How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise

by Taylor, Chris

  169“chickened out”: Lucas quoted in Seattle Times, May 1980.

  169“Fox wouldn’t let me.”: Lucas, Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, DVD commentary (Twentieth Century Fox, 2004).

  169“We were toying with the idea of calling: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.

  170“What’s all this Force shit?: De Palma quoted in J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 256.

  170It is a period of civil wars in the galaxy: Crawl text on scifiscripts.com, cross-checked with extracts in Laurent Bouzereau, “Star Wars”: The Annotated Scripts (New York: Ballantine Books, 1997), and Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars.”

  172seven or eight hypotheses: “The Den of Geek Interview: John Dykstra,” Den of Geek, November 2, 2008, http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/13733/the-den-of-geek-interview-john-dykstra.

  173“model!”: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 275.

  175a seven-year-old in Philadelphia: Philip Fierlinger, author interview, January 2013.

  176“When Vader came out of the darkness: Todd Evans, author interview, August 17, 2013.

  176“it was an invitation: Kurtz, author interview.

  177“sort of knew”: Paul Scanlon, “The Wizard of Star Wars,” Rolling Stone, August 25, 1977.

  177“We see Carrie Fisher: Hal Barwood, author interview, May 21, 2013.

  178“When it was first released”: Lucas, Episode IV, commentary.

  178“The whole thrust: Rinzler, Making of “Star Wars,” 300.

  178“Star Wars was a joke: Jody Duncan, “Star Wars” Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of “Attack of the Clones” (New York: Ballantine Books, 2002), 218.

  179“Full marks for the creation: Piers Paul Read, Alec Guinness: The Authorized Biography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 507.

  179“You’ve vaporized the audience: Biskind, Easy Riders, 334.

  179“Who’s the hero?”: Don Glut, author interview, July 9, 2013.

  12. RELEASE

  183“My father had this wonderful: Christian Gossett, author interview, August 15, 2013.

  184“Old people, young people: Al Levine quoted in San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1977.

  185“I was a Star Trek fan: Dan Madsen, author interview, August 12, 2013.

  185“two people arguing about: Kerry O’Quinn, Starlog, no. 7 (August 1977).

  185A cartoon published in a Trek zine: Star Trek cartoon in “The Sehlat’s Roar #5,” Spectrum, no. 34 (1977), quoted in “Star Trek and Star Wars,” Fanlore, January 12, 2014, http://fanlore.org/wiki/Star_Trek_and_Star_Wars.

  186“We’re working out a policy: Craig Miller quoted in Hyper Space, no. 3 (1977).

  186“The word has come down: Maureen Garrett letter quoted in Alderaan, no. 15 (1981).

  186“I really learned to watch it: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.

  188“Hi, kid, are you famous yet?”: John Baxter, George Lucas: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 237.

  189“We were dismissing the lines: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.

  189“There could be a 21st Century Fox: “Off the Screen,” People, July 18, 1977.

  190“Star Wars was like they struck gold,”: Alan Ladd Jr., author interview, March 26, 2014.

  191“send money.”: Coppola telegram in Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 186.

  191“twerp cinema.”: Coined by Coppola’s friend Dennis Jakob, quoted in Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 346.

  192reinstate high adventure: Janet Maslin, “How Old Movie Serials Inspired Lucas and Spielberg,” New York Times, June 7, 1981.

  193“I’m an introvert: “Off the Screen.”

  193“They don’t know exactly: “Summer Blockbuster,” Star Wars Insider, no. 140 (May/June 2013): 51.

  193“more than anything else,”: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 306.

  193because he “cut corners”: Paul Scanlon, “The Force Behind Star Wars,” Rolling Stone, August 1977.

  13. THE ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE

  196“Star Wars,” Lucas mused: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 224.

  197Sansweet is snarky and avuncular: Steve Sansweet quotes from author tour and Steve Sansweet, “Introducing . . . Steve Sansweet,” Star Wars Blog, July 2, 2012, http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/2012/07/02/introducing-steve-sansweet.

  199“Basically I like to make things: Quote and Cukor anecdote from Stephen Farber, “George Lucas: The Stinky Kid Hits the Big Time,” Film Quarterly, Spring 1974.

  199“followed from the general idea”: Claire Clouzot, “The Morning of the Magician,” Ecran, September 15, 1977.

  201“$50 and a handshake.”: Mark Boudreaux, author interview, September 22, 2013.

  201“He thought he should have had: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.

  201“Okay, we sold a piece: Mark Boudreaux, author interview, September 22, 2013.

  202“Where are the guns?”: Steve Sansweet, “Star Wars”: From Concept to Screen to Collectible (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1992), 65.

  202“If you do something I don’t like: Sansweet, From Concept to Screen, 123.

  204“tacky pilgrim mementos: Jennifer Porter, author interview, March 6, 2014.

  205“About 75 percent of our fans: Derryl dePriest, author interview, September 4, 2013.

  207“I told George: Carrie Fisher, Wishful Drinking, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, February 28, 2008.

  14. HERE COME THE CLONES!

  208“We used to play cops: James Arnold Taylor, author interview, June 18, 2013.

  209“It will be a separate story: “The Day the Droids Invaded Hollywood,” Washington Post, August 4, 1977.

  209“either we make this deal: Alan Ladd Jr., author interview, March 26, 2014.

  210“I want Star Wars to be: Starlog, no. 9 (October 1977).

  211“showed there was twice as much: Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 344.

  211“We’re fucking being blown off: Smith and Friedkin quoted in Biskind, Easy Riders, 337.

  213“The only thing it cleaned up: Steven Bach, Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of “Heaven’s Gate” (New York: New American Library, 1985), 68.

  214“a talky melodrama: Roger Ebert, review of Black Hole, Chicago Sun-Times, January 1, 1979.

  214“I stole it from everybody.”: David McIntee, Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to the Alien and Predator Movies (Prestatyn, Denbighshire, UK: Telos, 2005), 19.

  215“Hollywood is like a bunch of lemmings,”: Ladd, author interview.

  215“They wanted to follow through: Dan O’Bannon and David Giler quoted in Tom Shone, Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), 86.

  217“was to bring attention to our: Barry Ira Geller, “The CIA, the Lord of Light Project, and Science Fiction Land,” 2013, lordoflight.com/cia.html.

  218“the ambassador and the young prince: The Making of “Tron,” directed by Robert Meyer Burnett (Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2002).

  219“I told Dino: Charley Lippincott, author interview, July 8, 2013.

  221“Star Wars was fun: Isaac Asimov, “Science Fiction Is More Than a Space Age Western,” Knight-Ridder Newspapers, September 17, 1978.

  221“Glen Larceny.”: Harlan Ellison, The City on the Edge of Forever: The O
riginal Teleplay That Became the Classic “Star Trek” Episode (Clarkston, GA: White Wolf, 1996), end-note 1.

  221“the most blatant rip-off ever: “Small Screen Star Wars,” Time, September 18, 1978, 98.

  221“The characters are given more: Newsweek, September 11, 1978.

  222Outraged fans protested: “Boy Kills Self After TV Show Is Cancelled,” Associated Press, August 26, 1979.

  222“raised genuine issues of material fact: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation v. MCA, 715 F.2d 1327 (9th Cir. 1983), http://openjurist.org/715/f2d/1327/twentieth-century-fox-film-corporation-v-mca-inc.

  223“Wookiees have litters.”: Star Wars Insider, no. 141 (July 2013): 39.

  223“but we can’t say that.”: Quoted by Lenny Ripps, as interviewed by Bonnie Burton and told to the author.

  223“That’s one of those things: David Itzkoff, “Tale from the Dark Side,” Maxim May 2002.

  224“The only sound they make: “The Han Solo Comedy Hour,” Vanity Fair (December 2008).

  225“In the long run, it wasn’t necessary,”: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.

  15. HOW TO EXCEED IN SEQUELS

  227“I created Darth Vader,”: Vernon Scott, “The Real Darth Vader Is Unmasked,” Daily Chronicle (London), December 5, 1977, 18.

  227“I was confronted with what: “May the Sequel Be with You,” San Francisco Examiner, July 24, 1978, 4.

  229Prowse had no memory: David Prowse, author interview, September 5, 2013.

  229“vaguely” remembers “something: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.

  229“had inadvertently leaked story points: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”: The Definitive Story (New York: Del Rey, 2013), 100, emphasis added.

  231In November 1977, Lucas sat down: Lucas-Brackett story conference quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Empire”: The Definitive Story (New York: Del Rey, 2010), 23.

  233“During pre-production on Empire: Howard Kazanjian, author interview, September 10, 2013.

  234“I felt very flattered,”: Kershner in Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 36.

  234“I think George had it in mind: Kurtz, author interview.

  234“What we’re doing here, really: Raiders of the Lost Ark story conference posted at http://maddogmovies.com/almost/scripts/raidersstoryconference1978.pdf.

  234It contained some intriguing: Brackett’s draft posted in full at starwarz.com, cross-referenced against extracts posted in Rinzler, Making of “Empire.”

  235“I liked her a lot,”: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 70.

  236“I found it much easier: Alan Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of “Empire Strikes Back” (New York: Ballantine Books, 1980), 144.

  236the dialogue of the sequel’s: Lucas’s second draft quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 49.

  237“When you’re creating something: Star Wars, Definitive Edition Laserdisc (Industrial Light & Magic, 1993).

  237“The problem of the hero: Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (New York: New World Library, 1949), 125.

  238“Suddenly Dagobah is full of: Michael Kaminski, The Secret History of “Star Wars”: The Art of Storytelling and the Making of a Modern Epic (Kingston, Ontario: Legacy Books, 2008), e-book.

  238“finger in the Star Wars pie,”: Don Glut, author interview, July 9, 2013.

  240“I was desperate,”: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 207.

  240“challenged everything: Ringler, “Making of “Empire,” 65.

  243“I tried to rein Kersh in a bit,”: Kurtz, author interview.

  244“after the success of Star Wars: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 247.

  244“I’ll guarantee that”: Lucas to the Starlog Salutes Star Wars convention, 1987, as recorded in Starlog 127.

  244“It turned out he hadn’t,”: Spielberg in Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy documentary on Indiana Jones Trilogy, DVD, 2003.

  244“I’m willing to take a risk: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 172.

  245“I’ve caught him looking: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 162.

  245Ford: I think I should be: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 139.

  246“But more than a few”: Fisher admitted to doing cocaine on the set of Empire Strikes Back to the Associated Press in 2010.

  247Williams: Don’t hit me: Arnold, Once Upon a Galaxy, 143.

  247“I’d have to argue to do another take: Phil Tippett, author interview, April 11, 2014.

  248“You guys are ruining my picture,”: Pollock, Skywalking, 218.

  248“He’s lying.”: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 305.

  249“It ends on a very bleak: John Brosnan, film review, Starburst, no. 23 (May 1980).

  250“I would take out my portable: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 300.

  250“Trying to license Empire: Sansweet, From Concept to Screen, 123.

  250“What matters at the moment: Roger Angell, “The Current Cinema: Cheers and Whimpers,” New Yorker, May 26, 1980.

  250The Empire Strikes Back is about as personal: Vincent Canby, “‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Strikes a Bland Note,” New York Times, June 15, 1980.

  251“The Empire Strikes Back is the only blockbuster: Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto (New York: Scribner, 2003), 152.

  251“If you guys did this: Rinzler, Making of “Empire,” 334.

  251“They have done it again,”: Dave Prowse, Straight from the Force’s Mouth: A Career Most Extraordinary (Croydon, Surrey, UK: Filament, 2005), e-book entry for May 19, 1980.

  16. BEING BOBA

  252“It’s not ownership: Anthony Daniels, author interview, July 25, 2013.

  252“Here we are enacting: Carrie Fisher, “Letter to Leia,” BullettMedia, January 4, 2013, http://bullettmedia.com/article/character-study-carrie-fisher-makes-peace-with-princess-leia.

  253“No one’s going to play Lando: Billy Dee Williams, author interview, March 29, 2013.

  253“It’s a character that sticks: Jeremy Bulloch, author interview, July 25, 2013.

  17. END OF THE JEDI?

  258“I don’t want to upset your readers: Kerry O’Quinn, “The George Lucas Saga,” Starlog, nos. 48–50 (July–September 1981).

  261“discussions with the marketing: Gary Kurtz, author interview, April 24, 2014.

  262“I had to come up with another hundred pages: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”: The Definitive Story (New York: Del Rey, 2013), 11.

  263“I said ‘oh come on,’”: Hamill to Entertainment Weekly at the Cape Town Film Festival on May 4, 2013.

  263“In the next book, I want Luke to kiss: J. W. Rinzler, The Making of “Star Wars”: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film: Based on the Lost Interviews from the Official Lucasfilm Archives (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 107.

  263“It adds an odd frisson: Alan Dean Foster, author interview, June 26, 2013.

  263Blogger Michael Kaminski suggested: Michael Kaminski, author interview, April 7, 2014.

  264“I didn’t want to be a Lucas: Josef Krebs, “‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Director: Irvin Kershner,” Sound and Vision, September 30, 2004.

  264top of the list was David Lynch: Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 41.

  265“I wanted to get it out of my system: “The Forces Behind Jedi,” People, August 8, 1983.

  265“the most exciting and grandiose: “Secrecy Shrouds a Star Wars Serial,” New York Times, July 11, 1982.

  265“with Shakespeare in the next room”: The Making of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” ed. John Philip Peecher (New York: Ballantine Books, 1983).

  265The four of them talked about the story: Story conference quoted in Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 64.

  267“It’s like Hitler’s on his deathbed: Foster, author interview.

  268“I smile a lot: “Secrecy Shrouds a Star Wars Serial.”

  269“You’ll have to ask h
er.”: John Baxter, George Lucas: A Biography (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), 333.

  270“As open as I thought: Dale Pollock, author interview, May 16, 2013.

  270“You can’t be sick,”: Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 260.

  270“You can actually tell why: Rinzler, Making of “Jedi,” 260.

  270“It was a case of: From unpublished Lucas interview with Michael Rubin, author of Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution.

  18. BETWEEN THE WARS

  273“was just about every page: Dale Pollock, author interview, May 16, 2013.

  274“pretty good editor.”: Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), 422.

  275“I think people sometimes forget: Dale Pollock, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, updated ed. (New York: Da Capo, 1999), 240.

  276“an inverted triangle: Biskind, Easy Riders, 381.

  277“The divorce kind of destroyed: 60 Minutes, March 28, 1999.

  277“immediately electric”: Stephen Larsen and Robin Larsen, Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind: The Authorized Biography (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2002), 542.

  277“That was it,”: Larsen and Larsen, Joseph Campbell, 542.

  278“You know, I thought real art: Larsen and Larsen, Joseph Campbell, 543.

  278“I was really thrilled,”: Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, ed. Phil Cousineau (Boston: Element, 1999), 187.

  278“Bring him out to the Ranch,”: Larsen and Larsen, Joseph Campbell, 544.

  280“They said, ‘Thank you very much, you guys: Mark Boudreaux, author interview, September 22, 2013.

  281“close some of the psychological wounds: Gary Arnold, “Magical & Monstrous, the ‘Star Wars’ Finale Is a Triumph,” Washington Post, May 22, 1983.

  282Anthony Dolan says no Star Wars reference: Frank Warner, “The Battle of the Evil Empire,” Morning Call (Allentown, PA), March 5, 2000.

  282“misleading Red scare tactics: Lou Cannon, “President Seeks Futuristic Defense Against Missiles,” Washington Post, March 24, 1983.

  282“supersonic Edsel,”: Edward Kennedy, speech at the Brown University Commencement Forum, June 4, 1983, http://tedkennedy.org/ownwords/event/cold_war.