From: rddietz@spellbound (Richard D Dietz)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars
Subject: Re: 9 Volumes of STAR WARS?  (1st post?)
Date: 17 Apr 92 20:57:19 GMT
Reply-To: rddietz@eng.uiowa.edu
Organization: Department of Elect. and Comp. Engr., University of Iowa, USA.

In article <1992Apr15.162133@IASTATE.EDU> picard@IASTATE.EDU (David B Roy) writes:
>In article <1992Apr15.205718.18842@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>,
>gat@forsight.jpl.nasa.gov (Erann Gat) writes:
>> In article <1992Apr15.183517.3247@muddcs.claremont.edu>
>ksun@jarthur.claremont.edu (Kang Sun) writes:
>> >
>> >I think that is true.  Star Wars started with Episode IV rather than I.
>> 
>> I don't think this is quite true.  All of the videos and re-releases of
>> Star Wars now open tantalizingly with the title "Episode IV: A New Age"
>> or whatever it is.  But way back in 1977 when Star Wars first came out it
>> was just Star Wars.  No episode number, no talk of a Grand Plan.  It was
>> only after it became a mega-hit that the hype began.  I think that the
>> soggy plot of Return of the Jedi is some good evidence that Lucas hadn't
>> thought it all through from the start.  (Of course The Empire Strikes Back
>> was released as Episode V.)
>
>You may be right about the long-range plans, though I am pretty sure it's always
>been Lucas' plan to make 9, but you're a bit off about Episode IV.  In the
>scrolling text at the beginning of the movie, it says "Episode IV:  A New
>Hope."
>So, it's always been #4, and I think it also shows that George has always
>planned to make 1-3.
>
>Dave Roy

As far as I know, Lucas has always intended on making 9 movies.  I have
an _old_ Time magazine tucked away somewhere that interviews Lucas very
shortly after Star Wars was first released.  In the article Lucas says
that he has a notebook in which he adds to the entire saga when ideas
hit him.  The scrolling introduction to each movie has said the episode
number as far back as I can remember...

A year or so ago I heard that Lucas was going to make more SW
movies if a new production technique he was developing worked out well.
Then, in an interview on a late night news show during the week that 
"Young Indy" premiered Lucas said he planned to make the first three SW
movies in the next 5 years.  He also mentioned using the same (digitallly
-aided) production technique used in "Young Indy", I think to make them
cheaper to produce.  Because of this, I believe that these movies will
probably be done in quick succession as someone else mentioned (ala
BTFII & III).

I think old George has had everything pretty much planned out.  In a 
Starlog that came out about when The Empire Strikes Back did, he
said he had originally planned to have the story be about a princess
trying to rescue her brother on the Death Star, but then decided to
reverse the roles.  Besides tipping us off to the fact the Luke and
Leia are sibblings, this shows he has given the stories some foresight.
I have also heard Mark H. say that he has another contract with Lucas
starting in something like 2005 or so.  One reason an episode number
might not have been given to the first movie was because 20th Century
Fox originally had its doubts about the idea of spending that much money
on such a movie.  Bet they're glad they did though...

I'll try and dig out the magazines mentioned above and give more specific
data if anyone is interested...

-Dick Dietz
 (rddietz@eng.uiowa.edu)