10 Most Notorious Star Wars Urban Legends
8. George Lucas Had The Whole Thing Mapped Out From The Start
Verdict: Untrue
It's become part of movie folklore that Star Wars creator George Lucas conceived his space opera saga as a nine-part saga of three separate trilogies, effectively outlining the entire story before a single frame was shot. After all, the first films full title was Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, right?
Well, not really.
This urban legend could be better explained as Lucas having the foresight to understand that he was creating a mythology that could extend to numerous entries. When Star Wars was released, the director hoped it would prove successful enough to warrant sequels and had a trilogy in mind early doors, but that's about it.
The idea of a prequel focussing on a young Ben Kenobi was mentioned as early as August 1977, and a Lucasfilm fan club newsletter the following year referenced a twelve-part story. Come 1979, Star Wars became known as Episode IV after Lucas settled on the idea of Darth Vader being (spoiler!?!) Lukes father, which proved the catalyst for the idea of a prequel trilogy.
There have been contradictions and counterclaims over the years, but Lucas is on record as saying there would be no Episodes VII-IX because there isnt any story. His love of 1930's serials - often twelve chapters long - was most likely the model for an extended saga, but this overreaching arc was effectively a media creation. Lucas just had a little backstory and a lot of ambition.