Recently Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were seen in Los Angeles attending a charity dinner for the organization Midnight Mission, a homeless aid charity celebrating its 100th anniversary. Both Hamill and Fisher are reprising their roles as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia for the upcoming sequel Star Wars: Episode VII.
Some fun facts about Star Wars: A New Hope:
- The original title was The Adventures Of Luke Starkiller, which was later changed to The Star Wars and finally changed to Star Wars.
- Originally the story had Anakin Skywalker as a Jedi Knight teaching his son the ways of the Force but later they replaced Anakin with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- Harrison Ford was paid $10,000 for his performance in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
- The sound of the TIE Fighter engines is actually the sound of an elephant call mixed with the sounds of a car driving on wet pavement.
- The sound of the light sabre was made by accident. Sound effects supremo Ben Burtt couldn’t find a suitably sci-fi sound effect for the iconic lightsabres, until he accidentally walked past a muted TV while holding a microphone. He mixed the resulting low hum with the sound of a film projector motor and the rest was history.
- Luke and his family were originally imagined as dwarves.
- Han Solo who was meant to be a green skinned monster who had a set of gills and no nose.
- Alec Guiness hated Star Wars. Alec Guinness didn’t have high hopes for George Lucas’ space opera when he signed on; in fact, he downright hated it and had no idea what a smash it would become. Guinness begged Lucas to kill off Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he eventually relented. “What I didn’t tell him,” Guinness later revealed, “was that I just couldn’t go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I’d had enough of the mumbo jumbo.”
- Harrison Ford wasn’t in the running to play Han Solo. Burt Reynolds was among the top contenders to play Han Solo, along with Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Christopher Walken. Ford agreed to read Solo’s lines during screen tests for other actors, and Lucas realised his perfect Solo was right under his nose.
- The opening scroll was written by Brian De Palma. The scrolling words that open each Star Wars film were intended as a homage to the Flash Gordon serials of the thirties, which started in a similar way. Lucas was helped by Brian De Palma, director of crime classic Scarface, who saw the first, endless draft and said, “You’re out of your mind… Let me write this for you”. Editing it right down, De Palma played a key role in introducing Star Wars to millions across the world.
- Chewbacca was based on George Lucas’ dog, Indiana. His dog is also the inspiration for the name Indiana Jones.
Some more photos from the Midnight Mission event:
The “Dude” abides:
That’s not a hand rail:
Got this from Club Cool:
Star Wars: Episode VII is the first chapter of a new trilogy that takes place 30 years after Return Of The Jedi. The movie is being directed by J. J. Abrams and will reunite the original cast as well as new cast members to continue the Star Wars saga. Episode VII is currently being filmed in locations such as Abu Dhabi, Iceland and various locations in the UK. Star Wars Episode VII is scheduled to be released domestically on December 18th, 2015.