George Lucas bet his own Star Wars fortune on The Empire Strikes Back
Critics were lukewarm in 1980 and fans found it too dark. Yet the second Star Wars film, which George Lucas financed largely himself with a bank loan, is now often called the best of the saga, and its reveal of Luke's father ranks among cinema's greatest twists.
After Star Wars became a phenomenon, Lucas faced a choice. He could sell the sequel to 20th Century-Fox for a cut, or keep control and carry the risk. He kept it, putting his $12 million profit into expanding Industrial Light & Magic and building Skywalker Ranch, and pledging the rest as collateral for a Bank of America loan. A 100-page contract signed on September 21, 1977 gave Fox distribution but no creative say.
Lucas did not want to direct again after the strain of the first film, so he handed the job to Irvin Kershner. Leigh Brackett wrote an early script but died in 1978; Lucas then drafted it himself and brought in Lawrence Kasdan to polish it. The 1979 shoot, split between Finse in Norway and the English stages of Elstree Studios, was dogged by injuries, illness, fires and money trouble. A budget of $8 million swelled to $30.5 million.
The story splits the heroes. Luke flies to the swamp world of Dagobah to train with Yoda, performed by puppeteer Frank Oz, while Han, Leia and Chewbacca flee the Empire after the attack on the ice planet Hoth and end up betrayed at Cloud City. Han is frozen in carbonite, and Luke loses a hand to Darth Vader in a duel before learning that Vader is his father.
Released on May 21, 1980, it was the year's highest-grossing film at about $401.5 million worldwide, later rising to around $550 million with re-releases. It won two Oscars and two Grammys. Reassessment has been kind: it is frequently held up as a sequel that surpasses its original, and in 2010 the Library of Congress chose it for preservation. Three years after Empire, in 1983, Return of the Jedi wrapped up the original trilogy.
Source: The Empire Strikes Back
