![Star Wars: Saved In The Cutting Room By Three Edit](https://cdn.slatesource.com/7/b/8/7b8ecbe1-867e-4fab-93b5-29e6fc8308c6.webp)

# Star Wars: Saved In The Cutting Room By Three Edit

- [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/star-wars-saved-in-the-cutting-room-by-three-edit)
- By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph)
- Created on Oct 1, 2026

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## Star Wars (1977)

Lucas had a first cut that played as a disaster, a studio that expected nothing, and thirty two opening screens.

Runtime

121 minutes

Director

George Lucas

Budget

$11 million

Box office

$775 million worldwide

Editing

Paul Hirsch

> The Force will be with you. Always.

## Old Parts Assembled New

Nothing in the film is original and everything in it is combined for the first time: the plot of Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, the visual grammar of Flash Gordon serials, dogfights timed against recut World War Two combat footage, a mythic structure Lucas took from Joseph Campbell, and a full symphonic score at a moment when science fiction meant electronic noise. The technical achievement was the motion control camera built at the newly invented Industrial Light and Magic, which let a camera repeat a move exactly so multiple elements could be combined convincingly. The other achievement was editorial: the first assembly was widely considered unwatchable, and Marcia Lucas, Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew recut it into the film that exists.

journey·6 Parts

# Watching Star Wars

Unease

/

Part

The Boarding

Pursued

"A corvette is overtaken by something enormous, troopers cut through a door, and two droids leave with a message."

Fox opened it on about thirty two screens with no confidence in it. Lucas traded salary for sequel and merchandising rights, which turned out to be the most valuable deal in the history of the industry.

John Williams recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, reviving the full romantic film score at the exact moment the fashion had moved to synthesisers and pop soundtracks.

[Star Wars on IMDb: full cast and crew](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/?utm_source=slatesource)