20 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Star Wars

Whether you love it or hate it, Star Wars is a massively popular franchise! Created by George Lucas, the film series takes viewers into a galaxy far, far away as they witness a battle between good and evil. The franchise first started back in 1977 with Star Wars: IV A New Hope, yes the first movie started on the fourth installment, crazy, we know. However, the film went on to be a huge success which lead George Lucas to easily create and release episode five and six while years later going back to create episodes one through three.

Since the first release, the Star Wars franchise includes a number of specials, video games and a slew of new upcoming live action films through current owners Disney. As we eagerly await the release of the next big film release Star Wars: VII The Force Awakens, you might find an interest in looking through these 20 facts that you might not have known about from the Star Wars franchise.

Original Return of the Jedi Ending

George Lucas stated the first draft ending of the Return of the Jedi would feature Luke Skywalker putting on Vader’s helmet and turning towards the dark side.

David Prowse Banned

George Lucas found David Prowse, the actor who portrayed Darth Vader, so annoying that he officially banned him from all official Star Wars conventions.

Miss Piggy

The voice of Yoda, Frank Oz, also does the voice of The Muppets’ Miss Piggy.

Millennium Falcon Design

The original Millennium Flacon design was created from a hamburger with two olives on the side.

The Empire Strikes Back Asteroids

The infamous asteroid scene in The Empire Strikes Back film actually contains some rather odd objects. Two of the asteroids used for the film were actually a potato and a shoe.

Fairy-tale Rubbish

Alec Guinness who played Obi-Wan Kenobi thought the Star Wars films were going to be complete fairy-tale rubbish. Because of this, he managed to get 2% of the gross box office receipts for the movies he worked on. This deal landed him over $90 million.

Tarkin Revenge Of The Sith

Originally, Lucas wanted to use stock footage and CGI to bring Peter Cushing’s character, Tarkin, back into the Star Wars franchise during Revenge of the Sith. However, the footage used was poorly executed thus Lucas had to drop the character from the script.

Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor really enjoyed lightsaber battles as every time he had to act out a battle scene he would make lightsaber sounds with his mouth. This caused each battle scene to be fixed in post-production.

Darth Vader

It took three actors to portray Darth Vader. The voice was actor James Earl Jones, the face was Sebastian Shaw and the body under the suit was David Prowse.

Episode III Clones

There are no live-action clones in Episode III. Each scene that contains a clone is actually just CGI.

Trash Compactor Blood Vessels

During the infamous trash compactor scene, Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, held his breath for so long that he burst a blood vessel on the side of his face. Because of the redness of his face, George Lucas had to film from certain angles.

Bad Motherf*cker

Samuel L. Jackson claims that his lightsaber had the words “bad motherf*cker” engraved on the hilt.

Han Solo Actors

Before Harrison Ford landed the part of Han Solo, actors Burt Reynolds, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Jack Nicholson were up for the role.

‘N Sync Cameo

In Attack of the Clones, ‘N Sync originally made a cameo by request of the daughter of George Lucas. However, the scene was cut out before the film was released.

Yoda Monkey

Within the book of The Making of Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler, George Lucas had originally thought a monkey would play the role of Yoda. It was planned to have a monkey wear a mask and carry a cane.

Qui-Gon Jinn Gillette Razor

The personal communicator used by Qui-Gon Jinn during Episode 1 is actually a resin cast of Gillette Ladies Sensor Excell Razor.

Dirty Clean Sets

George Lucas had a real problem with the studio cleaners as he found the sets for A New hope to be too clean. Lucas wanted to have a more aged environment with a dirty look to the sets. Even R2-D2 got rolled around in dirt before filming.

Harrison Ford

While Harrison Ford played an iconic role in the Star Wars films, Han Solo himself only earned $10,000 for his work in A New Hope.

Mark Hamill Car Accident

Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, was in a bad car accident before filming started on The Empire Strikes Back. Because of this accident, Mark held a scar on the side of his face. To account for the scar in the Star Wars franchise, Lucas added a scene in which Luke Skywalker gets attacked by a wampa.

Jabba The Hutt Puppet

It took a total of 10 puppeteers using both hands to properly move Jabba The Hutt.