50 Fun Facts About Star Wars: a New Hope

On what date did Star Wars open in US cinemas?

It debuted on a Wednesday in only 32 theatres, and Lucas had specifically wanted the Memorial Day weekend.

In which year's reissue did the film gain the subtitle Episode IV – A New Hope?

The 1997 Special Edition came later, with 277 enhanced shots and the notorious Greedo change.

Which 1958 Akira Kurosawa film lent narrative beats to Lucas's early treatment?

Kurosawa's star Toshiro Mifune was later considered for Obi-Wan but declined out of 'samurai pride'.

Lucas's unfinished two-page 1973 synopsis, whose title survives as a phrase in the saga, was called what?

It told of CJ Thorpe, apprentice to the 'Jedi-Bendu' Mace Windy.

What was Luke's surname in the drafts before it became Skywalker during production?

The fourth and final draft was titled The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars.

Which studio executive greenlit Star Wars at Fox after United Artists and Universal passed?

Lucas said the executive invested in him rather than the film, having been won over by a private screening of American Graffiti.

Chewbacca was inspired by Lucas's Alaskan Malamute. What was the dog's name?

The same dog's name was later handed to Indiana Jones.

Which actor turned down the part of Han Solo because he did not understand the script?

Lucas initially resisted Harrison Ford because he was not an unknown, having appeared in American Graffiti.

Which actor was considered for Obi-Wan but was instead cast as the villainous Tarkin?

The Grand Moff destroys Alderaan while, famously, wearing carpet slippers because his boots hurt.

On top of his salary, the actor playing Obi-Wan received what share of the film's backend grosses?

It made him wealthy later in life, even though he privately called the dialogue 'lamentable' and pushed to have Obi-Wan killed off.

Anthony Daniels wanted the C-3PO role after seeing whose concept painting of the droid?

The design itself was based on the female robot in Fritz Lang's Metropolis; Daniels won the voice role too, beating out about thirty actors including Mel Blanc.

Peter Mayhew originally auditioned for which role before his 7-foot-3 frame got him cast as Chewbacca?

David Prowse, who got Vader, had himself turned down Chewbacca because he wanted to play the villain.

Why did Lucas replace the voice of the actor inside the Vader suit with James Earl Jones?

Jones went uncredited as Vader in the films until 1983, though he was credited in the 1978 Holiday Special.

How did sound designer Ben Burtt create R2-D2's beeps and squeaks?

The droid's name reportedly came from editor Walter Murch asking for 'Reel 2, Dialog 2' during work on American Graffiti.

Luke's Tatooine home was filmed at an underground hotel in which Tunisian town?

Principal photography began at the salt flat Chott el Djerid in March 1976, with extra Tatooine scenes shot in Death Valley.

The rebel base on Yavin 4 was filmed at which Mayan site?

Lucas picked the Guatemalan ruins after spotting a poster of them in an English travel agency.

The motion-control camera system developed for the film's effects became known as what?

John Dykstra's team used small models and slowly moving cameras to fake enormous scale; Dykstra received a Scientific and Engineering Award for it.

The Millennium Falcon was redesigned because its first version resembled ships from which TV series?

Joe Johnston had four weeks to redo it, told only to 'think of a flying saucer'; the old model became Leia's ship, the Tantive IV.

The Falcon's final shape is often said to be based on what, with the cockpit as an olive on the side?

In the story it is a YT-1300 Corellian light freighter, previously owned by Lando Calrissian.

Lucas first assigned the Death Star's design to which artist, a veteran of 2001: A Space Odyssey?

The buzzing countdown before the superlaser fires was borrowed from the Flash Gordon serials.

Where do Luke and Obi-Wan hire Han Solo and Chewbacca?

The cantina scene also absorbed exposition originally planned for a human Jabba the Hutt, who was cut for time.

Which crime lord do Han and Chewbacca leave to pay off before the Death Star attack?

The 1977 script had a human Jabba; the idea of making him an alien only arose during work on the 1979 re-release.

Luke's friend who leaves Tatooine to join the Rebellion, cut from the theatrical release, was named what?

Alan Ladd called the deleted Anchorhead scenes 'American Graffiti in outer space'; the character survives as Red Three in the trench run.

Which filmmaker helped trim the opening crawl from six paragraphs to four sentences?

Spielberg, by contrast, liked the rough cut and blamed the others' doubts on the missing effects.

In the unfinished cut shown to Lucas's friends, what stood in for the space battles?

Hand-drawn arrows replaced blaster beams, and Vader still spoke with Prowse's voice.

Halfway through production the director replaced his editor with Paul Hirsch, Richard Chew and whom?

The trio went on to win the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.

John Williams recorded the score over 12 days in March 1977 with which ensemble?

The album became the best-selling symphonic record of all time and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

Whose disco version of the Star Wars theme hit number one in the US in October 1977?

Williams's own main title reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

How many competitive Academy Awards did Star Wars win?

It lost Best Picture to Annie Hall, but Ben Burtt also received a Special Achievement Award for the alien and robot voices.

Which cast member earned the film's only acting Oscar nomination?

He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor; George Lucas was nominated for both directing and original screenplay.

Star Wars was the first film to gross how much worldwide?

It replaced Jaws as North America's top earner within six months and stayed the all-time champion until E.T.

Which company alone accepted the Star Wars toy licence before release, causing the 'empty box' Christmas of 1977?

Its Early Bird Certificate Package was a voucher redeemable for four action figures between February and June 1978.

Who ghostwrote the novelization credited to George Lucas, published before the film?

He also wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye as a cheap sequel in case the film flopped.

When the MPAA rating board voted on Star Wars, the votes were evenly split between PG and what?

The first public screening was held on May 1, 1977, at San Francisco's Northpoint Theatre, where American Graffiti had also been tested.

Two weeks into its run, Star Wars was bumped from Mann's Chinese Theatre by which William Friedkin film?

When that film underperformed, Star Wars got a second opening at Mann's on August 3.

Lucas was certain which rival 1977 film would beat Star Wars at the box office?

He and Spielberg famously traded profit points on each other's film; Spielberg came out ahead.

The 'Han shot first' controversy concerns which change in the 1997 Special Edition?

In the 1977 cut, Han simply shoots the bounty hunter dead under the table; a 2004 version has them fire almost simultaneously.

Ben Burtt inserted the Wilhelm scream into which moment of the film?

The stock effect dates from the 1951 film Distant Drums and is thought to be voiced by singer Sheb Wooley.

Which future Star Wars regular, uncle of Ewan McGregor, played Red Two, Wedge Antilles?

He was miscredited as 'Dennis Lawson'; his nephew went on to play the young Obi-Wan in the prequels.

Star Wars was among the first 25 films chosen for the National Film Registry in which year?

Lucas offered the Library of Congress only the Special Edition, so a scan was made from the original copyright deposit print instead.

Which two actors were cast as R2-D2 and Chewbacca largely because of their height?

Baker later admitted he thought the film would flop; Mayhew modelled his performance on animals he watched at zoos.

In 2025, which date was announced for Star Wars' 50th-anniversary return to cinemas?

Announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan in April 2025; the film had already been reissued theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1997.

Which Japanese actor was considered for Obi-Wan before Alec Guinness was cast?

His daughter said his 'samurai pride' made him turn down both Obi-Wan and Vader, fearing poor effects would cheapen the samurai image.

At which English studio were the film's interior sets built and shot?

All nine of its sound stages were needed to hold the planets, starships, cantinas and Death Star corridors.

Lucas's first-choice cinematographer, who withdrew, had shot which landmark science-fiction film?

Geoffrey Unsworth left to shoot Vincente Minnelli's A Matter of Time and was replaced by Gilbert Taylor.

Besides Tunisia, additional Tatooine scenes were shot in which American location?

Tunisia supplied the bulk of the desert footage, with the California valley filling in for pickups.

What originally scheduled release date did production delays push back to mid-1977?

The cast and crew largely expected a flop; instead the delayed film became the first to gross $500 million worldwide.

What injury to Mark Hamill limited re-shoots of Luke's scenes?

The accident came late in production, one of several setbacks that also saw the crew split into three units to finish on time.

John Williams's main title theme was inspired by the score of which 1942 film?

Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote that score; the 'Dune Sea of Tatooine' cue nods to Bicycle Thieves instead.

What did the film's total budget finally reach, up from the $8M it started with?

Fox had first granted only $5 million in 1975; Alan Ladd Jr. had to release an extra $50,000 near the end to finish.