Star Wars hit the Box Office in May of 1977 and turned into a mega-hit that helped change the face of the entertainment industry and that launched a multi-billion dollar franchise. But before that movie had its premiere, there were doubts about whether it would draw many people to the theaters. George Lucus had faith in his film and in its franchise potential, though, and he even had a Plan B for a low-budget sequel in case the first film did not prove to be a hit.
The first Star Wars film was seen as a gamble by many prior to its release, particularly studio execs, and the science fiction genre had not typically produced box office gold in the theaters (though the previous year’s Logan’s Run did deliver a respectable tally). In fact, 20th Century Fox expected Damnation Alley to be its box office winner among sci fi entries in 1977 (they backed the wrong horse because it bombed instead). Geroge Lucas believed in his film and knew it had franchise potential, though, and had worked out a backup plan to continue the story if the first movie did not score huge returns at the box office.
He had brought in science fiction author Alan Dean Foster to ghostwrite the novelization of Star Wars and he also tasked him with producing a follow-up novel that could act as a lower-cost sequel to the first movie. Foster was given a fair amount of freedom with the book, but he was advised to produce a story that could be adapted to the big screen (or maybe even television?) on an economical budget. Of course, none of this mattered because Star Wars (later retconned as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) was a huge hit (and it still stands as one of the highest-grossing films of all time) and Lucas got to carry on his story with no budget constraints.
The story that Foster wrote ended up getting novelized as Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and gave us the first entry in what would come to be known as the Expanded Universe for that franchise. It only included five returning characters from the movie: Luke, Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Darth Vader (sadly, Han and Chewie were kicked to the curb), but was snatched up by countless fans eager to devour any Star Wars-related product available at the time. And it is still respected by many as one of the better entries in the EU.
The Star Wars franchise has since generated twelve total films (including the animated Clone Wars feature) with more on the way, and it has also brought us multiple television entries. (What holiday special? It never happened. You must be delusional.) The property is still going strong after over forty-five years, but if it had stumbled out of the gate, there still might have been a sequel to keep it alive.
Buy Splinter of the Mind’s Eye in paperback or eBook format from Amazon.com and also explore the Expanded Universe.
