Star Wars: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The Empire Strikes Back

20. The Film's Budget Almost Doubled During Production

After the success of A New Hope, George Lucas wanted to avoid seeking financing from a major studio for the sequel in order to secure creative freedom for himself.

As a result, he acquired the original $18 million production budget without any studio help, between profits from A New Hope and a bank loan he was able to secure off the back of A New Hope's incredible commercial performance.

Though the move of course paid off for Lucas in the end, The Empire Strikes Back's budget ultimately ballooned to $33 million by the end of production.

This caused the nervous bank to consider calling to collect on Lucas' loan, at which point he decided to make a deal with Fox to secure the loan in exchange for a greater cut of the profits. However, Lucas got to keep his much-cherished franchise and merchandise rights.

The generosity of the deal, spearheaded by the president of Fox's film division Alan Ladd, Jr. - who was an early supporter of Lucas and Star Wars - left many within Fox angry, causing Ladd to eventually quit the company.