10 Bizarre First Drafts Of Famous Movies

1. Star Wars - Annikin Starkiller Blows Up Space Stations And Punches Princesses

It took a while for Star Wars to become Star Wars. George Lucas initially wanted to direct a movie version of Flash Gordon, but after being unable to secure the rights, he instead went away and made his own swashbuckling space Western. What he came up with was catchy titled The Journal Of The Whills, and was totally incomprehensible to anyone without a working knowledge of the made-up trade laws of the fictional planets in Lucas' universe. Changing the title to The Star Wars, the script focused on a young boy with the excellent name of Annikin Starkiller. Young Starkiller is part of a squadron set to attack the New Galactic Empire's latest super weapon, the Death Star, and is trained by a Jedi named General Luke Skywalker. As you can see, some of the elements of the classic tale are there, just not in the right places. There's the character that would become Han Solo, but not as we know him - he's a smuggler with green skin and gills. There's also a Princess Leia-type character, though she's 14 year old. Perhaps most problematic is the scene where our loveable young protagonist Starkiller punches the Princess in the face (she promptly falls in love with him, of course). Imagine watching Star Wars and having to root for the teenage girl puncher. I would be with the Empire all the way. Several re-writes later - with the assistance of a coterie of presumably very patient friends - Lucas produced the script we would come to know as Star Wars. Though Lucas being Lucas, his tin ear for language meant that he called it The Adventures Of Luke Starkiller As Taken From The Journal Of The Whills, Saga 1: The Star Wars. Try fitting that on a poster. It's fair to say the movie probably would not have been as successful with a title almost as long as its running time. Lucas owes a beer to whomever convinced him to change that name. It's fair to say he can probably afford it.