The 1977 release of “Star Wars” changed Hollywood forever. Four decades later, we’re still enthralled. Just last December, “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” was released in theaters. Following the previous two movies of the sequel trilogy, “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi”, the main Star Wars film franchise has concluded. So — Happy Star Wars Day this May 4!
- 1974 – R2-D2 once spoke English, and was kind of a jerk. The R2-D2 we all know and love from the Star Wars movies speaks only in beeps and whistles, a robot language that most of his friends can understand. In the original draft of Star Wars, written in 1974, R2-D2 spoke in complete sentences.
- 1975 – Luke Skywalker was almost a girl. A long time ago (January 1975, to be exact), a fledgling screenwriter named George Lucas was working on the second draft of an epic sci-fi space opera he called “Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode One: The Star Wars.”
- 1976 – The First Star Wars book is released. Although technically published before the release of the film in 1977, the book was written by George Lucas after he had already written the Star Wars screenplay.
- 1977 – The world is introduced to Star Wars with the first movie, “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope.”
- 1979 – Star Wars fans didn’t first introduce the often quoted phrase on May 4th. It was 1979, and Britain elected the first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. On May 4th, the day she took office, the Conservative Party placed an advertisement in The London Evening News, which read, “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations.”
- 1980 – The shocking revelation of the father of Luke Skywalker creates a worldwide sensation.
- 2001 – The first celebration of May 4th took place at the Toronto Underground Cinema 2001. The first official Star Wars Day festivities included a costume contest and a movie marathon. Fans’ favorite parodies of the franchise were also enjoyed, as were some of the most popular mash-ups and remixes.
- 2005 – Star Wars creator, George Lucas, was asked during a 2005 interview on a German news TV channel to say the famous sentence “May the Force Be with You.” Upon doing so, the interpreter interpreted the sentence into German as Am 4 Mai sind wir bei Ihnen (On May 4, we are with you). TV Total captured this and aired it on May 18, 2005.
- 2008 – Luke Skywalker Day groups appear. Perhaps considered the predecessor to Star Wars Day, groups on Facebook start popping up using the catchphrase “May the Fourth be with you.”
- 2011 – The first celebration of Star Wars Day in an organized fashion takes place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on May 4 of this year. It includes film screenings, costume contests, parodies and more.
- 2012 – Walt Disney Studios acquired the franchise in 2012, and set forth to produce a third trilogy, the ‘sequel trilogies.’ The seventh film, “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens,” was released in 2015.
- 2015 – In celebration of Star Wars Day, the crew on the International Space Station watched the films.
- 2017 – The universe was further expanded with new characters while staying faithful to the true essence of “Star Wars.” “Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi” was released in 2017, followed by “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019. Several stand-alone movies were also tied in with the main story, “Star Wars: Rogue One” in 2016, and “Solo” in 2018.
- 2019 – A Star Wars land opens at Disney World at its Hollywood Studios location
- 2019 – TV series ‘The Mandalorian’ airs on television, introducing the world to Baby Yoda.
- The original trilogy: “A New Hope” (1977), “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), and “Return of the Jedi” (1983)
- The prequel trilogy: “The Phantom Menace” (1999), “Attack of the Clones” (2002), and “Revenge of the Sith” (2005)
- The sequel trilogy: “The Force Awakens” (2015), “The Last Jedi” (2017), and “The Rise of Skywalker”
- Of the many, many problems was the serious lack of female characters. So, Lucas did something radical: rewrote his story’s main character, Luke Starkiller, as an 18-year-old girl. Star Wars wouldn’t get a female lead until nearly forty years later.
- Han Solo died in the original script. The original ending of “Return of the Jedi” has Luke assuming Darth Vader’s role as evil Galactic enforcer, and Han Solo dying in his heroic raid on the Death Star.
- The trash in the Death Star garbage compactor scene was REAL. The smell was so bad that Mark Hamill burst a blood vessel from trying to hold his breath, and the camera angle had to be adjusted for the rest of the scene so as not to show his injury.
- Samuel L. Jackson had his lightsaber engraved with a bad word.
- Chewbacca had to be protected from bear hunters.
- Nobody says the word “Ewok” at any point in Return of the Jedi.
- Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s communicator is a lady’s razor.
- Yoda’s original name was Buffy.
- The small South Pacific island of Niue accepts Star Wars coins as legal tender.
- The phrase “I have a bad feeling about this” is said in every film.
- Every Star Wars film has been released the week after George Lucas’ birthday on May 14.
- James Bond had a cameo in The Force Awakens. In the scene in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” where Rey uses the force to free herself from Kylo Ren’s interrogation chair? In that Stormtrooper garb is Daniel Craig, the actor best known for playing James Bond.
- Orson Welles Was Almost Darth Vader. George Lucas originally wanted Orson Welles as the voice of Darth Vader, but dropped the idea when he thought Welles’s famous baritone would be too recognizable.
- James Earl Jones Put In Less Than A Day’s Work. Lucas chose Jones as the voice of Darth Vader because of the actor’s unmistakable baritone. He was given only $7500 for his services and completed all of his lines in two and a half hours.
- Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin, found his costume boots so uncomfortable that he wore slippers during many of his scenes and insisted that his feet just never be in the shots.
- No physical clone trooper outfits were produced for the films. Every clone trooper seen in the Star Wars films was created with CGI.
- The voice of the character Chewbacca combines various animal noises. One of the darker Star Wars facts is that Chewbacca’s distinct sound comes from mixing the dying noises of lions, bears, walruses, and other animals
- The famous boy band NSync made brief appearances in “Attack of the Clones.” During the filming Rick McCallum invited the boy band group to act as extras on the set while filming the scene for the climactic battle of the movie. George Lucas cut the band’s cameo from the film in the final edit since it was not discussed before casting.
- In the Star Wars universe, lightsabers commonly have the color red, green, or blue. However, Mace Windu is seen as the only character in the Star Wars films to use a lightsaber with a purple color. According to George Lucas, Samuel L. Jackson specifically requested that his lightsaber be in this color. Since it would not affect the story or the character’s background, Lucas allowed Jackson to wield Mace Windu’s iconic purple lightsaber.
- Alec Guinness negotiated 2% of the gross box office receipts for the Star Wars franchise. The actor, famously known to play the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alec Guinness, arranged a deal with George Lucas to attain 2% of the gross box office receipts of the original trilogy. As a result of this deal, Alec Guinness earned around $95 million in value at the time, despite him referring to the original trilogy being in bad taste.
- The eyes of Yoda are based on the eyes of the famous scientist, Albert Einstein.
- Harrison Ford became an accidental star. During the audition process Lucas invited Ford to read a few lines. Ford delivered his lines spot-on compared to other actors. Lucas offered Harrison Ford the role of the intergalactic gunslinger.
- 2,187 – the number of the Detention Center cell in which Princess Leia is held.
- $4 billion – the investment by Disney in the Star Wars franchise.
- 2 billion – the number of lives lost when Alderaan is destroyed by the Death Star.
- 6 feet, 8 inches – the height of Darth Vader.
- 1,000 years – the time it takes Sarlaccs to digest their food.
- 6 – the number of bounty hunters Darth Vader hires to find the Millennium Falcon.
- 20,000+ – the midi-chlorian count in Anakin Skywalker.
- 2,500+ – the number of Stormtroopers assigned to Imperial Star destroyers.
- 12 minutes – the total time Darth Vader appears in the first movie of Star Wars.
- 6,000,000+ – the number of forms of communication known to C-3PO
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