User:TheJoebro64/drafts/Empire

Rigorous note-taking on The Making of the Empire Strikes Back by J. W. Rinzler. I'm starting the book on Friday (January 17) and will try to read it as fast as I can.

Chapter 1: The Summer of Star Wars (May to December 1977)
Opening: Badlands:
 * Star Wars is released in 1977 and became a pop culture phenomenon.
 * A bunch of people involved with the production (e.g. Williams, Fisher, Ford) describe what the frenzy was like at the time.
 * After a while, Lucas stopped doing publicity because it was too overwhelming.
 * The success of the film and its licensing opportunities meant a sequel was pretty much inevitable, but Lucas wasn't ready to commit just yet.
 * The production of the original film "had been a four-year horrific seat-of-the-pants experience"—one that Lucas never wanted to experience again. However, it wasn't what Lucas envisioned, and a sequel would allow him to finish what he'd started.
 * The first movie gave Lucas insight to the Star Wars universe since it established it, so he knew a sequel would provide an opportunity to introduce more ideas and adventures. "I always felt if I could go back to those environments using the same characters, I could make a helluva better movie."
 * Star Wars sequel rumors made their ways around the press, one of which claimed that two sequels were shot concurrently with the first film, while others claimed Lucas would only "supervise" future Star Wars films (only the latter was true).