10 Episode One

Chapter 10 Episode One In the years since Return of the Jedi, Star Wars had never really gone away. In 1978, George oversaw the publication of Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a novel by Alan Dean Foster that took place in the Star Wars universe. In 1987, West End Games introduced a role- playing game. The games filled in details about the universe that George approved and then handed over to other writers. In 1991, Timothy Zahn wrote Heir to the Empire, and the book kicked off a new wave of Star Wars enthusiasm. More books followed. By the time George announced his plans to make more Star Wars movies, their universe had become bigger, more complex, and even more beloved.

The three new movies George planned were prequels, the action taking place before the stories in the earlier films. To finance the new films, he decided to rerelease the original trilogy in theaters. Hollywood was skeptical. Why would people buy tickets for old movies? The first three had come out twenty years earlier. All had already been shown on television. But once again, Hollywood was wrong. Fans waited on long lines to see them again. Many adults who had loved the movies as kids were now taking their own children to see Star Wars. People brought their old lightsabers.

THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS THE 1997 RELEASES WERE DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINALS. GEORGE HAD CLEANED UP THE PRINTS OF THE FILMS AND ADDED MORE SPECIAL EFFECTS. IN SOME PLACES HE'D TWEAKED THE STORY. NOT ALL FANS WERE HAPPY WITH THE CHANGES. BUT AS FAR AS GEORGE WAS CONCERNED, THESE "IMPROVED" VERSIONS WERE THE ONLY ONES. HE HAD NO PLANS TO RELEASE THE MOVIES IN THEIR ORIGINAL FORM ON DVD. MANY PEOPLE FELT HE WAS TAKING AWAY MOVIE HISTORY AND CHANGING THE WORK OF OTHER PEOPLE, LIKE THE ORIGINAL SPECIAL-EFFECTS CRAFTSMEN. FANS ARGUED THEIR CAUSE PASSIONATELY ON THE INTERNET. THEY HAD GROWN UP WITH THE STAR WARS MOVIES. THEY WERE SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF FANS' LIVES, THEY FELT THE MOVIES BELONGED TO THEM IN A SPECIAL WAY, AND THEY DIDN'T WANT THEM CHANGED. MANY FANS OVER THE YEARS HAVE EVEN MADE

THEIR OWN FILM AND VIDEO TRIBUTES. GEORGE HAS ALWAYS ENCOURAGED THEIR CREATIVITY, EVEN MAKING THE OFFICIAL MOVIE SOUND EFFECTS AVAILABLE ONLINE. IN 2010, A DOCUMENTARY EXAMINED THE ARGUMENT FROM BOTH SIDES. AS THE CREATOR OF STAR WARS, GEORGE BELIEVES THE MOVIES BELONG TO HIM, TO CHANGE AND ADAPT IN WHATEVER WAYS HE FEELS ARE BEST.

Star Wars was rereleased on January 31, 1997. Empire was released three weeks later, and Jedi three weeks after that. The films topped the box office once again, earning $138 million, $67 million, and $45 million, respectively. On May 19, 1999, the first of the prequels, Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, opened in theaters. This time, no one was surprised when it broke box office records. It spawned popular video games like Star Wars: Episode I—Racer, which let players pod-race like young Anakin in the movie. Phantom Menace was followed in 2002 by Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith in 2005. George directed all three films himself, and his children appeared in small roles.

The three prequels tell the story of how Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker, became first a Jedi hero and then, tragically, the evil Darth Vader, who is the villain of the original trilogy. In the first film, The Phantom Menace, Anakin is a ten-year-old slave on Luke's home planet of Tatooine. The actor Hayden Christensen portrayed Anakin as a young man in the second film, Attack of the Clones. As a boy, Hayden had played at being a Jedi Knight with his friends. The first time a fight scene was filmed for the movie, George had to remind Hayden not to make the lightsaber noises himself as he had done as a young boy! Some characters from the original trilogy appear as their younger selves. Obi-Wan was played by Ewan McGregor, whose uncle had appeared in all three original movies as pilot Wedge Antilles. R2-D2 and C-3PO also appear, as do the child Boba Fett and a younger, swashbuckling Yoda.