The Empire Strikes Back: A Masterpiece in the Making
George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars franchise, was initially unsure of the film’s success. Early screenings of A New Hope received mixed feedback, with only a few, including Steven Spielberg, predicting the film’s massive success. In reality, the film grossed $775.8 million, adjusted for inflation, making it a huge commercial success.
The success of the franchise led to inevitable sequels, and Lucas aimed to finance The Empire Strikes Back himself, using $33 million from loans and the previous movie’s earnings. The film released in 1980 and Lucas recovered his investment just three months after its release.
However, Lucas’s decision to break from traditional filmmaking rules by deviating from the usual opening credits and instead opting for a grand opening crawl, which is now iconic in the Star Wars franchise, cost him dearly. The Hollywood Guilds fined him nearly $250,000 for breaking the rules. Despite this, Lucas didn’t regret his decision, famously saying, “I’ve never made a picture in Hollywood. Now I’ll never have to.”
The controversy surrounding The Empire Strikes Back led to Lucas’s departure from the Hollywood Guilds. This affected the production of Return of the Jedi, as Lucas struggled to find a suitable director who was not a member of the American unions, as he had left the Guilds. Lucas eventually chose Richard Marquand, a British director who was unaffected by the restrictions.
