History Trivia / ANewHope

* NetworkToTheRescue: Lucas was dumped by almost every studio in Hollywood ([[HilariousInHindsight even Disney]]) when he tried to pitch ''Star Wars'' to them. Eventually he went to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, who were also reluctant to put their resources in the film due to then-recent financial issues caused by various box office bombs and the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem, but then-studio head Alan Ladd, Jr. managed to cajole the executives into giving the film a chance (by forcing theaters who booked one of their movies to show ''Star Wars'' too).

** While Creator/AlecGuinness' dislike of the dialogue in ''Star Wars'' is legendary, he jumped at the chance to work with Creator/GeorgeLucas, and appreciated the film's special effects and technical accomplishments. He also enjoyed working with the then-young cast, who have always spoken highly of his professionalism and work ethic. It's unclear the extent to which this remained true as CreatorBacklash set in for him in later years.

* PermanentPlaceholder: Anthony Daniels was hired to provide the body of C-3PO with the intention of dubbing him over later. Some thirty voice actors auditioned, until it was decided to keep Daniels voicing the character.

** Harrison Ford didn't even audition for the movie. Having previously worked with him on ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'', George Lucas hired him to read lines for the actors auditioning. Lucas soon realized that Ford was better than any of the actors he'd been brought in to help, and subsequently cast him as Han Solo.

* WordOfGod: Since this movie was made, canon and George Lucas have gone all over the place regarding what was intended and what the things that made it into the film actually mean.

** The lightsabers also suffer from this. Here, they're largely a practical effect with the actors wielding poles covered in reflective tape. Unfortunately, this means that, combined with the more dated fight choreography, the actors couldn't get it in like Flynn and really go to town. The only duel is between Obi-Wan and Vader; Prowse was hampered by the armor and Alec Guinness did his best, but he was a 62-year-old man wearing bulky robes. Later films took advantage of digital effects this film didn't have access to and gave the actors much more gracile plastic rods ([[AscendedFanboy with the actors supplying the woom woom sounds themselves]]).

* AdaptationFirst: Both [[NovelizationFirst the novelization]] and the Creator/MarvelComics adaptation came out before the movie. Given they're based on earlier scripts, there are discrepancies, particularly in the comic.

** In the scene where Vader and Tarkin discover the Rebel base isn't on Tatooine, Vader's dialogue has very clearly been changed by ADR, as his movements don't match up with the dialogue at all.

* {{Blooper}}: In the scene where Vader and Tarkin discover the Rebel base isn't on Tatooine, Vader's dialogue has very clearly been changed by ADR, as his movements don't match up with the dialogue at all.

* NoStuntDouble: Literally, as they couldn't afford stunt doubles. The only stuntman played the Tusken Raider who attacks Luke as well as the cantina patron who alerts the stormtroopers about the incident inside. Creator/MarkHamill and Creator/CarrieFisher performed the swing across the Death Star pit themselves in one take.

* NoBudget: The initial budget was only $8 million,[[note]]$35,430,904 when adjusted for inflation in 2021.[[/note]] and producer Gary Kurtz [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/11/11/an-interview-with-gary-kurtz?page=3 stated]] that for two weeks, Lucas and his crew "didn't really do anything except kind of pull together new budget figures", until it grew to a still meager $10 million (and one extra million was spent by the end due to the TroubledProduction). For comparison, [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe the Bond movie]] made that year had a $14 million budget.[[note]]Again, $62,004,082 when adjusted for inflation in 2021.[[/note]] This despite the fact that Bond, a long-standing and popular action franchise, would only end up in 200 theaters, while Star Wars ended up in 1,750. It's often been said over the years that every penny which was saved on in front of the camera was reinvested into the visual effects, which paid off in spades as they were literally unprecedented at the time.

* NoBudget: The initial budget was only $8 million,[[note]]$35,430,904 when adjusted for inflation in 2021.[[/note]] and producer Gary Kurtz [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/11/11/an-interview-with-gary-kurtz?page=3 stated]] that for two weeks, Lucas and his crew "didn't really do anything except kind of pull together new budget figures", until it grew to a still meager $10 million (and one extra million was spent by the end due to the TroubledProduction). For comparison, [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe the Bond movie]] made that year had a $14 million budget.[[note]]Again, $62,004,082 when adjusted for inflation in 2021.[[/note]] This despite the fact that Bond, a long-standing and popular action franchise, would only end up in 200 theaters, while Star Wars ended up in 1,750.

** Not only them, but the studio executives also didn't think the movie would do well and gave Lucas ''all'' merchandising rights, from which he has almost certainly made far more money than from the films themselves. They also stopped paying fees for a storage unit containing many of the film's props, although some were rescued such as the Death Star model which now lies in a collector’s home.

** Creator/MarkHamill took interest in playing Luke Skywalker because he thought the project sounded amazing - bear in mind that this was long before any visual effects were released for the film, and during a time when interest in making the film was pretty low. Of the three leads, he was the most excited to see his face on a cereal box.

** Despite the film's staggering success, Lucas is very modest regarding the film. In J.W. Rinzler's ''The Making of Star Wars'', he admitted he's never been satisfied with the movie's script despite the numerous rewrites it went through. He also disowned the original theatrical cut and went out of his way to bury it after the mid '90s in favor of the Special Editions and subsequent rereleases based on it.

--->"Very hard to be objective here, but there's no doubt the first CGI Jabba was awful. I actually think it was a brave attempt, given the state of CGI then, but I believe they tried to do too much. The subtleties of facial expression were really beyond CGI at that point, even on face as large as Jabba's! One aspect of 'our' Jabba was how many people it took to make him live. There were always at least three people operating his face from outside, not including David Barclay and Toby Philpott who were inside as puppeteers. They were moving his arms, his head, body, jaw and tongue. But despite that I think we co-coordinated a better result than CGI. And Jabba was really there for the other actors and performers to react and relate to."

* CreatorBreakdown: Creator/GeorgeLucas's experience with directing ''A New Hope'' - along with the demands of the studio, which threatened to pull the plug on the project - proved to be so exhausting that he didn't direct another film for more than two decades. He still remained onboard with the franchise to write and produce ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' before writing, producing, and directing ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' with complete control. In the case of the latter films, he had the benefit of both an established reputation, financial security, as well as a very controlled in-house environment to create his films in, preventing a lot of the misery he dealt with while filming ''A New Hope''.

** Additional deleted roles include Koo Stark and Anthony Forrest as Camie Loneozner and Laze “Fixer” Loneozner, respectively, who were friends with Luke and Biggs on Tatooine. Jenny Cresswell played the character [[TheDanza Jenny]], who appears to be a minor love interest to Han Solo during the original version of his introduction at the cantina. Declan Mulholland appeared as a human version of Jabba the Hutt but had his scene cut, and then was replaced with the canon version of the character through CGI when the scene was added to rereleases.

* DyeingForYourArt: Anthony Daniels had plenty of gripes against the [=C-3PO=] costume in his memoir, as it was tight to the point he risked permanent nerve damage and preferred not to even think about falling down, sand entering the suit in the desert locations made things even more uncomfortable, and the suffocation was enhanced by the small mouth hole.

* FakeBrit: Leia's brief accent change could be explained as indicative of speaking formally because she is a senator, much the same way Amidala's manner of speaking changed when she was under cover as her own handmaiden, and later when her term as queen ended. Another possible explanation: the scene where her FakeBrit accent is most prominent — when she's arguing with Tarkin on the Death Star. She's talking down to him, letting him know she is his equal and will not be intimidated... but when he points the WaveMotionGun at her home planet, she drops the pretense '''and''' the accent. Carrie Fisher later said that she put it on just because the line "I recognized your foul stench the moment I was brought on board" begs to be spoken as poshly as possible. (she also admitted something the novelizations and such went with, that being surrounded by the Imperial {{Evil Brit}}s [[BriefAccentImitation made her talk like them]])
* FollowTheLeader: The film drew from many sources. ''Franchise/FlashGordon'' and ''ComicStrip/BuckRogers'' are two of the most obvious influences--the whole movie was meant to be a big love letter to the former, and at one point was even planned to be a Flash Gordon film. ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' was a big influence on the film's aesthetics and effects work. The ''[[Film/TheHiddenFortress Hidden Fortress]]'' connection is well known, and Admiral Motti even starts to say "the Rebels' ''hidden fortress''", but only gets halfway through the last word before Vader chokes him. The ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''-Tatooine inspiration is pretty obvious. You can tell George Lucas must have seen at least ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' episodes 26, 1, and 8, in that order, so we can probably pin his famous trip to Japan down to early 1975, when the series went into reruns. Creator/IsaacAsimov noticed some similarity to his ''Literature/FoundationSeries'', but didn't take it personally. Vader himself was inspired by the appearance of the villain in ''Series/{{Kikaider}}''. The entire Rebel Base sequence has elements of many other UsefulNotes/WorldWarII pictures featuring the U.S. Army Air Corps, and the climactic trench run owes its existence to ''Film/TheDamBusters''. The medal ceremony is straight out of ''Film/TriumphOfTheWill''.

-->'''Mark:''' [to Carrie and Harrison, on seeing a crowd gathered at the airport] [[{{Irony}} Hey, guys, I think there's someone famous on this plane!]]

** The lightsabers also suffer from this. Here, they're largely a practical effect with the actors wielding poles covered in reflective tape. Unfortunately, this means that, combined with the more dated fight choreography, the actors couldn't get it in like Flynn and really go to town. The only duel is between Obi-Wan and Vader; Prowse was hampered by the armor and Alec Guinness did his best, but he was a 62 year old man wearing bulky robes. Later films took advantage of digital effects this film didn't have access to and gave the actors much more gracile plastic rods ([[AscendedFanboy with the actors supplying the woom woom sounds themselves]]).

** The three main actors all absolutely could not stand Lucas' dialogue, which was filled with a lot of TechnoBabble and CrypticBackgroundReference for WorldBuilding but no one had a frame of reference for what any of it meant (Toshi Station, Kessel Run, navicomputer, etc) and the phrasing itself could be extra blunt. Mark Hamill allegedly protested that "George, people don't talk like this!", while Ford, in naturally pithy fashion, told him "You can type this shit, George, but you sure can't ''say'' it." This filtered into the movie itself as annoyance and exasperation, doing a lot to make it palpable.

* NoBudget: The initial budget was only $8 million,[[note]]$35,430,904 when adjusted for inflation in 2021.[[/note]] and producer Gary Kurtz [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/11/11/an-interview-with-gary-kurtz?page=3 stated]] that for two weeks, Lucas and his crew "didn't really do anything except kind of pull together new budget figures", until it grew to a still meager $10 million (and one extra million was spent by the end due to the TroubledProduction). For comparison, [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe the Bond movie]] made that year had a $14 million budget.[[note]]Again, $62,004,082 when adjusted for inflation in 2021.[[/note]]

** Filming had rainstorms in a frequently dry Tunisian region, malfunctioning props, and things got so behind schedule that the crew had to split into three units to meet deadlines, the teaser trailer had just whatever footage was available, and the film was still delayed from Christmas 1976 to May 1977; post-production had Lucas hospitalized for extreme stress, followed by supervising the RagtagBunchOfMisfits turned [[Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic visual effects team]] doing a year's work in six months after blowing half of their budget on shots that were thrown out,[[note]]before Lucas arrived, most of their time and money was spent setting up their equipment rather than actually filming, and the only salvageable scene they did was the escape pod's release[[/note]].

** Obi-Wan never says "May the force be with you" in this film or anywhere in the original trilogy. He says "Use the Force, Luke," and "The Force will be with you always," while it's actually Han who says "May the force be with you" in an OOCIsSeriousBusiness moment in this film.

* TroubledProduction: It would be a fitting analogy to say that Lucas getting his film made was a feat as Herculean as the Rebels' fight against the Empire. Both the documentary ''Film/EmpireOfDreams'' and J.W. Rinzler's book ''The Making of Star Wars'' go into great detail about how much of an uphill battle it was to make the film (which turned out to be just the first ''Star Wars'' production to go awry, as [[TroubledProduction/StarWars a whole page of them is found here]]): no one believed in the movie, ranging from the studio (who gave a paltry $8.25 million budget, which eventually escalated to $11 million as things went wrong) to the cast and crew who didn't really understand or care for the script and often ridiculed it; filming had rainstorms in a frequently dry Tunisian region, malfunctioning props, and things got so behind schedule that the crew had to split into three units to meet deadlines, the teaser trailer had just whatever footage was available, and the film was still delayed from Christmas 1976 to May 1977; post-production had Lucas hospitalized for extreme stress, followed by supervising the RagtagBunchOfMisfits turned [[Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic visual effects team]] doing a year's work in six months after blowing half of their budget on shots that were thrown out,[[note]]before Lucas arrived, most of their time and money was spent setting up their equipment rather than actually filming, and the only salvageable scene they did was the escape pod's release[[/note]] and then hiring two editors as well as his then-wife, Marcia Lucas to salvage a first cut described as a "complete disaster" when screened to close friends Creator/StevenSpielberg and Creator/BrianDePalma. Overall, the experience was so miserable, that Lucas quit directing and left the two sequels to other directors, and wouldn't direct another movie until ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' two ''decades'' later.

** The three main actors all absolutely could not stand Lucas' dialogue. Mark Hamill allegedly protested that "George, people don't talk like this!", while Ford, in naturally pithy fashion, told him "You can type this shit, George, but you sure can't ''say'' it."

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Creator/MarkHamill has a story about going to see the first trailer for ''A New Hope'' in a theater with Creator/CarrieFisher. This particular trailer ended with the line "One billion years in the making, and it's coming to ''your'' galaxy this summer!" to which a particular wiseguy in the audience cracked "Yeah, and it's coming to late-night TV six weeks after that!" Hamill and Fisher were [[ActuallyPrettyFunny amused]], but also somewhat mortified and wondered if they had been involved in making a turkey. Of course, the wisecracker's prophecy did not come true in the end.

** The part where Luke says "I can't see a thing in this helmet!" was not scripted; Mark Hamill had thought the cameras had stopped rolling.

** The stormtrooper on the right smacking his head on the low doorway. Instead of trying to edit it or even ignore it in later releases, they in fact did the exact opposite by [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] it with a very audible "thunk" as it happens.

** Luke's line, "Oh, Biggs is right, I'm never gonna get out of here" refers to a DeletedScene where we meet him much earlier and persuades Luke that he's needed on Tatooine. Similarly, Luke joking around with Biggs about "Beggar's Canyon back home" during the Death Star fight may have confused some first-time viewers who wondered how this new pilot was supposed to know anything about Luke's homeworld, seeing as the reunion scene between Luke and Biggs on Yavin Four was also cut.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/WilliamKatt [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79XY3d6-tiY&list=PLC3CD575DE35513CA&index=3 was the runner-up]] for the role of [[Characters/StarWarsLukeSkywalker Luke Skywalker]] before Creator/MarkHamill was cast.
** Creator/CharlesMartinSmith, [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Robby Benson]], and [[Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow Perry King]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdqBtPAZzKg&list=PLC3CD575DE35513CA&index=4 auditioned]] for the part of Luke Skywalker as well before the casting of Hamill. King would later go on to [[CastTheRunnerUp voice Han in the radio adaptation]].
** Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/NickNolte, and Creator/ChristopherWalken were the final contenders for the role of [[Characters/StarWarsHanSoloCharacterSheet Han Solo]] before the casting of Creator/HarrisonFord. Check out Russell's audition [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nix_PID3oiA&list=PLC3CD575DE35513CA&index=2 here]]. Nick Nolte would later go on to voice Kuiil in ''Series/TheMandalorian''. Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/JackNicholson, Creator/JamesCaan, Creator/TomSelleck, Creator/BurtReynolds, and Creator/AlPacino were also approached for the part of Han Solo. When asked why he turned it down, Pacino responded with this.
--->'''Pacino:''' I remember not understanding the script. I was in ''Film/TheGodfather'' and they didn't care if I was right or wrong for the role or if I could act or not act.
** Creator/BillMurray, Creator/ChevyChase, Creator/SteveMartin, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/JohnTravolta, Creator/RobertEnglund, Creator/JamesWoods, and Creator/BillyDeeWilliams were considered for Han Solo as well before the casting of Ford. Williams would eventually go on to portray [[Characters/StarWarsLandoCalrissianCharacterSheet Lando Calrissian]] in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
** Creator/JodieFoster was the original candidate for the role of [[Characters/StarWarsLeiaOrgana Princess Leia]] before Creator/CarrieFisher was cast. However, Foster turned down the offer due to scheduling commitments to ''Film/TaxiDriver''. Creator/SissySpacek auditioned, while Fisher auditioned for ''Film/{{Carrie|1976}}'', as Lucas and Creator/BrianDePalma were holding joint auditions and they got each other's roles (Fisher denied the rumor that she chose ''Star Wars'' because she refused to do nudity). Creator/TeriGarr [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeqBwnCr3fY also auditioned]].
** Creator/KarenAllen, Creator/NancyAllen, Creator/ChristineBaranski, Creator/KimBasinger, Creator/BonnieBedelia, Creator/LindaBlair, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/GeenaDavis, Creator/FarrahFawcett, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/CatherineHicks, Creator/AnjelicaHuston, Creator/AmyIrving, Creator/MargotKidder, Creator/ChristineLahti, Creator/JessicaLange, Creator/BernadettePeters, Creator/JaneSeymourActress, Creator/CybillShepherd, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/KathleenTurner, Creator/SigourneyWeaver, Creator/DianneWiest and Creator/DebraWinger also auditioned for the part of Princess Leia before the casting of Fisher.
** Creator/MelBlanc and Creator/StanFreberg were considered for the voice of C-3PO before it was decided to let Creator/AnthonyDaniels, who performed the role physically, to voice him as well.
** The role of [[Characters/StarWarsObiWanKenobi Obi-Wan Kenobi]] was originally written with Creator/ToshiroMifune in mind. Depending on who you talk to, either Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox wasn't keen on giving Mifune another whirl (although Mifune could speak English, all productions where he was speaking English ended up dubbing over his voice due to his thick Japanese accent) or Mifune wasn't available. Either way, the role went instead to Creator/AlecGuinness.
** Mifune was also up for the role of Darth Vader at one point. At Tokyo Comic Con, his daughter Mika clarified that her father didn't want to do the film because he felt it was disrespectful to Japan's samurai culture, as this was back when many people still considered sci-fi to be a low-budget and juvenile B-grade genre. She went on to say that were he still alive today, he likely would have jumped at the chance to appear in a ''Star Wars'' movie.
** The general story of what we now know and love as ''Film/ANewHope'', and by extension the entire ''Star Wars'', varied heavily from draft to draft. The very first treatment written in 1973, ''The Journal of the Whills, Part 1'', centered around a "Jedi-bendu" by the name of Mace Windy (who would become the character of Mace Windu in ''The Phantom Menace'') and his apprentice, C. 2. "Chuiee" Thorpe. According to the existent plot, Windy worked as a warlord for an Alliance of Independent Systems, but was kicked out because his peers believed he was too powerful, after which he and Thorpe found themselves involved in a mysterious mission. Lucas brought the thing to his agent, Jeff Berg, who was quickly confused by the [[CallARabbitASmeerp massive amounts of jargon]] used in the treatment, and recommended he start simpler.
** The next version of the story was already called (''The'') ''Star Wars'', and was heavily inspired by Creator/AkiraKurosawa's ''Film/TheHiddenFortress''. The protagonists were the princess of the planet Ophuchi and her protector, veteran General Luke Skywalker, who were chased through the galaxy by the evil Empire. On their way, they were joined by two bureaucrats and later a cadre of juvenile rebels who had revolted against the empire, all of which later had to rescue the princess, sold to the Empire by Yavin aliens, from the imperial capital of Alderaan.
** Lucas tweaked the story in the process of creating a rough draft in 1974, and then a first draft with some naming changes. The story featured Jedi master Kane Starkiller and his son Annikin, who helped free planets to oppose the evil Empire and its ruler Cos Dashit. As Kane was a cyborg (with only his head and right arm remaining organic) and therefore couldn't adequately teach his son the ways of the Jedi, he arranged for Annikin to train under the tutelage of his old friend Luke Skywalker, a general of the Aquilaean system, while Kane himself joined a hulking reptilian alien named Han Solo to perform a mission. The plot then had Annikin rescuing Princess Leia and joining a tribe of Wookiees (originally envisioned as smaller, with heads like that of "giant bushbabies", and not technologically capable), captained by Chewbacca, in order to defeat the Imperial forces in their jungle homeworld of Yavin. The Empire was interested in conquering Aquilae because it had advanced cloning facilities, and characters like Vader, Artoo and Threepio were already there, at least nominally.
** The second draft from 1975, ''Adventures of the Starkiller as Taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars'', had almost all the recognizable elements from the final product. In its backstory, the Galactic Empire had been built over a Republic toppled by trader barons, while the Jedi-bendu, who protected the galaxy with their knowledge of the Force of Others, had been exterminated by a mercenary Force sect named the Black Knights of the Sith. The protagonist was now Luke Starkiller himself, who had been taught the Jedi arts along with his three brothers (Biggs, Windy and Deak) by their uncle Owen Lars (husband to Beru and father to Leia) and therefore received the title of "The Skywalker". In order to save Deak and the planet Ogana Major, Luke joined young space pirate Han Solo (who had stolen a ship by rigging it so it appeared to be about to explode and letting the rest of the crew evacuate themselves) and his crew, the Wookie Chewbacca (who ''was'' technologically capable) and the cyborg Montross Holdaack. After finding Ogana had been blown up by an Imperial unnamed space station, they were captured and taken to a prison complex in a floating city, but escaped and eventually reached the Rebel base in Yavin 4, from where they destroyed the station in a way similar to the Death Star. A SequelHook where Luke completed his training with his father, the ancient Jedi leader of the Rebellion, was also included.
** The next drafts increasingly resembled the final ''A New Hope'', but contained some differences in naming and character traits, with one of them having Ben Kenobi revealed as a cyborg and being a bit of a curmudgeon.
** Around the time of the second draft, Lucas was concerned that there weren't any major female characters, as Leia Lars was very minor, so he considered changing Luke to a girl (presumably fusing him with Leia) and making Han her love interest. Also, the Kyber/Kaiburr Crystal — a crystal which amplifies the power of the Force in its bearer — was a major part of the plot in those draft scripts, to the point that in the third, while the others are rescuing Leia, Ben Kenobi goes to take back a Kyber Crystal which had been stolen by Vader when he betrayed the Jedi. In the final version this was replaced by him deactivating a tractor beam holding the ship.
** Even with the general script finished, there were aspects of the script that were tweaked during production. In the script used in the audition for Luke, Alderaan was called Organa IV, Han seems a lot more knowledgeable about the Empire, Kenobi is not present as Luke and Han react to Alderaan's apparent disappearance, and Luke admits that he does not have the money to pay Han.
** Darth Vader was originally a rather minor character, and early drafts actually have him spending most of the movie without his iconic suit, as the latter was actually not a permanent life-support system, but a spacesuit that he needed to board the ''Tantive IV'' through space. He was even going to be killed off during the trench run at the end, but Lucas decided to add a shot of him escaping as a SequelHook, and the rest is history.
** The Emperor's original concept was a PuppetKing who got into his position thanks to Vader and Tarkin. This characterization was de-emphasized from the film's script, but the novelization retained it. It was in the later films that he was changed to a Dark Side mastermind.
** In a later draft, Han and Chewbacca do ''not'' actually have a ship when they agree to fly Ben and Luke to Alderaan. They steal the ''Falcon'' just before the passengers arrive. Han's lines bragging about how great his ship is were actually meant to reflect that he was obviously scamming them.
** Jabba was originally conceived of as a SmallNameBigEgo gangster, who's nonetheless powerful enough to make Han's life difficult unless he's paid off. It's clear from the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw1gkNd6Z_8 deleted scene]] with the human version of Jabba that Lucas still had this interpretation of Jabba in mind as late as when the movie was being shot. There were also plans to make Jabba a big furry alien, voiced by Declan Mulholland.
** The scene where Luke and Han rescue Leia was originally going to end with Luke punching Leia in the face in order to knock her out.
** Obi-Wan was originally going to survive the duel with Vader, but George Lucas changed this to a more thematically interesting HeroicSacrifice when he considered that the character would have had little to do for the remainder of the movie. His death also fulfilled the need to give the villains more menace, as Lucas was worried that the Empire seemed very weak and was left with egg on its face as the heroes outwitted and escaped them; previous drafts did include some scenes of extreme violence and the (potential) rape of Leia by the Empire's men, but Lucas took this out because he did not want the film to do as bad as his then-rated PG (now R) ''Film/THX1138''. Putting Obi-Wan's death in gave Vader and the Death Star more status and power, bringing the stakes back up.
** The Battle of Yavin was originally going to be much less exciting — the final battle had Luke taking two full runs at the exhaust port, no appearance of the ghost of Obi-Wan, and Han scaring Vader away from Luke much before Luke takes the shot.
** The artistic aspect was also heavily subject to changes. For instance, R2-D2 and C-3PO had different [[http://www.df.lth.se/~ola/Starwars/StarWars/starwars6.html character designs]] in the beginning: the former was meant to be tripedal, and the latter bore an androgynous appearance similar to Hel from ''Film/{{Metropolis}}''. Artoo's design was changed after tripedal locomotion proved to be too difficult to accomplish on sand. Lucas also decided to make Threepio more distinctly male in the end.
** In early versions of the script, R2-D2 could speak standard English, and he had a rather foul vocabulary. Although all of R2's English speech was removed, many of C-3PO's reactions to it were left in.
** Chewbacca originally [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060528003603/starwars/images/b/bf/ChewieConceptArt.jpg had a bat-like face]]. This design was reused for the Lasat species, whose most notable appearance was in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels''.
** According to Ben Burtt, Darth Vader's life support systems were supposed to make constant beeping and clicking sounds which, in addition to his loud, mechanical breathing, would make Vader sound like "a walking emergency room". This was deemed too irritating and the noises were cut down to just the iconic VaderBreath.
** Lucas originally envisioned Tatooine as a jungle planet. Gary Kurtz traveled to the Philippines to scout locations; however, because the idea of spending months filming in the jungle made Lucas "itchy", the director refined his vision and made Tatooine a desert planet instead.
** Luke was going to be surnamed "Starkiller" until fairly late in the process, when it was realized that the name uncomfortably reminded people of UsefulNotes/CharlesManson. The name "Luke Skywalker" was then brought back from the first draft script. However, the name Starkiller got far enough into production that, according to Mark Hamill, they had to reshoot Luke and Leia's first meeting in the detention level. (The name was eventually repurposed as the codename of Vader's secret apprentice in ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' and then later as the name of the base housing the First Order's planet-sized superweapon in ''Film/TheForceAwakens''.)
** The "Lost Cut" — the first rough cut of the film, which has never been seen publicly and has been detailed in various articles over the years — was apparently intended to be "''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' in Space". It featured many extra scenes, including extra footage of the Jawas and the Sandcrawler, a midget human confronting a creature much larger than himself (seen in a BetweenMyLegs shot) at the Mos Eisley spaceport which was later reused for the "Life on Tatooine" segment of the ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' , and more.
** The incident in the cantina was originally filmed as much more gruesome, with Ponda Baba/Walrusman not only having his arm severed by Obi-Wan's lightsaber but also getting ''beheaded''. Unused footage exists of the severed head moving around on the floor of the cantina.
** Kabe, the little bat-faced alien seen briefly asking for a drink in the cantina, was originally supposed to be part of the group harassing Luke and can be seen standing near Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba in several shots. Several still photos exist of Kabe reacting to the aftermath of the altercation with Obi-Wan.
** Luke and Leia's kiss almost got axed because test audiences laughed at it. Lucas' wife Marcia convinced him that they were laughing because it was so sweet and unexpected.
** In the original filmed version, the Death Star was also not actually attacking Yavin IV. The idea of having the Death Star preparing to blow up the Rebel base was added in editing by Marcia Lucas through insert shots and recycled footage to give the scene more tension, which is why nobody on the base has dialogue in the control room.
** Darth Vader originally had no powers, and the Force was a general sixth sense and some basic mental tricks, as opposed to the final product, where it's far more powerful.
** [[WordOfSaintPaul According to]] [[https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/1379135290787258368 Mark]], Lucas "really wanted" the classic cartoon short ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'' to be shown before ''A New Hope'' during the original theatrical release, as a signal to the audience that what would follow wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. Unfortunately for Lucas, he was unable to secure the rights.
** The meeting between the Imperial higher-ups at the Death Star had around ten seconds cut from the very beginning, in which Cassio Tagge explicitly referred to Darth Vader as a "Sith Lord, sent by the Emperor". Had these ten seconds not been cut, the Sith would've been properly referenced for the first time in 1977, rather than in 1999's ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''.