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George Lucas may be one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema, but according to Star Wars actor Liam Neeson, the legendary filmmaker never actually enjoyed directing.

In an interview with GQ, Neeson offered a surprisingly candid insight into Lucas’s creative process during the filming of The Phantom Menace. He said,

George [Lucas] doesn’t like directing. He told me that. He’d finish a scene and say Natalie, a little bit faster. Liam, a little bit faster. Editing is where he starts to enjoy the process, but actually directing the actors he told me he doesn’t like it.

While Lucas’s groundbreaking innovations in visual effects, world-building, and sound design transformed Hollywood, his passion clearly lay behind the camera, particularly in the editing room, where he could shape the story on his own terms.

Neeson further noted that it was only during the post-production process that Lucas came alive creatively.

Luke Skywalker. Princess Leia. Han Solo. Yoda. These are the names of major Star Wars icons, or so we thought. As it turns out, though, long before one of the galaxy’s most legendary Jedi Masters was the tiny green sage we know, he nearly had a very different name.

Most Star Wars fans can recite Yoda facts in their sleep: puppeteered by Frank Oz, backwards-talker, Dagobah dweller. But what if we told you that Yoda might not be his full name?

Thanks to a resurfaced tidbit from an early Star Wars sourcebook, fans are just now rediscovering a bizarre and long-forgotten footnote. Yoda’s original first name was actually “Minch.”

The name comes from George Lucas–approved expanded material released a decade before The Phantom Menace hit theaters in 1999. In West End Games’ Star Wars: Galaxy Guide 4 – Alien Races (1989), the backstory of a mysterious green Jedi named Minch was included.

Having found success with Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo and an Ib Technicolor print of Marlon Brando’s One-Eyed Jacks, it seemed only logical to play the middle ground: in collaboration with the Roxy Cinema, The Film Stage is proud to present Hawks’ safari masterpiece Hatari! on Ib Technicolor Friday, May 30 and Sunday, June 1. Tickets are now on-sale.

That Hatari! is lesser-known than many of his highest achievements speaks little of its merit. Reuniting just a few years after Rio Bravo, Hawks, Leigh Brackett, and John Wayne pushed that film’s hangout style to even greater lengths––perhaps no film at such length and scale has ever borne less plot (it makes their iconic western look like The Big Sleep), though romantic tensions (courtesy Elsa Martinelli) prove even stronger and stranger. Hatari! takes nearly boundless pleasure in character and incident, while Hawks regular Russell Harlan photographs Tanzanian landscapes, flora, and fauna...

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This May, Hulu is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the highly anticipated return of Nine Perfect Strangers to the much-anticipated streaming release of Pamela Anderson‘s The Last Showgirl. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Hulu this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the seven best films that are coming to Hulu in May 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Attack the Block (May 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91% Credit – Optimum Releasing

Attack the Block is a British sci-fi comedy horror film written and directed by Joe Cornish. The 2011 film is set on a council estate in South London, and it follows a group of teenagers as they fight against alien invaders to save themselves. Attack the Block stars John Boyega,...

Star Wars can sometimes feel like a bit of a boys' club, with its creation being owed to George Lucas, its music coming from the mind of John Williams, and more. Even if you go into the more behind-the-scenes histories, it's easy to remember the concept art by Ralph McQuarrie and the sound design by Benjamin Burtt. We should remember female contributions all year round. Still, as Women's History Month comes to a close, I'd like to highlight five exceptional women who made Star Wars the awesome universe that it is today.

Here are 5 women who made Star Wars what it is today.1. Marcia Lucas, editor The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences Hosts Galactic Innovations: Star Wars And Rogue One | Frazer Harrison/GettyImages

If you want a great summary of the influence of George Lucas' ex-wife Marcia Lucas on Star Wars, I recommend Collider's 2023 tribute to Marcia,...

The 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival is opening with a flex of galactic muscle: “The Empire Strikes Back,” celebrating its 45th anniversary, will kick off the 16th edition of the festival presented by Turner Classic Movies in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 24. And even better, The Maker himself, George Lucas, will be in attendance to introduce it.

It’ll be an opening turbolaser salvo for a whole weekend of films revolving around the theme “Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film,” brilliantly overseen once again by longtime festival director, Genevieve McGillicuddy. Other films in that otherworldly lineup include “Spirited Away,” “The Incredible Shrinking Man,” “Mothra,” and “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.”

The festival will run the entire weekend, centered as always at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which offers special rates for festival attendees, with screenings at the neighboring Tcl Chinese Theatre IMAX, the Tcl Chinese 6, the Egyptian, and the El Capitan.

Michelle Pfeifer...

Over the past 40 plus years, the Star Wars universe has played host to some phenomenal talent. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford kicked off the franchise with A New Hope way back in 1977. Since then, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Samuel L. Jackson, and many more have all traveled to a galaxy far, far away for one of the various installments in the ever-expanding franchise. However, one actor you might have completely forgotten appeared in Star Wars is John Lithgow. Not only did the Third Rock From the Sun star become part of the Star Wars universe, he played none other than Master Yoda.

During an interview with Collider, Lithgow recalled his brief time playing Yoda in Star Wars. For those that don't know, Lithgow voiced Yoda in the radio dramatizations of The Empire Strikes Back. "I was acting in a play on Broadway directed by John Madden,...

Quentin Tarantino seems to enjoy watching movies rather than making them. There’s still no word about his tenth and final film, yet he has recommended over 300 movies over the years. His fans might be irked by his unwillingness to be as industrious as his peers, but he sure has good taste. That Tarantino is a film fan more than a filmmaker should come as no surprise, considering that he worked at Video Archives, a video store in Manhattan Beach, California, for five years. Additionally, he is a self-taught director, meaning he had to do plenty of research early in his career. "When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them, 'No, I went to films," Tarantino was once quoted saying.

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Rio BravoPassedDramaWesternRelease DateApril 4, 1959Runtime141 MinutesDirectorHoward HawksCastSee...

The Hawksian group dynamic at play in Hatari!—featuring a crew of game catchers working in Tanzania—is a familiar one, with macho gamesmanship, romantic entanglements, and personality clashes all occurring as each individual excels at their professional role, while also relying on the expertise of those around him or her. Yet, more so than any other Howard Hawks film, Hatari! plays not only like a new spin on the director’s pet themes and motifs, but also as a deliberate fusion of reconfigured moments and gestures from his greatest works.

There’s a mano-a-mano shooting competition between Kurt (Hardy Krüger) and Chips (Gérard Blain) that recalls the famous Red River sequence between Monty Clift and John Ireland, while the piano sing-along scene is much like the one in Only Angels Have Wings. The crew’s leader, Sean (John Wayne), who’s constantly flustered by the sophisticated Dallas (Elsa Martinelli...

17 years ago, when working on the scripts for The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas explained his views on the dark side - but these comments raise a lot more questions than answers after the prequel trilogy. We always like to pretend that George Lucas had Star Wars all figured out from the start, but the reality is very different. He worked with scriptwriter Leigh Brackett, for example, on The Empire Strikes Back - and the first draft had no mention of the famous "I am your father" scene.

Taking to Twitter, Star Wars historian Paul Duncan has shared some of the earliest notes Lucas shared with Brackett - dating all the way back to November 1977. In these notes, Lucas explains some of the core ideas he wants to develop, and he even presents his own thoughts on the dark side. As fascinating as they are, they raise a lot of unanswered questions,...

A fan-favorite Western film starring the iconic Burt Lancaster will arrive on Prime Video soon. 1971's Lawman will hit the streaming platform on December 1.

Directed by Michael Winner, Lawman follows Lancaster's Jared Maddox, a marshal from Bannock trailing five cowhands from Sabbath, who shoot up his town, leading to the death of an elderly citizen. Maddox demands Sabbath's Sheriff hand them over, threatening to murder them in cold blood if they fail to surrender to him in twenty-four hours. However, the culprits work for one of the town's wealthiest men, Victor Bronson, who attempts to pay off Maddox. The Bannock marshal cannot be bought, inevitably leading to an epic showdown only the best Westerns can deliver.

Related Patrick Swayze's Historic 40-Year-Old War Film Comes to Prime Video Next Month

Patrick Swayze's epic war film with Charlie Sheen and C. Thomas Howell will arrive on Prime Video next month.

Alongside Lancaster,...

Fans of John Wayne can now stream the actor's classic Western Rio Lobo, which was originally released in 1970. The film, which drew some ire from famed movie critic Roger Ebert, is now available to stream on Prime Video.

Rio Lobo was directed by Howard Hawks, and the screenplay was penned by Burton Wohl and Leigh Brackett. Wayne had previously collaborated with Hawks on 1959's Rio Bravo and 1966's El Dorado before Rio Lobo, which ultimately turned out to be the director's final film. In the film, Wayne plays a Union leader who vows revenge against the traitors who'd assisted Confederate forces in a deadly attack against his troops during the Civil War. Jorge Rivero, Jennifer O'Neill, Jack Elam, Victor French, and Susana Dosamantes also star.

Related John Wayne's Last Film Has a Secret Meaning Most Fans Missed

John Wayne was a legend of the Western genre and his final film,...

Star Wars has always been a box office juggernaut ever since it began in 1977, but even the legendary sci-fi franchise has faced competition from other blockbusters over the decades. Star Wars' inflation-adjusted box office earnings are staggeringly high: only two of the 12 theatrically-released films fall below $1 billion when adjusted for inflation. Most Star Wars movies became the highest-grossing films for the year they were released, and absolutely blew their competition out of the water. There were some entries to the saga that were outperformed, however, and even the high earners had competition to deal with.

There are quite a few ingredients in the recipe for box office success. Making an entertaining movie is the most important aspect, but things like marketing, target audiences, and release dates are also important. Sometimes, picking the wrong release date can put a movie in direct competition with another film and end up hurting both,...

Halloween: Resurrection in 2002 seemed to close the door on the original film’s run. It had run out of gas and failed both critically, with a 10% score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as commercially, with it only bringing in 37 million on its 15-million-dollar budget. The next year would see Freddy and Jason clash with each other and Leatherface get the remake treatment from studio Platinum Dunes. While Freddy and Jason would get their own remakes in 2009 and 2010 respectively, you know you can’t keep a good masked villain down for long. So, before his two main slasher rivals got their day in the sun, Michael Myers would receive his own remake that came out in 2007. With a drastically different take and a new producer behind the wheel, Halloween would get a chance to do something drastically different than anything we had seen before. Everyone will be entitled to one good...

Reviewing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is an acknowledgment that it is a sequel when it hit theaters in 1980, Star Wars had already changed the world forever, and expectations were impossibly high. Theaters filled with fans frantically hoping the sequel would live up to it. And miraculously, it was even better. The instantly iconic and beloved trio of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher reprised their respective roles, and Luke took the next steps to become a Jedi while Han and Leia are on the run from the Empire, leading up to a magnificent final act.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Director Irvin KershnerRelease Date June 18, 1980Writers Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, George LucasCast Billy Dee Williams, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, James Earl Jones, Frank Oz, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Anthony DanielsRating PGRuntime 124 minutesGenres Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, FantasyFranchise(s) Star WarsStudio...

Han Solo is one of Star Wars' most beloved, iconic characters, and 15 quotes in particular are his very best. Harrison Ford brought Han Solo to life in A New Hope, and Han has since become among the most popular characters in all Star Wars movies and TV shows. Not only did Han Solo play a pivotal role in one of the most important periods of the Star Wars timeline, but he was also a charming, witty character who played opposite Luke's wide-eyed innocence perfectly.

Even after the original trilogy, however, Han continued to be a fan-favorite figure in Star Wars. In fact, while the sequels are unfortunately still considered some of Star Wars' worst movies, Harrison Ford's return as Han Solo (however short-lived) was almost universally celebrated. Throughout Han Solo's appearances in the Star Wars original and sequel trilogies, these 15 quotes are his very best.

"And I Thought They Smelled...

One of the all-time most venerated Hollywood directors, Howard Hawks was a master at making movies in every genre under the sun. Whether helming the classic gangster film Scarface, the iconic musical Gentleman Prefer Blondes, the landmark film noir The Big Sleep, or the influential screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, Hawks had a preternatural understanding of telling stories on the big screen. Of course, his biggest cinematic contributions may reside in the Western film genre.

After making Red River with John Wayne in 1948, Hawks continued working with The Duke throughout their careers. Yet, the glaring similarities between the 1959 Western Rio Bravo and the 1966 Western El Dorado have raised the question among cinephiles are the two movies the same? Did Hawks and Wayne deliberately remake their previous movie or were the story parallels coincidental? To find answers, a side-by-side comparison between them bears closer attention.

Rio Bravo Where to Watchstreamrentbuy

Not...

Charles Cyphers, best known for his role as Leigh Brackett in the Halloween films, died Sunday, August 4 from a brief illness in Tucson, Az, his manager Chris Roe confirmed to Deadline. He was 85.

“Charles was a lovable and sensitive man,” Roe said in a statement. “He always had the best stories, and you got a full performance while he told you. He was a close friend and client of many years who will be dearly missed.”

“His family asks for privacy at this time,” Roe added. “Details on a celebration of life ceremony will happen at a date and location to be determined.”

Cyphers worked extensively with Halloween‘s John Carpenter, first in the 1976 action film Assault on Precinct 13, in which he played Starker, one of the ill-fated police officers gunned down by gang members. He next appeared in Carpenter’s 1980 horror film The Fog, playing Dan O’Bannon, and...

Rewatching confusing films like The Big Sleep can reveal hidden narratives and add layers of understanding to the overall story. Films like 2001: A Space Odyssey challenge viewers with complex themes that become clearer upon repeated viewings. Movies like Primer and Mulholland Drive may require multiple rewatches to fully grasp their dense and intricate plots.

When I think of the most rewarding film-viewing experiences Ive ever had, I have to give kudos to the confusing movies that I only properly understood upon a rewatch. While its great to have a film that can be immediately understood, sometimes actors, directors, and writers release more challenging works that must be revisited and reinterpreted through multiple screenings that add to our understanding of the overall narrative. This can be enjoyable as new details reveal themselves, and I pick up on narrative clues that went over my head the first time around.

Ive found...

Irvin Kershner-directed The Empire Strikes Back from the Star Wars franchise is one of the highly recognized movies but it has a lot of behind-the-screen moments that would reshape the very outline of the movie. Thanks to the mastermind behind the franchise, George Lucas fans got the best treatment from the 1980 movie.

Yoda. Credit: 20th Century Studios

The Empire Strikes Back has undergone several changes before reaching the final product. Written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan from the story developed by Lucas had different plans for the iconic character, Yoda who would later make several appearances throughout the Star Wars franchise.

George Lucas’ Original Plan For Yoda Was Different

Jedi Master Yoda. Credit: 20th Century Studios

Legendary filmmaker and the father of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas, had a different plan for Yoda— a small, green humanoid alien and a Jedi Master— and that would have potentially...

Star Wars – one of the many phenomena that forever changed the landscape of pop culture in modern history – has brought us stories of unbridled joy, hope, love, friendship, camaraderie, candor, optimism in the face of utter loss, and resolution in the face of utter despair. And yet, there remain aspects of the narrative that are as mysterious today as they were 47 years ago.

After the first chapter of the story premiered with Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, George Lucas established a new dynasty belonging to new-age superheroes who defied the rules and boundaries of this universe to achieve heroic deeds that resound throughout the entire galaxy.

The Star Wars gang [Credit: Lucasfilm/20th Century Studios]Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo would then go on to be names that inspired indelible virtue, bravery, and strength of moral character for generations to come just as much as Darth Vader...

Rey will return in New Jedi Order movie, fulfilling a promise from Kathleen Kennedy. Exciting times ahead for Star Wars on the big screen. Little known about the movie, set 15 years after Rise of Skywalker. Galaxy unsure about Jedi. New Jedi Order film will make Star Wars history. Representation behind the camera is not a tick-box exercise. Diversity is crucial for Star Wars to expand and include a range of voices.

Daisy Ridley is set to return as Rey in a New Jedi Order movie that will finally fulfil a four-year-old promise from Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy. The future is bright for Star Wars, with the franchise set to finally return to the big screen over the next few years. One of the most exciting movies will star Daisy Ridley's Rey as founder of a New Jedi Order. This will be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, best known for her history as a documentarian and journalist.

Love Triangles existed before they became a staple part of cinema. Whether it is Gone with the Wind or the Twilight saga, the classic trope has been a fan favorite, before Zendaya’s Challengers came around and made the trope even more pristine, to some extent at least.

Star Wars’ Luke and Leia in a still from the Star Wars franchise

While some might call it toxic, others outrageous, that is the turn that George Lucas’ Star Wars nearly took before Lucas went on to change it. If you remember the incest kiss between Luke and Leia and the horror that every fan faced after it was revealed they were siblings, it would be shocking yet somewhat calming to know that the duo weren’t supposed to be siblings originally.

Star Wars Luke and Leia Weren’t Supposed to be Siblings

Challengers (2024)

Challengers features Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor in an unlikely love trio,...

The famous twist at the end of Irvin Kershner's 1980 sci-fi epic "The Empire Strikes Back" — that the evil Darth Vader (James Earl Jones/David Prowse) was actually the father of the heroic Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) — was shocking enough to send seismic ripples through the future of pop culture. Young prospective filmmakers reared in 1980 were so shocked by the famed "Empire" revelation that the "hero was secretly related to the villain this whole time" twist would eventually become a common screenwriting trope.

As many Starwoids will be able to tell you, the "I am your father" twist famously contradicts dialogue from George Lucas' "Star Wars" from three years earlier. In that film, the trustworthy Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) revealed that he was friends with Luke's father, who was, by Obi-Wan's own description, definitely not Darth Vader. Indeed, Darth Vader was said to have murdered Luke's father. So when...

Science fiction movies are often told on distant worlds, where the time-honored tropes of good versus evil and political intrigue can play out. Ranging from small moons to enormous planets, these worlds can be similar to Earth, but are often vastly different, with some being outright impossible to inhabit. More interesting are planets shown to be able to support life, but whose natural climate or wildlife make existence there either deadly or intolerable.

World-building can make for an interesting method of storytelling, but the extreme differences between worlds can also be intriguing. While some worlds are shown to be paradise-like places to live, many big sci-fi franchises revolve around escapes from or life on the harshest planets and moons imaginable. Everything from space-based horror to sci-fi fantasy makes good use of the perils of life beyond Earth.

Hoth Is A Freezing Tundra

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back...

Dean Martin's performance in Rio Bravo is unforgettable, portraying a multi-layered character that adds depth and relevance to the narrative. The dynamic between Martin and John Wayne in Rio Bravo is unparalleled, showcasing an on-screen chemistry that enhances the film's impact. Despite Wayne's star power, Martin's role in Rio Bravo shines, solidifying the film as one of the greatest Westerns of all time.

Dean Martin is one of the greatest actors in history and perhaps one of the most underrated entertainers of the mid-twentieth century. During his three-decade career, he acted in over 60 films, including some phenomenal Westerns, like Something Big, Rough Night in Jericho, and The Sons of Katie Elder.

Despite his numerous roles, the actor is perhaps best recognized for his one Western character, who is not even the movie's protagonist but has made a lasting impression on viewers' minds. His remarkable acting talents are on full display in this Western,...

Jango Fett's clone army wasn't the first - a clone idea was first introduced in The Empire Strikes Back. Leigh Brackett originally wrote Lando Calrissian as a clone in the franchise, but it was never made canon. Boba Fett's backstory now reflects the original idea for Lando, showing a new take on cloning in Star Wars.

Jango Fett is famous for providing the original DNA for the clone army, but Star Wars has revealed that the first clone could have appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. In Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, audiences were introduced to Jango and the clone army. This was significant because, other than a throwaway line about the Clone Wars in A New Hope, no known clones were shown in the original trilogy. However, this wasn't always supposed to be the case.

Writer Leigh Brackett, one of the women who shaped Star Wars,...

Halloween TV show may fix a major franchise mistake by bringing back Dr. Wynn. Dr. Wynn's new storyline could rewrite the franchise's worst timeline: the Cult of Thorn. The show can also answer a 46-year-old plot hole about Michael Myers and his ability to drive a car.

The Halloween franchise is expanding with a TV show that will go back to the original movie, and thanks to this and one often-forgotten character, the show can fix one of the franchise’s biggest mistakes. Back in 1979, John Carpenter brought Halloween, which would become key in the development of the slasher genre as well as a horror classic. Halloween also made way for a franchise with 10 movies and two remakes, as well as different timelines, each one giving different explanations for Michael Myers’ evil actions and with different outcomes for his Final Girls.

The Halloween franchise recently went through a reboot trilogy...

The Halloween TV series by Miramax could feature familiar characters from the franchise, giving viewers a fresh perspective. Characters like Deputy Frank Hawkins and Leigh Brackett offer untapped potential for the new Halloween show's storyline. Including characters like Charlie Bowles and Ismael Cruz could shed light on Michael Myers' origins and add depth to the series.

Many characters from the movie franchise have the potential to return for Miramax's Halloween TV series. Starting with the titular movie in 1978, the Halloween movies follow serial killer Michael Myers as he wreaks havoc in Haddonfield, Illinois, and stalks Laurie Strode. This franchise helped create and define the slasher genre. Unsurprisingly, the franchise went on for so long that it's hard to know what order to watch the Halloween movies. After the most recent addition. Halloween Ends, rumors spread that the franchise was finally coming to an end after almost five decades. It seemed...

Miramax's Head Of Worldwide Television, Marc Helwig, says they are on a fast track to lock down the creative team for the upcoming Halloween show. Helwig says the show is a creative reset, going back to the original film and potentially exploring characters not focused on in recent movies. The show has the potential to expand into a wider cinematic universe, building on the foundation of the John Carpenter classic movie.

The in-development Halloween TV show has received a major update. The Halloween slasher franchise began in 1978 with the original John Carpenter classic of the same name and has since expanded to include 13 movies in total. While 2022's Halloween Ends was purported to be the end of the years-long battle of wills between former babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her serial killer brother Michael Myers, in October 2023 it was announced that Trancas and Miramax were partnering on...

Warning: Seeing as some readers are sensitive to this point, this post will discuss dogs that are killed in movies.

In John Carpenter's 1978 slasher film "Halloween," the masked serial killer Michael Myers -- in addition to murdering five people -- kills two dogs. The first kill is not shown, and is only alluded to in a grisly dialogue exchange. When Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) and Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers) investigate Michael Myers' childhood home, they see a dead dog left on the floor, kept tastefully off-camera. "He must have gotten hungry," Dr. Loomis notes. Yes, Michael Myers ate a dog. 

Later in the film, a more shocking scene of animal violence occurs. At the home of Linsday Wallace (Kyle Richards), the family dog barks at Michael who approaches the home from the shadows, targeting Linsday's babysitter Annie (Nancy Loomis). The dog, Lester, does not meet a pleasant fate,...

"Halloween Kills" might be one of the weaker installments in the long-running "Halloween" franchise, but one of its stars is anything but. The new book "Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends" includes a whole bunch of great behind-the-scenes stories about the new trilogy's production, including one about "Halloween Kills" actor Kyle Richards. Richards, a former child actress who is perhaps now best known as a castmate on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," played Michael Myers survivor Lindsey in the recent David Gordon Green movie (a role she originated in the 1978 classic), and apparently went above and beyond when it came to the film's stunt scenes.

In one scene, according to Abbie Bernstein's book, Richards was tasked with smacking the seemingly invincible killer known as The Shape with a sack of foam meant to be a stand-in for a bag of bricks. The foam...

It was revealed at the end of Irvin Kershner's 1980 sci-fi/fantasy film "The Empire Strikes Back" that the masked fascist warlock Darth Vader was secretly the father of the young hero Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). This information was shocking enough to echo through multiple generations, and the "villain is secretly related to the hero" twist has been repeated throughout much of popular media for decades. The revelation also famously contradicts dialogue from 1977's "Star Wars." Luke was previously told, by the reliable Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), that Darth Vader had killed Luke's father. The reason for Obi-Wan's deception has never been satisfactorily explained. 

In the broader context of the "Star Wars" saga, the relationship between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker has become a vital narrative fulcrum, but in the contained 1980-only context of just "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back," the twist doesn't make a lot of sense.

The Halloween franchise is a multiverse of madness. The third film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, has always stood off to the side by itself. The seventh, Halloween H20, came along and ignored the events of all of the previous sequels except Halloween II. The follow-up to that film, Halloween: Resurrection, was so poorly received that the entire original timeline was abandoned so Rob Zombie would direct a Halloween remake. And after the sequel to the remake, we got a trilogy of sequels to the original film. But before the decision was made to move forward with a remake, a sequel to Halloween: Resurrection was in development – and one idea for a sequel would have featured the return of Josh Harnett’s character John Tate from H20, Busta Rhymes’ character Freddie Harris from Resurrection, and Charles Cyphers’ Leigh Brackett from the first two movies. This one would have been titled Halloween: Retribution…...

Director David Gordon Green hints at the potential return of Ellen Burstyn's character in future Exorcist films, stating she is an idol and a dream to work with. However, the director hints that her character may die in the upcoming legacy sequel. The Exorcist: Believer follows a distraught father seeking out the help of Burstyn's legacy character Chris MacNeil when his daughter and her friend become possessed.

The director of The Exorcist: Believer has discussed the potential for star Ellen Burstyn returning in the next installments of the intended horror trilogy. Burstyn, who played distressed mother Chris MacNeil in the original 1973 The Exorcist, is returning to the franchise for the first time in the new movie. Believer will follow a double possession that forces distraught father Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) to seek out Chris' assistance.

SFX recently sat down for an interview with director David Gordon Green...

With the insane games that the various streaming platforms are pulling in terms of removing content from their services (sometimes projects that were made specifically for those platforms), an added emphasis has been placed on home video. And with good reason. The only way you can insure that the movies you love will be around is by owning them on Blu-ray. Thankfully the home video labels have been stepping up their game, with deluxe packages overflowing with extras and feature films presented in their best possible format.

Here are the biggest and best releases on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K in August 2023.

Marvel Studios

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”

Ready for one last ride? Writer/director James Gunn, who is now overseeing DC Studios at Warner Bros., returned for the third part of his “Guardians of the Galaxy” saga. This time around, the Guardians, led by Star Lord (Chris Pratt...

The finer details of George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy were anything but set in stone when the Maker first outlined his grand space fantasy saga back in the ’70s. Take the shifting relationship between Luke and Leia in across all three installments, for example, or the differences between the Emperor in the movies and his backstory in the novelization of A New Hope. In the rough draft of The Empire Strikes Back by Leigh Brackett, Lando was a clone, a veteran of the mythical Clone Wars, instead of Han’s smooth-talking counterpart. Then there all the ways Return of the Jedi changed during the writing process, and in the pivotal story meetings between Lucas and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan that would decide the fate of the galaxy.

Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays by film historian Laurent Bouzereau chronicles many of the discussion points from those meetings, and those transcripts paint...

The Will Rogers Picture Pioneers Foundation is holding a screening of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back on Aug. 30, 7Pm at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to raise funds for its charity.

The non-profit provides support to a multitude of national health and social service programs, as well as financial assistance to members of the motion picture community in times of need. A special appearance will be made by the 501st Legion, an international costuming organization comprised of and operated by Star Wars fans that are committed to supporting communities, moviegoers and charitable causes nationwide.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre for their generosity in supporting Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation to raise much-needed funds for members of our community during a time of increasing need,” said Christina Blumer, Executive Director of Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. “We’re also thrilled to collaborate with...

In 1980, when The Empire Strikes Back was released, Star Wars: A New Hope had already established itself as the most popular movie ever made. Beloved by practically every person who saw it, firmly ensconced in the pop culture conversation forever, the film lit up the imaginations of children and adults alike. That’s what made it so special. Very quickly, it went from modestly-budgeted gamble… to an industry game changer, with everything from highly-coveted toys to a rather bizarre Christmas special capitalizing off the goodwill generated by George Lucas’ terrific film. The actors were now stars, and their characters were celebrities – Star Wars was the feel- good story of the business, helping to usher in a newfound appreciation – and soon enough, a reliance – on high-concept summer blockbusters.

But a showstopper of this magnitude needs an encore. For all the merchandise and souvenirs offered in the wake of “A New Hope’s” footprint,...

Star Wars would not be what it is today without the hard work of its talented array of writers, making them the most important people behind the franchise. Though Star Wars began as one person's vision, other writers helped bring it to life and expanded the saga in the following decades. Some wrote screenplays from the creator's stories, others developed their own tales through books and comics, and a few were eventually able to write their own Star Wars movies and TV shows. No matter the medium, several writers were needed to complete each story by contributing their unique talents and ideas.

Many of these writers have been shaping the Star Wars franchise for years and will continue to do so in the years to come. New teams of writers are already set to craft additional TV seasons and several upcoming Star Wars movies. None of this would be possible...

Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan’s rough draft for The Empire Strikes Back originally played out a lot differently for Han Solo than the final movie does. Despite many differences, the bones of the film fans know and love are still peeking out through the unpolished script. The script still opens with a battle on a snow planet and then follows Luke Skywalker traveling to a muddy world to learn more about the Force from a wise, froglike creature named Minch. Yet many will notice that one of the most iconic lines in Star Wars, “I am your father," is noticeably absent from the original draft.

In the rough draft, Vader is not Luke's father and is actually a completely different character. Luke would meet his father’s Force ghost halfway through the script, and they discuss his sister. Of course, in this version, Luke’s sister is not Leia and is instead named Nellith.

George Lucas' habit for writing much more than he could fit into any Star Wars film is infamous, but the initial concept of the wampas in The Empire Strikes Back made them immensely more deadly than what viewers saw in the final cut. The wampas that fans are familiar with are little more than ferocious beasts that make their homes out of the icy caves of Hoth, yet the original draft of the second Star Wars film depicted them as unstoppable monsters that haunted the planet's frozen wastes. While both versions attempted to make a meal out of Luke, the initial draft would've seen the wampas nearly destroy the Rebellion before the Empire could even get to them.

This idea was not one of Lucas', however, as the film's rough draft was originally written by acclaimed 1970s sci-fi author Leigh Brackett. Brackett passed shortly after submitting The Empire Strikes Back's first draft,...

During the production of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas considered a Han Solo cameo that was ultimately cut from the movie. Due to their nature as prequels, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith all include many tie-ins to the original Star Wars trilogy. From the overall explanation of Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side to the birth of Luke and Leia, George Lucas' second Star Wars trilogy set up many of the plot elements of his first.

Related: Why Does Han Solo Outrank Luke In The Original Trilogy?

One element that Lucas considered connecting to the original trilogy was Han Solo himself. Since Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, Han Solo's origins have gone in a different direction with projects like Solo: A Star Wars Story. That being said,...

This post contains spoilers for "The Empire Strikes Back."

In 1980, "The Empire Strikes Back" had already screened in about a hundred theaters when executive producer and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas decided that the ending was confusing and needed some last-minute changes. According to StarWars.com, before the movie expanded its theatrical rollout any further, Lucas had the team at Industrial Light & Magic add shots to give clarity to the geography of the Millennium Falcon in relation to the medical frigate where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the droids C-3Po (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) stand looking out the window.

It wouldn't be the last time Lucas tinkered with "The Empire Strikes Back," as the version that's now streaming on Disney+ incorporates further changes he made for its 1997 Special Edition re-release. In 2022, Hamill revealed that the medical frigate scene was itself a late...

“Fair to middling” is how Angie Dickinson is feeling this morning as she talks about “Rio Bravo,” the 1959 film that made her a star. “Somebody who says they’re great at 90, you can figure out that they lie a lot.” It’s a line that could have come straight from Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett’s script for the film — and a reminder that Dickinson’s gift for delivery isn’t dependent on working with a brilliant director, though she has many times in her seven-decade career.

Dickinson has more then 350 screen credits — an enormous body of work that includes “Ocean’s Eleven” (the 1960 original), “Point Blank” and “Dressed to Kill.” She’s set to appear April 13 at the TCM Film Festival to introduce a 4K restoration of Howard Hawks’ classic Western, whose boys’ club cast of John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan she breaks up with that same brisk humor.

The Halloween franchise has gone through different retcons that have created different timelines, and while not all have been successful, Halloween Kills ended up hurting the franchise more than any other movie. John Carpenter introduced the world to serial killer Michael Myers in his 1978 movie Halloween, and while building a movie saga wasn’t among his plans for it, the Halloween franchise has become one of the most beloved ones in the horror genre, even though it has been quite inconsistent and not all of its movies have been beneficial to the stories of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).

After the big reveal of Michael and Laurie being siblings in Halloween II, Laurie’s off-screen death, the introduction of her daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris) in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, the Cult of Thorn’s presence in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Laurie...

No filmmaker loved ripping off their own work more than Howard Hawks. And if your oeuvre is riddled with all-timers like "Bringing Up Baby," "Only Angels Have Wings," "His Girl Friday" and "Ball of Fire," you might copy yourself, too.

Hawks' most egregious act of self-theft has its roots in "Rio Bravo," which is widely and correctly considered one of the finest Westerns ever made. The film that Quentin Tarantino calls the greatest "hangout" movie stars John Wayne as Sheriff John T. Chance, who teams up with his alcoholic former colleague (Dean Martin), a hotshot young gunfighter (Ricky Nelson), and Stumpy (Walter Brennan) to keep the outlaw brother of a wealthy local rancher in stir until the federal authorities can ride into town and take him into custody.

In an interview in the 1997 book, "Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s," scriptwriter Leigh Brackett shared that Hawks'...

One of the more common misconceptions about "Star Wars" is the idea that creator George Lucas directed and wrote the entire original trilogy. That idea leads people to wonder how the guy who created something as good as "The Empire Strikes Back" could later go on to make something so terrible with the prequels. How could Lucas' films have fallen so far in quality so quickly? 

The answer, of course, is that it was Irvin Kershner who directed "Empire," and the screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan. ("Return of the Jedi," meanwhile, was directed by Richard Marquand.) Lucas oversaw the production and provided the stories for 5 and 6, but as a whole, the "Star Wars" original trilogy seemed to work as well as it did because of Lucas' limited involvement. Even with the first film, which Lucas did write and direct, he was dealing with a lot of...

This Star Wars article contains spoilers for The Bad Batch.

Believe it or not, clones and the concept of clone armies have existed in the Star Wars universe since the very beginning, going all the way back to when old Ben Kenobi made a reference to the legendary Clone Wars in 1977. Back then, this line delivered by Sir Alec Guinness was just a bit of classic George Lucas worldbuilding, an insinuation that the galaxy far, far away was much bigger and had way more history than what you were watching on screen. There was so much more happening out there beyond the deserts of Tatooine.

It wouldn’t be until 2002 that Lucas finally brought in the clones in question (although Leigh Brackett’s original draft of the script for “Star Wars II” introduced Lando as one of the last of these mysterious clones back in the late ’70s). The suitably titled Attack of the Clones,...

Robert Altman is an undisputed cinematic legend, but even he was afraid to tackle another Hollywood icon's cinematic universe.

Perhaps the director's most fondly remembered film is his dreamy adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "The Long Goodbye." The 1973 film tells the continuing story of Philip Marlowe, who first appeared onscreen in the 1946 noir "The Big Sleep," memorably played by Humphrey Bogart. Bogart gave the definitive performance of Marlowe before "The Long Goodbye," although there were some lesser-known adaptations of Chandler's stories about the Los Angeles private eye. Altman knew that he had big shoes to fill when he agreed to take his own stab at the beloved character — and it almost made him turn the project down.

"Originally I didn't want to do it," the director confessed (via Cinephilia & Beyond). "I liked those 1940s movies, but I just didn't want to play around with them. I was sent the script...