Star Wars: 20 Things You Didn't Know About Return Of The Jedi
10. It Was Shot Under The Codename "Blue Harvest"
By the time Return of the Jedi went into production, Star Wars was an out-and-out phenomenon, and so it was decided to film it under a codename.
In order to throw paparazzi and inquiring fans off the scent, it was shot under the name "Blue Harvest" and said to be a horror film, with T-shirts and caps even being made to further sell the lie.
Keeping the Jabba's palace scenes under wraps was especially difficult as a dune buggy festival with 35,000 attendees was taking place nearby, and despite the set being fenced off with 24-hour security, fans did manage to snap some photos.
There was another reason for the secrecy, though: Lucasfilm found that their production vendors would automatically raise their prices if they knew it was for a Star Wars movie rather than some random horror film.
As for the title itself? It's a nod to the Dashiell Hammett story "Red Harvest," which inspired the classic 1961 Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo, itself a fave of George Lucas.