8 Moments That Almost Killed Star Wars

8. A New Hope Nearly Died During Production

Most people look back on A New Hope with fond memories of seeing it for the first time. That's all well and good for fans, but making the movie was something of a nightmare for the people who created it. Sure, it made them rich and famous, but that doesn't mean it was easy.

Star Wars' production was anything but easy, and it nearly died several times before and during the cameras started to roll. Firstly, it was rejected twice before it managed to find a distributor, which didn't help it get the budget it truly needed. After that, the filming in Tunisia was just terrible.

Ironically, Tatooine was meant to be a jungle planet, but filming in that environment seemed problematic, so it became a desert. That locale was no better, and prop breakdowns, serious cast injuries, electrical problems and a rare Tunisian rainstorm drove costs up, caused schedules to be chucked in the bin, and production to become strained.

Add to that the fact that the movie's first cut was unwatchable, and nobody seemed to care about the project other than George Lucas. It truly did defy the odds.