Star Wars is now one of the biggest franchises of all time. Whether it is the movies, TV shows, toys, or comics, the franchise has now become a part of popular culture and will undeniably remain so, for decades to come. Yet, the first-ever Star Wars movie was plagued with development and production issues, so severe were these issues that George Lucas nearly had a heart attack.
In the middle of these issues, Lucas decided to screen the rough cut of the movie to some of his industry colleagues. While auteurs like Steven Spielberg struggled to understand it, even the movie’s editor, Paul Hirsch was unable to make heads or tails out of it.
Star Wars‘ Rough Cut Was So Bad That Even its Editor Did Not Understand it
Almost every Star Wars fan knows the famous story of how George Lucas had no hope from his first-ever film in the billion-dollar-grossing franchise. To say that shooting A New Hope was an arduous experience would be a gross understatement, for the Disney+ docuseries Light & Magic perfectly encapsulates how burdensome the conditions were.
As per the docuseries, George Lucas remarked how no visual effects studio could do what he wanted to do. This made him turn to an independent visual effects artist, John Dykstra, who was extremely crucial for the movie to actually get made.
Yet, things were hard to accomplish. After months of laborious process, Lucas decided to screen a rough cut of the movie to his fellow filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg. While Spielberg loved it, the cut was difficult to understand, so much so that even the movie’s editor Paul Hirsch.
Even I, who worked on the film, could barely follow the story. It was much rougher than rough cuts usually are.
Stated Hirsch in the docuseries as Spielberg went on to say that A New Hope, at that time, was just a set of WWII documentaries since the visual effects were yet to be put in.
Steven Spielberg Loved The Rough Cut of The First Star Wars Movie
George Lucas, during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival (via Business Insider), had remarked how Steven Spielberg was the only filmmaker friend of his who thought the first Star Wars film would succeed. Even in the docuseries, Light & Magic, Spielberg remarked how out of all the industry people present to watch the rough cut of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope, he was among the few who loved the film.
To say it was not finished is a kindness… there were only a couple effects shot in there… Me and Alan Ladd Jr., the head of Fox, we were probably the only people in the room that loved the movie in the condition it was in.
While George Lucas and the studio had no hope for the movie, the film went on to gross $775 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). Shocked by the movie’s success, everyone’s efforts finally bore fruit and Lucas soon went on to become one of the best filmmakers of all time.
Light & Magic and the Star Wars franchise can be streamed on Disney+.
