Writing a movie is hard. Writing a movie that changes the world is almost impossible. When people look back at the A New Hope screenplay, they usually imagine George Lucas sitting down and dreaming up Luke Skywalker exactly as we see him on screen. But that's not what happened. Not even close.
The reality is messy. It’s a story of a guy struggling with "The Journal of the Whills" and names like Mace Windy. If you’ve ever felt like your first draft is trash, you’re in good company. George Lucas's early attempts at what would become Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope were, by his own admission, a total disaster. He spent years hacking away at a story that didn't want to be told. It wasn't genius at first sight; it was a war of attrition against his own typewriter.
The Version Where Luke Was a 65-Year-Old General
Let’s be real: the first draft of the A New Hope screenplay (then just called The Star Wars) is unrecognizable to a modern fan. It was finished in May 1974. In this version, Annikin Starkiller is the protagonist, but he’s basically a trainee. The "Luke Skywalker" figure is actually an older, grizzled general. It reads more like a Kurosawa samurai film—which makes sense given Lucas's obsession with The Hidden Fortress—than the space opera we got.
The tone was weirdly clinical. Characters talked in a stiff, pseudo-military jargon that lacked any of the "scoundrel" charm Han Solo eventually brought to the table. In fact, Han Solo was a green-skinned alien with gills. Imagine that for a second. No vest, no smirk, just a giant swamp-thing monster. Honestly, the project probably would have died right there if Lucas hadn't been so stubborn about refining the "human" element. He realized that the spectacle didn't matter if you didn't care about the kid behind the mask.
Moving From "The Star Wars" to a Focused Narrative
By the second draft, things started to shift. This is where the "Starkiller" family dynamics began to get complicated. You start to see the bones of the "Hero's Journey" that Joseph Campbell later became associated with in the Star Wars mythos. But it still wasn't quite right. The dialogue was heavy. Lucas has always been self-conscious about his dialogue—he famously said, "I'm not a writer." He’s a visualist. He sees the frame before he hears the voice.
This is where his "Rough Draft" evolved into "The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars." Try saying that five times fast. It’s a mouthful. It’s pretentious. And it’s exactly why the editing process, both on the page and later in the cutting room with Marcia Lucas, was the real MVP of this production.
👉 See also: Is Heroes and Villains Legit? What You Need to Know Before Buying
Why the A New Hope Screenplay Still Matters for Writers Today
What’s fascinating about the A New Hope screenplay is how it balances high-concept world-building with very simple, relatable stakes. We aren't just watching a galactic rebellion; we're watching a farm boy who wants to go to the academy because he's bored. That’s it. That’s the hook.
Most sci-fi scripts fail because they spend forty pages explaining how the warp drive works. Lucas didn't do that. Or rather, he stopped trying to do that. He realized that the "Force" worked better when it was mystical and vague rather than a scientific footnote. In early drafts, the Force was more like a "Force of Others"—a sort of luck or spiritual aura. By the time he reached the fourth draft, which is basically the shooting script, the Force became a binding energy. It became a religion.
This transition is a masterclass in "less is more."
- The MacGuffin: The Death Star plans. They are simple. You have them, or you don't.
- The Conflict: Empire vs. Rebellion. Black vs. White.
- The Growth: From "I can't get involved" to "Use the Force, Luke."
The "Starkiller" to "Skywalker" Name Change
It’s a tiny detail, but it changed everything. Late into the process, Lucas changed the name from Starkiller to Skywalker. Why? Because Starkiller sounded too violent. Too aggressive. "Skywalker" has a poetic, aspirational quality to it. It sounds like someone looking up at the stars, which is exactly the iconic shot we get on Tatooine. That one word change altered the entire DNA of the character’s legacy.
The Secret Influence of Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck
You can't talk about the A New Hope screenplay without mentioning the uncredited help. Lucas knew his dialogue was clunky. He brought in his friends Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck—the duo behind American Graffiti—to polish the script. They didn't change the plot, but they fixed the "voice." They gave Han Solo his bite. They made Leia more than just a damsel in distress; they made her a leader who takes charge of her own rescue.
✨ Don't miss: Jack Blocker American Idol Journey: What Most People Get Wrong
"Into the garbage chute, flyboy!" That’s the kind of punchy, character-driven writing that Lucas struggled with but had the wisdom to outsource. It’s a reminder that great scripts are often collaborative, even if one person's name is on the cover.
Fact-Checking the "Planned as Nine Parts" Myth
We’ve all heard it. "George Lucas had all nine movies written from the start."
Basically, no.
The A New Hope screenplay was a frantic attempt to cram a massive, sprawling epic into a single movie because Lucas wasn't sure he’d ever get to make another one. The "Episode IV" subtitle didn't even appear in the original 1977 theatrical release. It was added later, in 1981. When he was writing the first movie, Vader wasn't Luke's father. Leia wasn't Luke's sister. In the early scripts, Vader was just a high-ranking Imperial officer who happened to be a badass.
The complexity we love today was retrofitted. The screenplay for A New Hope succeeds because it works as a standalone film. It has a beginning, a middle, and a definitive end (the explosion of the Death Star). If it had failed, we would have just remembered it as a weird, high-budget cult flick.
🔗 Read more: Why American Beauty by the Grateful Dead is Still the Gold Standard of Americana
How to Read the A New Hope Screenplay Like a Pro
If you actually sit down to read the shooting script today, you'll notice things that never made it to the screen.
- The Biggs Darklighter Scenes: Luke’s friend Biggs had a whole subplot on Tatooine. It grounded Luke’s desire to leave. It showed he wasn't the only one wanting to join the Rebellion. Most of this was cut for pacing, but you can find the dialogue in the script.
- Jabba the Hutt (The Human Version): There was a scene with a human actor playing Jabba. It was cut because the tech wasn't there to make it look good, and then famously added back in with CGI decades later.
- The Technical Descriptions: Lucas’s script is heavy on "industrial" descriptions. He wanted the universe to look "used." He describes ships as being "beat up" and "greasy." This was a huge departure from the shiny, sterile sci-fi of the time like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Lessons for Modern Creators
The evolution of this script teaches us that clarity is king. You can have the coolest aliens in the galaxy, but if the audience doesn't understand what the protagonist wants in the first ten minutes, you've lost them. Luke wants off the farm. R2-D2 has a secret message. Those are the engines that drive the story.
Don't get bogged down in your own "Journal of the Whills." Focus on the kid looking at the twin suns.
Actionable Next Steps for Screenwriters and Fans
To truly understand the mechanics of the A New Hope screenplay, don't just watch the movie. Study the evolution of the text to see how a masterpiece is carved out of rough stone.
- Compare the Drafts: Search for the "The Star Wars" Rough Draft (1974) and compare it to the "Revised Fourth Draft" (1976). Pay attention to how the character of Han Solo changes from an alien to a human.
- Analyze the Opening Pages: Notice how the script establishes the scale of the conflict immediately. The "Devastator" chasing the "Tantive IV" is described in a way that emphasizes size and power dynamics without needing a single word of dialogue.
- Track the Dialogue Polish: Look for lines that feel "modern" or "snappy" and research the contributions of Katz and Huyck to see how a rewrite can save a stiff scene.
- Watch the "Lost" Scenes: Find the deleted Biggs Darklighter footage on Disney+ or YouTube and read the corresponding script pages to see why they were ultimately deemed unnecessary for the film’s momentum.