The Empire Strikes Back – First Draft by Leigh Brackett

Download: Star Wars Sequel by Leigh Brackett

The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980 and even as a 10-year-old, I remember reading about an early version of the script written by a Sci-Fi author and screenwriter named Leigh Brackett. She turned in a first draft and passed away from Cancer in 1978. This draft was based on a story outline from George Lucas.

From there, as the story goes, Lucas tried his hand at a draft or two but then turned those drafts over to Lawrence Kasdan who ultimately penned the script, although Brackett was still credited. It’s unclear as to the reason why, but it’s assumed that this was a professional courtesy since not many people really knew if any of her work ended up in the final version.  Many interviews with Lucas and others who had seen the draft implied that it beared very little resemblance.

For years, this elusive draft seemed like a “holy grail” of sorts to Star Wars aficionados. In 2010, however, I was shown a scanned version of what appeared to be this draft by Brackett. It came complete with handwritten notes, crossed out words, and matched up with just about every description of the actual thing you could think of. If it was a forgery, it was an elaborate one.

At Starwarz.com, I also host a site called Starkiller. This small group of people specialize in Star Wars scripts. Being that I’m a member, we posted the script online and it’s the most popular download on the site.

At first read, you do get the distinct impression that it’s very different, but it’s mostly the dialogue. Many of the concepts and scenes are still intact.

SOME noticeable differences include:

  • Han is never frozen and there are no bounty hunters like Boba Fett
  • Lando has a different last name (Kadar) and a lady friend
  • Planet names are different or changed around
  • Yoda is called “Minch”
  • Han is sent on a “mission” to speak to his powerful Step-father (which is supposed to be part of the next film)

and the biggest one of all…

  • Darth Vader and Luke’s Father are TWO DIFFERENT characters

Luke’s father, simply referred to as SKYWALKER in the script, shows up in ghost form along with Ben while Luke is being trained. What’s more is he also tells Luke about his sister – who is not Leia. Her name is Nellith. Luke takes the oath of the Jedi along with his Father, Ben and Minch (Yoda).

It’s clear that Lucas wasn’t sure on the direction he was going with the whole Anakin/Vader story yet. It makes you think about Lucas’ explanation of how the whole saga was always supposed to be about Anakin Skywalker. When Empire was being made, it seems he had no idea about this. Nor did he know that Leia would be Luke’s sister, which explains his non-reluctance to having them romantically linked in the film. Was he shooting from the hip then, and is he now rewriting history?

Other than that, you’ll see that the general framework and outline from Lucas is pretty much there. Not much of Brackett’s dialogue remained but some of her spirit did.

For fans, this is a great find and a great read so I’m happy to be able to share it here as well as over at the Starkiller site.

Enjoy reading it and please leave some comments.

Download: Star Wars Sequel by Leigh Brackett

 

Episode VII: The Original Dream Team Is (Probably) Returning

In an article on Businessweek.com, George Lucas dropped the closest thing to confirmation that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher will reprise their roles as Luke, Han, and Leia in Star Wars: Episode VII.

Here’s an excerpt:

Asked whether members of the original Star Wars cast will appear in Episode VII and if he called them before the deal closed to keep them informed, Lucas says, “We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison—or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what’s going on.’ ” He pauses. “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them.” Then he adds: “I won’t say whether the negotiations were successful or not.”

The rest of the article details the selling of Lucasfilm to Disney. It contains a lot of history you may already know, but it’s worth a read if anything to see how things operate behind closed doors at big companies.

It also talks about how Lucas was on the fence about whether or not to hand over his outlines for a sequel trilogy – outlines he has claimed many times never existed.

At first Lucas wouldn’t even turn over his rough sketches of the next three Star Wars films. When Disney executives asked to see them, he assured them they would be great and said they should just trust him. “Ultimately you have to say, ‘Look, I know what I’m doing. Buying my stories is part of what the deal is.’ I’ve worked at this for 40 years, and I’ve been pretty successful,” Lucas says. “I mean, I could have said, ‘Fine, well, I’ll just sell the company to somebody else.’ ”

Once Lucas got assurances from Disney in writing about the broad outlines of the deal, he agreed to turn over the treatments—but insisted they could only be read by Iger, Horn, and Kevin Mayer, Disney’s executive vice president for corporate strategy. “We promised,” says Iger. “We had to sign an agreement.”

When Iger finally got a look at the treatments, he was elated. “We thought from a storytelling perspective they had a lot of potential,” he says.

So, I’ll be the first to say it: Here’s where the fun begins!

 

Book Review: In A Galaxy Not So Far Away… The Star Wars Filming Locations of the United States

Back in 1999, Lucasfilm decided it was time to explore yet another money-making venture – the official convention. The hype surrounding the first Star Wars Prequel was at a fever pitch and fans all over the world were reveling in it all. Fansite traffic was through the roof and I met a lot of people simply by having this website up and running.

One of those people was a guy named Adam Parr. We stayed in touch, with the internet making it very easy to do so. Another of these guys was Carl Cunningham. I know Carl a little better because we’ve met numerous times and collaborated a little more on website efforts and so on. John Klinger was yet another guy I met with, but only a few times and usually he was there with Carl at conventions.  So the planets aligned and these three personalities decided they were going to write a book, and write one they did! It’s called: In a Galaxy Not So Far Away… The Star Wars Filming Locations of the United States.

Being avid fans and big collectors of merchandise, it was only natural that these guys would put their heads together and come up with a book that’s a virtual road map to the Star Wars filming locations here in the USA.

You may have seen articles before (not to mention tons of photos) from places like Death Valley or Yuma, where they filmed a lot of the Tatooine footage. But let’s say you wanted to take a Star Wars themed vacation or make a Star Wars-style pilgrimage of sorts. How much research would you have to do to find all the filming locations? How would you know what to bring or when it’s best to go?

This book tells you everything you need to know and more. Inside you’ll find background information on every location, checklists of what you should know and bring with you, exact directions to each specific location with maps, weather information, and lots of photos. You’ll also get great comparison photos of the actual film frames compared to the authors’ pictures taken years later. You’ll be surprised at how similar they still look.

Like the back jacket says, this is a book you can actually use as a guide and it covers places you can actually visit, even on a modest budget. The tips and personal experiences from the locations are all icing on the cake.

Reading through, you can tell that Adam and the boys have put their hearts into this guide, leaving no stone unturned. This was truly a labor of love and it should be on any fan’s bookshelf. It could not have been an easy feat to compile all this information.

I’m really proud that my friends have put this together and hope you’ll find time to grab yourself a copy and perhaps take a little Star Wars road trip yourself.

You can get your copy at AMAZON.COM

 

P.S. Rumor has it that there’s more to come from this crew… so make sure you follow them, fan them, and all that jazz. You can find them at http://starwarsroadtrips.com/
Enjoy!

Order 66 Numerology

When I first heard about Order 66, the number intrigued me. Why would George Lucas choose the number 66 to represent this genocidal order? Let’s take a look a possible explanation.

In Biblical numerology, the number 6 can be used to represent spiritual imperfection in man, the devil, or the spirit of the devil in mankind. It is an imperfect number. Hence, the reason 666 is considered to be the Number of the Beast (well known to Iron Maiden fans).

The number 666 (originally 616 in early texts) in Biblical terms is the “Unholy Trinity” or also the perfection of imperfection, just as 777 represents the “Holy Trinity” or actual perfection and holiness.

The number 11 in Biblical terms represents disorder, disorganization, imperfection, and disintegration. So 6 X 11 (imperfection X destruction) equals Order 66. The evil in man (The Sith/Darth Sidious) combined with destruction (of the Republic) is exemplified in this number.

This same formula can be used to represent the 66 books of the King James Bible but without as serious an end result. The spirit of Satan (6) X  destruction (11) = Satan destroyed by God’s Word (66).

Lucas has been known to reference all kinds of historical, spiritual and religious imagery throughout his career. It would not surprise me to find out there was something behind the number 66.

On the other hand, it could all just be a freaky coincidence and the number 66 could refer to the year of a car or something.

 

Pardon My Space Dust

We’re making some big changes!

I’ve relaunched the site using WordPress CMS. There’s way too much content to move over by hand so I’m leaving the old site active as an archive.   To see it, click the Archive link in the main menu.

This new site will be where all new news and other items are posted.

As you click through the existing articles, you might come across things that are not working or things that don’t look right. Give me some time to get everything in working order.

I’m also in need of a few good people to report news here on the site. There are lots of cool advantages but mostly, it’s fun! If you’re interested in being a reporter, contact me and let’s get the ball rolling.

Thanks!

T-bone

The Path of Luke Skywalker

George Lucas has stated in many interviews that the heart of the Star Wars saga revolves around the relationship between a father and a son. He might not have had those roles clearly defined at the onset or writing, as evident in the old drafts of the script, but he eventually got his characters there. The role of the son eventually went to young Luke Skywalker, who went on to embark on his “Hero’s Journey” throughout the original trilogy of films. He starts out as a young boy, is thrown into adventure with a wizard-like mentor, defies the odds, pulls off the unexpected, and becomes a hero. The path was not an easy one, however.

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On The Forest Moon

Most of the Star Wars films are known and loved for their action packed, multi-threaded, climactic ending sequences. In Return of the Jedi, there was a large space attack happening above the forest moon of Endor, along with an epic duel between Father and Son with lightsabers and taunting by an evil menace. The battle above Endor was paired with a battle on the surface of the planet that succeeded due to the brave actions of the Rebel Alliance soldiers (and those pesky Ewoks.) Had any one of these battles gone in favor of the Empire, the galaxy might have been a very different place in the following years.

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Battle in the Desert

Rescuing Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba was no easy task. It took a well-thought out plan, consisting of many parts and relied on cunning and chance. It all concluded with a battle in the Tatooine desert over a mostly underground creature buried in the sand. The battle and its aftermath give us lots of material to cover.

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Han Solo and the Princess

The story of Leia and Han is a wonderful sub-plot and one of the greatest, most tenuous on-screen romances of all time. The Princess and The Pauper. Beauty and the Beast. Prom Queen and the Bad Boy. Call it what you want, it worked. Here are some of their lesser-seen moments as well as some other mentions of Han’s other love: The Millennium Falcon.

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