Jedi Master Minch and other 'Empire Strikes Back' first draft casualties
Posted Monday, May 17, 2010 at 4:19 PM Central
by John Couture
As an aspiring screenwriter myself, I've always been intrigued in the creative process of bringing movies to life. It's not uncommon for movies to vary greatly between the first draft and what ultimately unspools at your local megaplex.
We all know about the famous casting adjustments that became legendary. I still can't wrap my head around Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back to the Future, but it almost happened. In fact, it did happen for a couple of weeks before studio execs wizened up.
So too, screenplays go through massive rewrites which can change something as insignificant as a character's name to something as substantial as a whole subplot being altered. With this in mind, I was completely fascinated when I heard that the original screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back had appeared online.
You see, while most people know that Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas wrote the final screenplay, very few actually realize that accomplished Science Fiction writer Leigh Brackett wrote the initial screenplay for Empire just before her death on March 18, 1978 due to cancer. With the first draft in hand, Lucas brought in Kasdan and the rest is history.
You can find Leigh Brackett's first draft here. Although, I should warn you that the site is being hammered so you might want to try an off-peak time as they are taking it down from time to time to help alleviate traffic.
If you can't get Leigh's full script or you're not all about reading the entire screenplay anyhow, then you should definitely check out this article over at Crave Online. Rick Panna does a fine job highlighting the main differences.
In addition to the original name of Yoda being Minch, the screenplay reveals that Lando Calrissian was going to be outed as a clone, Bespin was going to be inhabited by tall, gangly "cloud people" who flew around on manta-rays, and that Leia wasn't originally going to be Luke's twin sister, but that another character named Nellith was going to be revealed as Luke's twin.
Revelations like this help to explain some of the minor plot holes or plot oddities that always stuck with me. For instance, why develop a love triangle (including a passionate kiss) between a brother and sister? Also, Yoda's line to Obi Wan when Luke leaves Dagobagh, "No, there is another," always felt contrived as Leia was never shown to possess any force-like abilities nor could she have been considered a "last hope" if her life was in the potential danger that spurred Luke to cut short his Jedi training.
It's revealed that Nellith was completely hidden away, but that she had been completing Jedi training from a young age. Thus, if this were the case, Nellith would have truly been considered a viable option for the resistance against the Empire.
My favorite reveal of the whole piece though is a bit of lost dialog that almost assuredly would have found its way onto top quotation lists had it survived the various rewrites. During a filmed, but trimmed scene were Wampas are trashing the rebel base on Hoth, Han quips to Luke "The Force isn't with you today, kid" as he's unsuccessful in quelling the attack.
All in all, the article is a must read for any Star Wars fan, especially those with a bent towards the history of the original trilogy or aspirations of film making some day. What do you think of this new information?