17 Subtle Star Wars Easter Eggs And References In Other Movies

15. R2-D2 Hitches A Ride - Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg both had new films coming out in 1977, with Lucas' Star Wars expected to take a back seat to Close Encounters, Spielberg's follow-up to his hit Jaws. Worried that the profits his movie would make would be nothing compared to his friend's film, Lucas accepted a deal - Spielberg agreed to give him 2.5% of the Close Encounters takings, and Lucas agreed to give the same amount to Spielberg from whatever his film made. Spielberg was laughing all the way to the bank after A New Hope made $40 million more than Close Encounters. Money wasn't the only thing the two friends were sharing at the time, either. As Jillian first sees the Close Encounters mothership from her hiding place in the rocks, R2-D2 can clearly be seen hanging from the underside of the craft. Since R2 wasn't the pop culture icon he is today at the time, this was more of a pre-nod from Spielberg, who saw how massive Star Wars would become even before Lucas himself.