20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

8. Lawrence Kasdan Refused George Lucas' Offer To Write The Script

In addition to Lucas not wanting to direct the film, he also wasn't terribly keen on writing it, either. As such, he originally requested the aid of Lawrence Kasdan, who of course co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (and went on to co-write The Force Awakens and Solo).

But Kasdan ended up turning Lucas down, insisting that with Lucas handing much of the creative heavy-lifting to collaborators on Empire and Return, he should be more intimately involved with the new trilogy and write it himself.

In a recent interview, Kasdan said of the offer to work on The Phantom Menace, "There were many times over the ensuing years when George [asked] me to be involved in all three [prequels]. He said, 'Hey, how would you like to write such-and-such?' I said, 'George, aren’t you supposed to start shooting in two weeks, in Australia?' He said, 'Yeah, but it’s not too late.'"

Kasdan added, "I was at the first screening of The Phantom Menace. And it was just so different that I didn’t really know what to make of it. It had no connection, in my mind, to what we had done. Your eyes are just like, what? How does this work?"