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George Lucas Shares How Leigh Brackett's Death Affected Empire Strikes Back


The Empire Strikes Back might be one of the best Star Wars movies ever made but that doesn't mean that the sequel was an easy one to make. George Lucas has revealed that he went through several difficulties including the death of screenwriter Leigh Brackett which actually had a major effect on Episode V.

Lucas recently spoke to StarWars.com to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Empire and he admitted that he was forced to write the script although he doesn't enjoy writing due to Brackett's passing.

"In this case, Leigh Brackett died literally the day she turned the first draft of the script in and it wasn't really much like I had expected or wanted and so I was stuck," Lucas said. Luckily, he managed to convince Lawrence Kasdan, who was working on Raiders of the Lost Ark at the time, to help him out. Lucas shared that he took on the big plot points in the second draft while Kasdan agreed to work on the third draft.

Amazingly, Kasdan was unsure if he could make things work for Empire. "He said, ‘How do you know I'm a good writer?'" Lucas said of Kasdan. "And I said, ‘Well, when you turn in the script if it's no good then the deal's off."

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Credit: Lucasfilm

The rest of it is, as you know, Star Wars history. The Empire Strikes Back was eventually made and would go on to feature one of the most shocking plot twists in cinematic history.

The Empire Strikes Back premiered on May 21, 1980.

Related: George Lucas Reveals Biggest Challenge He Faced While Making Empire Strikes Back

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