page_title: Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker / Development
caption_attribution_description: Alan Dean Foster at w:BayCon
context_page_description: Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker is the original title of the novelization of the 1977 film Star Wars. Ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, but credited to George Lucas, it was first published on November 12, 1976, by Ballantine Books, several months before the release of the film. In later years, it was republished under the title Star Wars: A New Hope to reflect the retroactive addition of a subtitle to the film in 1981.
  Although the book contains some differences from the film, it also includes references to Palpatine and his rise to power in the prologue, setting up the backstory for future films.
context_section_description: The book was written by Foster and based upon Lucas's screenplay for the first Star Wars film. On how he got the job, Foster said:
  My agent got a call from Lucas's lawyer of the time, Tom Pollock (now one of the most powerful men in Hollywood). Someone had read a book of mine, Icerigger, knew that I had already done novelizations, and thought I might be the writer to do the novelization of Lucas' new film. I already knew his work through THX 1138 and American Graffiti. I accepted the offer to meet with George, and did so at Industrial Light and Magic, then in a small warehouse in Van Nuys, California (part of greater Los Angeles, and conveniently near my family home). We hit it off well, I got the assignment (for two books), and that's how it happened.
  Foster not only adapted the film's events, but also fleshed out the backstory of time, place, physics, planets, races, languages, history, and technology. When asked whether it was difficult for him to see Lucas get all the credit for the novelization, Foster said:
  Not at all. It was George's story idea. I was merely expanding upon it. Not having my name on the cover didn't bother me in the least. It would be akin to a contractor demanding to have his name on a Frank Lloyd Wright house.
   Lucas, for his part, has been open about the fact that Foster ghostwrote the novel, noting this fact in his introduction to later editions of the book.
caption: Ghostwriter Alan Dean Foster (2007, age 60)
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