Trivia / More American Graffiti

• Adaptation First: The book adaptation of the original film covered the fate of at least one character (John Milner) long before this film sequel showed it proper (Adaptation Distillation notwithstanding).
• B-Team Sequel: Only George Lucas returned to serve in a production role^note as well as shadow director for the Vietnam scenes and supervision of the editing process, as noted in Troubled Production, with producer Gary Kurtz and Francis Ford Coppola sitting the project out. While marquee star Harrison Ford returned for an Uncredited Role as Bob Falfa in a single scene, Richard Dreyfuss declined to return, having risen significantly in star power in the intervening years, while film editors Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas also declined to participate.
• Creator Backlash: Lucas is on-record saying (via the "In the Beginning" documentary for The Phantom Menace) that More "failed miserably" and "made ten cents" by the time production was done, citing it as an example of how a franchise can be unintentionally destroyed if care isn't taken during the production.
• Creator's Oddball: Despite the fact that Bill Norton is the director of the film, George Lucas admitted in later years to filming the Vietnam scenes (on-location, no less!) himself... making it the only wartime film he directed in his career. More than one critic review has described the segment as being "Lucas' version of Apocalypse Now". (For extra points, Lucas was initially planned to direct said film, but ultimately dropped out.)
• Dawson Casting: Like the original film (and owing to the fact that the sequel was released six years later), More portrays several characters as being younger than they actually were. This includes actors like Charles Martin Smith, who had also outgrown the character Terry (who is 20 in 1964, versus Martin Smith being 24 in the film's year of release). This may be part of the reason why the Steve and Laurie storyline was pushed to 1967, so as to better align with the actors' ages (with the 25-year old [in 1979] Ron Howard playing the 20-year old Steve in 1964, and the 23-year old Steve in 1967.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The 1979 soundtrack tie-in is long out of print, and the original LP pressing is a rarity, despite only being a compilation album.
• Real-Life Relative: Andy's girlfriend Vikki is played by Cindy Williams' older sister Carol-Ann Williams.
• Recycled Script: Steve and Laurie's storyline is a direct rehash of their plotline from the original film, to the point of using the same story beats. Steve and Laurie are a couple as the story begins, but have a contentious argument (Steve wants to go back to college / Laurie wants to jumpstart her career instead of just being a stay-at-home mother). Their argument results in them splitting up for a time so they can "see other people". This lasts all of a few hours before Laurie gets wrapped up in a dangerous situation that necessitates Steve coming to the rescue to help (Laurie being a passenger in Bob's car when it crashes / Laurie and her relatives being involved in a anti-war protest that turns violent). After this, Steve and Laurie repair their strained relationship and pledge to stay together.
• Similarly Named Works: There are two separate soundtracks titled "More American Graffiti" (MCA 8007 and MCA 11006). The former was the second volume of a soundtrack trilogy (followed by American Graffiti, Vol. III) that capitalized on the success of the original film, and was released years before production of this film began. The 1979 album, also of the same name, has a completely different assortment of music and voiceovers by Wolfman Jack.
• Troubled Production: While filming itself went largely smoothly, George Lucas' Control Freak tendencies first reared their head on this project, foreshadowing what would happen with Return of the Jedi four years later. Lucas, having been roped into the production by Universal (who were hellbent on getting a sequel out the door, particularly after the success of the Lucas-helmed A New Hope a short time prior), hired Bill Norton to direct the film. However, as later cited in the 2016 autobiography George Lucas: A Life, Lucas ended up disagreeing with Norton's vision for the film, despite being the one who gave him the story and plot details in the first place. Lucas would end up shooting the entirety of the Vietnam scenes himself, in "newsreel" style, and later took over the editing process. Lucas would later apologize to Norton, admitting that "their conflicting approaches to the film hadn't worked."
• Uncredited Role: Harrison Ford reprises his role as Bob Falfa, now working as an arrogant traffic cop in San Francisco, in a single scene.
• What Could Have Been: Multiple directors were approached for the project, including Robert Zemeckis, John Landis and Irvin Kershner, who all refused, either due to a lack of experience working on comedy films or schedule conflicts.

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