The Empire Strikes Back
is an undoubted masterpiece, but George Lucas was actually fined nearly $250,000 for the movie. Even George Lucas didn’t really expect Star Wars to be anywhere near as big as it was destined to become; feedback was mixed at an early screening of A New Hope, with Steven Spielberg one of the few predicting success. Lucas predicted the movie would gross $15-20 million at the box office, and Spielberg predicted $50-60 million. In reality, the movie made $775.8 Million – over $3 billion adjusted for inflation.

Naturally, this meant sequels were inevitable. Lucas aimed to finance The Empire Strikes Back himself, with $33 million from loans and the previous movie’s earnings. The movie released in 1980, and Lucas recovered his original investment within just three months of its release. This was in spite of a surprising twist – because one controversial decision cost Lucas almost $250,000 in fines.

George Lucas Broke Guild Rules With The Star Wars Movies – & There Were Consequences

We’re all familiar with the traditional opening crawls of Star Wars, which give you a quick introduction before dropping you into the action. If you’ve seen any other movies from the 1970s and early 1980s, though, you’ll realize that was unusual for its time; movies usually opened with credits for actors and directors, rather than putting those at the end. This was in accordance with Writers’ Guild and Directors’ Guild rules of the day.

The guilds had given Lucas a pᴀss for A New Hope, because nobody had expected it to be a hit. In the wake of A New Hope‘s success, though, every eye was on The Empire Strikes Back – where the opening simply mentioned “Lucasfilm,” leaving a nod to director Irvin Kershner until the end credits (Kershner didn’t mind). The guilds imposed a fine on both Lucas and Kershner, but Lucas paid them all before ripping up his membership cards.

Lucas Had Problems With Return Of The Jedi Because He’d Left The Guild

Lucas didn’t mind leaving the unions. “I’ve never made a picture in Hollywood,” he told the New York Times back in 1981. “Now I’ll never have to.” This did, however, cause him some issues when it came to choosing a director for Return of the Jedi (or Revenge of the Jedi, as it was originally тιтled). He opted for Richard Marquand, a British director who wasn’t part of any American unions and who was therefore unaffected by the controversies after The Empire Strikes Back.