Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (title confirmed)

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-30 05:20pm

Niether. Blue Harvest was used as a cover for Return of the Jedi's location filming so that passersby and such would leave them alone.

It was Revenge of the Jedi that I thought was used to catch bootleggers, but in reality it was used to throw off fans during the earlier parts of preproduction and production.

By the way, Star Trek II's original subtitle was going to be The Vengence of Khan, not The Revenge of Khan. Paramount changed it when they heard about Revenge of the Jedi and didn't want their film's title to sound too similar.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2004-07-30 06:17pm

Ahhhh ha. So it was the other way around!

So was Revenge of the Jedi the real working title (just as "Episode III" was the working title for Revenge of the Sith) or just to fool people? That's really the question then.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-30 06:36pm

It was always going to be called Return of the Jedi. Revenge of the Jedi was just used early on to throw fans and the media off.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-07-30 06:41pm

That makes no sense. Why would they needed to be thrown off?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-30 06:50pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:That makes no sense. Why would they needed to be thrown off?

Here's what I quoted from the third page of this thread:

[i]Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays[/i], pages 233-234 wrote:George Lucas: By the time we got down to doing the third film, we'd had so many difficulties with people trying to report stuff with the media and the press and everything that we called the film Revenge of the Jedi to throw people off. The title was always intended to be Return of the Jedi, but we made the film under the code name Revenge of the Jedi. Unfortunately, what happened is Fox started promoting the film before we could tell them not to use the title. We were lucky that they didn't start promoting the film under the title Blue Harvest, because we were using also using that as a bogus title.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-07-30 07:13pm

How would that throw people off? I mean it's not like the word Jedi had any connotations but to Star Wars at the time. Even now.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-30 07:19pm

Beats me, but that's how it was. The "Jedi does not seek revenge" reason that's been said all those years before was just a fabrication.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-07-30 11:36pm

It must've been to uncover fraudulent spoilers and the like.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-30 11:44pm

Probably also for spoilers in general. These days spoilers are pretty much taken for granted in a world where you can know everything about a movie months before it's actually released. But back in the 70s and 80s, spoilers were a pretty big deal.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2004-07-31 01:56am

What's odd, is that when Sci Fi Channel first started and they were showing the trilogy hosted by Carrie Fisher, she had something else to say. In effect it was called Revenge of the Jedi. However, Lucas had caught wind of Star Trek II's title, Vengence of Kahn and decided to change the title, thinking 'what Jedi would seek revenge'. Now I don't know how far we can trust a coked up hollywood princess, so I could be barking up the wrong tree, though Lucas has never 'backpedaled' before. However that was what she had said, and it seems to be the combination of both stories going on around this thread. Titles were Revenge and Vengence for different movies. Jedi don't seek revenge, and a lot of renaming going on.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-07-31 02:15am

Spanky, I'm pretty sure "Blue Harvest" as TESB, not ROTJ- the seemless flow of that quote seems to indicate it was for ROTJ, but I distinctly remember seeing a shot of Hoth with "blue harvest" on some cap some guy was wearing, IIRC.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-07-31 10:56am

Illuminatus Primus wrote:That makes no sense. Why would they needed to be thrown off?

Mostly to catch bogus merchandise that would eventually flood into the market. If something said 'Revenge of the Jedi' on it, then it would have been produced without premission.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2004-07-31 05:19pm

Cal Wright, I think you're right, and that must be the source I heard the Trek/Wars connection rumor from too.

Carrie isn't the drugged up princess anymore, remember she went through rehab. ; )

Sides, it seems LucasFilm trust her well enough, she not only got to host that showing of the trilogy, but was had a bit in the "Beneath the Dome" mockumentary and is signed on for the commentary and other extra bits with the new OT DVD's.

Still, Lucas does have a habit of yarn spinning, so one wonders how much of the "party line" she's talking and how much is actual fact.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-31 05:24pm

Vympel wrote:Spanky, I'm pretty sure "Blue Harvest" as TESB, not ROTJ- the seemless flow of that quote seems to indicate it was for ROTJ, but I distinctly remember seeing a shot of Hoth with "blue harvest" on some cap some guy was wearing, IIRC.

I'd hate to declare that you're hallucinating, but to be honest, I think you are...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-31 05:28pm

Kurgan wrote:Cal Wright, I think you're right, and that must be the source I heard the Trek/Wars connection rumor from too.

Carrie isn't the drugged up princess anymore, remember she went through rehab. ; )

Sides, it seems LucasFilm trust her well enough, she not only got to host that showing of the trilogy, but was had a bit in the "Beneath the Dome" mockumentary and is signed on for the commentary and other extra bits with the new OT DVD's.

Still, Lucas does have a habit of yarn spinning, so one wonders how much of the "party line" she's talking and how much is actual fact.

Everything I've read that's been made in recent years points towards what Lucas now claims as the truth. Besides, I haven't heard anything like what Cal says anywhere else...

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-07-31 05:30pm

Tsyroc wrote:
Stofsk wrote:
Galvatron wrote:None of the prequel titles really bothered me. It's the movies themselves I hated.
I thought "Attack of the Clones" would have been better if replaced with "The Clone Wars." I didn't mind "The Phantom Menace" but I feel it could have been worded better.
IMO tacking on "A New Hope" to Star Wars was pretty weak after everyone was used to it being Star Wars. It's a war in the stars but now we're hopeful about it.

I can attest to the fact that the Original 1977 release was titled StarWars Episode Four: A New Hope.

I can also attest that as a 7yr old child I was scared by the sheer size of the ISD as it entered the screen, and by how Darth Vader breathed and looked.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-31 05:38pm

LadyTevar wrote:I can attest to the fact that the Original 1977 release was titled StarWars Episode Four: A New Hope.

It wasn't. Back in 77 it was just Star Wars. It didn't get the Episode IV: A New Hope tag until after pre-production on The Empire Strikes Back started, when the tags were added for the 1979 theatrical rerelease.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-07-31 06:37pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Everything I've read that's been made in recent years points towards what Lucas now claims as the truth.

Like what? All I've seen is the Lucas quote from the Annotated Screenplays.

Look at the Revenge of the Jedi pinback button being sold on StarWars.com. The description there says it was "manufactured for Lucasfilm before George Lucas changed his movie's name to Return of the Jedi." I guess the webmasters didn't get the memo?

Given his propensity to say things in interviews and then contradict himself later as if we all have bad memories and will unquestioningly swallow his revisions, I'm still leaning towards the original "Jedi do not seek revenge" story...

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-07-31 11:01pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
LadyTevar wrote:I can attest to the fact that the Original 1977 release was titled StarWars Episode Four: A New Hope.
It wasn't. Back in 77 it was just Star Wars. It didn't get the Episode IV: A New Hope tag until after pre-production on The Empire Strikes Back started, when the tags were added for the 1979 theatrical rerelease.

Did you see it in theatres, Spanky? Now, I admit, I was only 7, so the memory of the screen crawl is fuzzy. But can you show me where you got your information?

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-07-31 11:09pm

LadyTevar wrote:Did you see it in theatres, Spanky? Now, I admit, I was only 7, so the memory of the screen crawl is fuzzy. But can you show me where you got your information?

Spanky's right. See for yourself...

StarWars.com

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-07-31 11:15pm

Galvatron wrote:
LadyTevar wrote:Did you see it in theatres, Spanky? Now, I admit, I was only 7, so the memory of the screen crawl is fuzzy. But can you show me where you got your information?
Spanky's right. See for yourself...

StarWars.com

Conceeded.

I guess my memories of the New Release got confused with the older memories.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-07-31 11:17pm

I didn't see Star Wars in the cinema, since I was born in 1982.

Such information comes from multiple sources, but for now I'll go by the one that was in armreach: Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays.

For one, from up to the story cofference (1977) to the second draft (1978) have The Empire Strikes Back Chapter II/Episode II: The Empire Strikes Back, which would be funny if the first film was already called Episode IV: A New Hope during the initial release.

Another is that the fourth draft shooting script for Star Wars is titled "The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the 'Journal of the Whills." Saga I: The Star Wars"

I know that it's recorded on the IMDB that the EpIV ANH taglines weren't added until 1979, which was also when Lucas had Beru redubbed. It might say so on the official site.

I don't want to sound like I'm grasping for straws, because this is something that's pretty well known among SW fans: it's just that I'm finding it hard to figure out places that say it...

EDIT: Heh, um, nevermind...

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-08-01 02:34pm

LadyTevar wrote:I guess my memories of the New Release got confused with the older memories.

That's not so bad. Some people still insist to this day that they saw the Biggs-on-Tatooine scene in '77.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-08-02 07:56pm

Probably because some of it appeared in The Making Of Star Wars.

I remember an interview with Richard Marquand many years ago, where he said Lucas and Kasdan had given phony scripts to certain actors in order to smoke out who was leaking to the press. It's the reason David Prowse has been in Lucas' doghouse for so long. To cut down on confusion, they changed to Return of the Jedi so it would be clear later that the leaked material was phony.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-08-03 02:37am

Vympel wrote:Spanky, I'm pretty sure "Blue Harvest" as TESB, not ROTJ- the seemless flow of that quote seems to indicate it was for ROTJ, but I distinctly remember seeing a shot of Hoth with "blue harvest" on some cap some guy was wearing, IIRC.

IMDB backs this up.

EDIT: IMDB says that about both TESB and ROTJ. How annoying.