I've been spending a lot of time on Wookieepedia lately, and the last little while I've been reading about the origins of the original film. It's....at times truly bizarre, but I think it's kind of an interesting window into both the creative process and what Star Wars might have been had George Lucas had more clout than a newcomer nobody had heard of. Anyway, much of this straight out of WP:
May 1974 - The Star Wars (rough draft)
Opening Crawl:
Synopsis (note: quite clearly a rough draft)
Interesting to see the earliest genesis of Star Wars ideas. Lots of names and ideas there that survived even into the prequel movies three decades later, albeit obviously modified.
The "First Draft" of The Star Wars followed in July 1974. It was mostly juggling names of character, but included a new opening crawl:
May 1974 - The Star Wars (rough draft)
Opening Crawl:
Until the recent GREAT REBELLION,
the JEDI BENDU were the most
feared warriors in the universe.
For one hundred thousand years,
generations of JEDI perfected their
art as the personal bodyguards of
the emperor. They were the chief
architects of the invincible
IMPERIAL SPACE FORCE which expanded
the EMPIRE across the galaxy,
from the celestial equator
to the farthest reaches of the GREAT RIFT.
Now these legendary warriors are
all but extinct. One by one they have
been hunted down and destroyed as
enemies of the NEW EMPIRE by a ferocious
and sinister rival warrior sect,
THE KNIGHTS OF SITH.
the JEDI BENDU were the most
feared warriors in the universe.
For one hundred thousand years,
generations of JEDI perfected their
art as the personal bodyguards of
the emperor. They were the chief
architects of the invincible
IMPERIAL SPACE FORCE which expanded
the EMPIRE across the galaxy,
from the celestial equator
to the farthest reaches of the GREAT RIFT.
Now these legendary warriors are
all but extinct. One by one they have
been hunted down and destroyed as
enemies of the NEW EMPIRE by a ferocious
and sinister rival warrior sect,
THE KNIGHTS OF SITH.
Synopsis (note: quite clearly a rough draft)
Spoiler:
Interesting to see the earliest genesis of Star Wars ideas. Lots of names and ideas there that survived even into the prequel movies three decades later, albeit obviously modified.
The "First Draft" of The Star Wars followed in July 1974. It was mostly juggling names of character, but included a new opening crawl:
Until the recent GREAT REBELLION,
the DAI NOGAS were the most
feared warriors in the universe.
For one hundred thousand years,
generations of DAI perfected their art
as the personal bodyguards of the King.
They were the chief architects of the
invincible ROYAL SPACE FORCE,
which expanded the King's power across
the galaxy, from the celestial equator
to the farthest stars.
Now these legendary warriors
are all but extinct. One by one,
they have been hunted down
and destroyed as enemies of
the NEW GALACTIC KINGDOM by a
ferocious and sinister rival
warrior sect, THE LEGIONS OF LETTOW.
the DAI NOGAS were the most
feared warriors in the universe.
For one hundred thousand years,
generations of DAI perfected their art
as the personal bodyguards of the King.
They were the chief architects of the
invincible ROYAL SPACE FORCE,
which expanded the King's power across
the galaxy, from the celestial equator
to the farthest stars.
Now these legendary warriors
are all but extinct. One by one,
they have been hunted down
and destroyed as enemies of
the NEW GALACTIC KINGDOM by a
ferocious and sinister rival
warrior sect, THE LEGIONS OF LETTOW.
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