There is little doubt that creating a follow-up to one of the biggest films in cinematic history can be stressful. Not surprisingly, Star Wars creator George Lucas had a hard time coming up with a worthy sequel to A New Hope and he admitted that this led to him doing something he initially considered taboo while working on The Empire Strikes Back.
Lucas recently spoke to StarWars.com in celebration of Empire's 40th anniversary and he revealed some interesting new details about working on the sequel. Interestingly, he stated that the biggest challenge he faced was financing the film.
"Well, to be very honest, the most challenging aspect was paying for it," Lucas shared, adding that it was important so he could maintain creative control. It was even more difficult for him considering he was going against what he was taught as a child.
"In order to be able to take control of the movie, I had to pay for it myself. And in order to do that, I did something my father told me never to do, which was to borrow money," Lucas said. "But there wasn't much I could do because I only had maybe half of the money to make the movie so I had to borrow the other half, which put a lot of pressure on me."
It may have been hard for Lucas to find money and going against what he was taught but it was all worth it in the end. To this day, The Empire Strikes Back continues to be one of the most beloved Star Wars films.
The Empire Strikes Back was first released on May 21, 1980.
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