In case you didn't know by some weird happenstance, the first script that George Lucas wrote for Star Wars was very different from the movie he ended up making and us seeing and loving.
It was originally called The Star Wars, and it included several different characters as well as different versions of the characters that we know and, as I've said, love. It weaves the “story of Jedi Annikin Starkiller and General Luke Skywalker, an alien named Han Solo, and evil Sith Knights.” Yep, you've read it correctly – Han Solo was originally planned to be an alien!
As far as I know, most fans haven't been able to explore and get to know the story of this original script (some of them were too young, for some of them it wasn't available and so on), but Dark Horse Comics has announced that they will be adapting that original script into an eight-issue comic book mini-series, so we'll finally get to see all that could have been!
Read the full press release below, which emphasizes that this is not an April Fools day joke:
“It's no April Fools' prank! Dark Horse is honored to announce a dream project: working with J.W. Rinzler, executive editor at LucasBooks, and artist Mike Mayhew (Avengers) to adapt the rough-draft original screenplay which spawned the biggest franchise in film history!
Three years before his 1977 film, George Lucas put down on paper his first story set in a galaxy far, far away—a tale of fantastic adventures, daring escapes, “lazer swords,” romance, and monsters. A story of Jedi Annikin Starkiller and General Luke Skywalker, an alien named Han Solo, and evil Sith Knights. The screenplay was titled The Star Wars!
‘I'm not sure where I first read about The Star Wars—it was years and years ago—but the idea of Luke Skywalker being an older Jedi General, and Han Solo being a six-foot-tall lizard, turned my Star Wars fan brain on its side,' said longtime Star Wars editor Randy Stradley. ‘I always assumed this would be one of those stories that would be ‘lost to history,' so getting to work on bringing it to life is kinda like a dream come true.'
‘While researching in the Lucasfilm Archives I've found many treasures—but one which truly astounded me was George's rough draft for The Star Wars. His first complete imaginings were hallucinating to read — mind blowing,' said writer J.W. Rinzler. ‘While working with George on another book project, I once asked if we could adapt his rough draft. He was hesitant. Years later, with Dark Horse's invaluable help, we showed him a few drawn and colored pages of what it might look like. He gave us the okay.'
Originally conceived in 1974, The Star Wars has been the subject of rumor and legend in the fan community throughout the history of the galaxy far, far away. Now, Lucas has seen fit to grant Dark Horse the right to adapt this fabled story into an eight-issue comic series launching in September!”
I can't wait to add this one to the list of all the Star Wars comic-book arcs I'm already following, heheh.
Can you count yourself among those lucky bastards that have had the chance to read the original script?
P.S. Here, I've found an interesting list of 74 things that every good Star Wars movie needs to have – compiled over at Wired, where you can read it. You hear that, J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt?
