Star Wars made its theatrical debut in 1977 with its first film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Star Wars remains one of the most financially successful films of all time. The film earned $6.05 million through its opening weekend alone. Although I am sure you have seen at least one, but hopefully all of the Star Wars films. I can almost guarantee that you probably didn’t know all of these fun facts about the Star Wars movie empire. Mind blown, you will be!
1. Yoda was originally going to be played by a cute little monkey with a mask and a cane.
2. The word “Ewok” is never uttered by a single character in the original trilogy. Although, the species is identified in the script and closing credits.
3. The phrase “I have a very bad feeling about this.” is in every single Star Wars movie.
4. Return Of The Jedi almost had a completely different ending. George Lucas toyed with the idea that after Luke removes dying Vader’s helmet, he puts it on, proclaims “Now I am Vader” and turns to the dark side.
5. Boy band ‘N Sync made a cameo in Attack of the Clones at the request of George Lucas’ daughter. They were edited out of the final cut. Bye, bye, bye, Justin Timberlake.
6. Yoda’s species has never been named. A mystery, it is.
7. In The Phantom Menace, Yoda has three toes. But in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith, he has four.
8. There are no female fighter pilots. Even though female fighter pilots were in the original screenplay, they were removed from final cut.
9. David Prowse, the actor who portrayed Darth Vader, is banned from attending official Star Wars conventions because George Lucas finds him annoying
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10. Chewbacca’s voice is a mix of bears, walruses, lions, badgers and other dying animals.
11. The tiny South Pacific island of Niue accepts limited edition Star Wars collectible coins as real money.
12. The only characters that appear in all the films are C3PO and R2D2 (Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker)
13. The original Star Wars, A New Hope, is still the highest grossing Star Wars Film.
14. During The Empire Strikes Back’s famous asteroid scene, one of the deadly, hurling asteroids is actually… a potato.
15. George Lucas was the first filmmaker to ask for and successfully retain the merchandising rights to his characters…creating an empire of toys, t-shirts, and other movie memorabilia.
16. Master Mace Windu is the only Jedi in any film to wield a unique lightsaber – purple.
17. Jabba the Hutt was originally meant to be a furry creature.
18. “Wedge”, actor Denis Lawson, is “Obi-Wan'” Ewan McGregor’s uncle in real life.
19. Chewbacca was inspired by George Lucas’ beloved dog Indiana.
20. Yoda was inspired by Albert Einstein.
21. In the Phantom Menace, the Senate contains E.T.’s species of alien, a clever crossover between collaborators George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In fact, one named senator, Grebleips, is “Spielberg” spelled backwards.
22. Attack Of The Clones was the only film in the franchise that did not top the box offices. Although it earned $302 million in domestic box office receipts, it was beaten by both Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
23. The sound of the TIE Fighter engines is actually the sound of an elephant call mixed with the sounds of a car driving on wet pavement.
24. George Lucas lost a bet to Steven Spielberg, costing him $40 million. They both agreed after saying: “I’ll give you 2.5% of Star Wars if you give me 2.5% of Close Encounters.’
25. The bounty hunter droid IG-88 was actually built from recycled film props. His head is the drink dispenser from the cantina scene in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
26. The communicator Qui-Gon Jinn uses is actually an altered Gillete Sensor Excel women’s razor.
27. Ahmed Best, the actor that plays Jar Jar Binks, makes an appearance out of his costume in the background of one scene.
The Star Wars Franchise is the highest grossing film ever of all time in the history of the world. It’s crazy to think that there are so many facts and hidden secrets that most people didn’t know about. How many of these Star Wars facts did you actually know? Let us know in the comments below.