Star Wars is not just a series of films. This is a whole subculture, the development of which is facilitated by a variety of related products, from comics and children's toys to "adult" life-size costumes and accessories. The release of each new film becomes an event in the film industry.
This epic has millions of fans all over the world. Over the four decades that have passed since the release of the first picture, many of them managed to grow up and grow old, at the same time infecting their children and grandchildren with their addiction. Each film has long been disassembled to pieces, whole collections of blunders and inconsistencies have been compiled, and from the stories about the filming process you can make your own epic.
1. $ 1.263 billion was spent on the filming of all the films of the Star Wars epic, and only the proceeds from their distribution amounted to $ 9.231 billion. The profit of $ 8 billion is comparable in size to the annual budget of far from the smallest countries like Cyprus. Bosnia or Costa Rica. On the other hand, Warren Buffett earned a similar amount in 2017 alone, and Bill Gates in the previous two years.
2. Revenues from the sale of related products significantly exceed the box office receipts of Star Wars. The marketing move does not deserve any other epithet other than “brilliant” - the audience themselves maintained their interest in the franchise between the releases of films, and even paid fabulous money for it.
3. George Lucas with the script of the first film had to knock a lot of thresholds of film studios - everyone was very skeptical about the prospects of the picture. Film company “20th Century Fox agreed to fund the production only on condition that the book written by Lucas was published in advance and became successful. But the movie bosses still had doubts after the book became a bestseller and won a number of awards.
4. The first film in the saga was released on May 25, 1977, but for all Star Wars fans, May 4th is a holiday. It's all about the paraphrased popular quote “May the Force be with you!”. Initially in English it looks like “May the Force be with you”, but it can also be written “May the 4th be with you ”-“ May 4 with you ”. The very same quote from a poll on one of the movie sites became the fourth most popular in the history of cinema.
5. Han Solo was originally a gill-breathing green alien. In the process of “humanizing” the character, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte and Kurt Russell auditioned for his role, and, as you know, Harrison Ford won, receiving a fee of $ 10,000.
6. The text of the introductory words flying away into the Universe was written by the now famous director Brian De Palma. The text was approved, but when dubbing it, it turned out that it was too voluminous, and it was impossible to shorten it without losing its meaning. Then the opening credits format was invented.
7. The first film was heavily influenced by George Lucas's trip to Japan, which he took a year before filming. In particular, Obi-Wan Kenobi is similar in character and behavior to the hero of Kurosawa's painting “Three villains in the hidden fortress of Rokurota Makabe. And it was not Alec Guinness who was supposed to play him, but the Japanese superstar Toshiro Mifune. And the word "Jedi" is consonant with the Japanese name for the genre of historical drama.
8. The "Star Wars" epic received a total of 10 Oscar awards and 26 nominations for them. The most titled (7 awards and 4 nominations) is the first film. None of the films were left without nominations.
9. The premiere of the ninth film, which is called: "Star Wars: Episode IX", is scheduled for 2019.
10. Giant Peter Mayhew (height 2.21 m) for more than 30 years of his career has played in films only Chewbacca, Minotaur and ... himself.
11. The Chief Jedi of the Universe, Master Yoda, appears in films in the form of a doll, computer graphics, a voice, and even just a mention in the script. But his figure is in Madame Tussauds.
12. The music for the first film was written by John Williams, famous for his work on the film "Jaws". Recorded compositions for the London Symphony Orchestra. George Lucas decided to partner with Williams on the advice of Steven Spielberg. He would not have advised badly, as he made a bet with Lucas, betting that "Star Wars" expects success.
13. The sound engineer of the saga, Ben Burt, uses a sound effect in all the films of the saga, which the professionals call "The Scream of Wilhelm". It is a scream of horror from a soldier being pulled into the water by an alligator in Distant Drums (1951). In total, sound engineers used this scream in more than 200 films.
14. Burt went to great lengths to find the right sound effects. He used the clang of a prison door (they even say that the doors in Alcatraz), screeching of car tires, the screams of elephants, children's crying, the roar of a crowd of fans, etc.
15. All languages spoken by the many races that inhabit Star Wars are absolutely real. Filipino, Zulu, Indian, Vietnamese and other dialects were used. And the warriors of Nelvaan in The Clone Wars speak Russian.
16. A lot of trouble for the film crew was the growth of the actors. Fortunately, for Kerry Fisher, the trouble was only the construction of a special 30-centimeter bench to compensate for the lack of growth in comparison with Harrison Ford. But under Liam Neeson, who played the teacher Obi-Wan Kenobi in the movie “Star Wars. Episode I: The Phantom Menace ”had to redo the entire set - the actor was too tall.
Carrie Fisher stands on a specially made bench
17. When the film crew came to shoot scenes on the planet Tatooine in Tunisia, it turned out that sometimes it was cheaper to build real buildings instead of decorations. These buildings still stand today and are used by local residents.
Filming in Tunisia
18. The members of ‘N Sync asked Lucas to film them for several episodes - they wanted to please their children. The director agreed. Either he was cunning in advance, or the acting abilities of the boy band members turned out to be terrifying, but all the episodes with them were mercilessly cut out during editing.
19. Three children of George Lucas starred in the saga in cameo roles. Jett played a young Padawan, Amanda and Katie starred in extras. The director himself appeared in episodes.
20. In 2012, Lucas sold his Star Wars company, Lucasfilm, for $ 4 billion. The buyer was the Disney Corporation.
