

He started writing TPM on Nov. 1, 1994.

That sounds right to me.

 

My friend who got me into Star Wars at age 11 started to hear grumblings of additional movies not too long before the Special Editions of the Originals were released.



Mace Windy,
too windy for spoilers!

 

Actually, it was earlier than you may have thought. In entertainment weekly, it has a timeline of star wars. It says:

"5/24/1987
Ten years after star wars' release, Lucas announces plans for a second trilogy-and hints the possibility of a third."

 

The STAR WARS Screen Entertainment screensaver released in 1993/1994 had a hidden message from GL announcing the prequels. It appeared in the OPENING CRAWL screensaver module, and would come up every 20 minutes or so:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Good and Evil battled to determine the fate of the Universe. The struggle is chronicled in STAR WARS, nine episodes which depict the reign of the Empire and a
small, brave band of rebels who threatened to topple it.


The middle third of the story was told in Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. We followed a young farm boy, Luke Skywalker, and his commitment to the Rebel Alliance.


We watched as Luke learned about the Force from Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda, and felt his pain when he discovered that Darth Vader, the most highly regarded commander in the Imperial Navy, was his father.


The STAR WARS saga actually begins 40 years before Luke has the pivotal meeting with Obi Wan that sends him down the path to his destiny. The first three episodes begin with the friendship of a young Ben Kenobi and Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. When Ben meets Anakin, he sees that the talented pilot is very strong with the Force and decides to train Anakin in the ways of a Jedi. But the Emperor senses Anakin's
growing power, and determined to harness it for the Empire, sways the young Jedi to the Dark Side. Anakin Skywalker ceases to exist, and in his place Darth Vader emerges.


The new movies will feature all the action of the first three. Much of the drama, however, will revolve around betrayal -- between friends and
within the Empire. In this part of the story, things are not always as they seem and you never quite know who the good guys and bad guys are. I plan to start the screenplay for episode one by the end of 1994, and release the prequels by the year 2000.


Note that GL still had plans for NINE movies back then!

 

Thanks, Sapno. That's awesome. Too bad he didn't say anything about what he thought the third trilogy was going to be.

 

Am I invisable?

 

You have no idea how many times I watched and waited for that message to appear. The usual crawl would roll up and fade into the distance several times, and then there was nothing for a few seconds, and then GL's message would come up. It was so exciting!

Only later did I do a little folder searching and find the file called "lucas.txt." Hey, I was a computer novice at the time!

Can you imagine? That message teased me for 5 looooooooooong years!

 

For me personally it was 1980: when I discovered that "Star Wars" was actually episode 4...