Dusting Off The Making of Star Wars

Rinzler's journey through Star Wars' past also presented a number of surprises for the author. "One of the real highlights was meeting Ralph McQuarrie and spending a couple of afternoons with him," says Rinzler. "In his studio one day, I remembered that George always gives reference material to his artists, so I asked Ralph if that had been true back in 1975 -- and sure enough Ralph was able to pull out a manila enveloped filled with exactly what George had given him over 30 years ago. This included magazine and sci-fi photos and illustrations, as well as sketches that George did.

"And there were many archival finds," continues Rinzler. "One surprising one was in the Lucasfilm film boxes. I found Leia's hologram speech. It was just a page of typed dialogue with George Lucas's handwritten changes the day Carrie Fisher recorded that scene."

With an expansive amount of period interviews, never-seen-before images, and the Lucasfilm Archives at his disposal, culling it all into a cohesive narrative became a monumental task. "Trying to get over 150,000 words and over 500 images to flow together in a nice design to make a nice book was the biggest battle," says Rinzler. "Thankfully, Del Rey allowed us to up the page count from around 250 to 324 pages. And the deluxe hard cover has 372 pages, featuring all the early storyboards -- and George Lucas's first recorded thoughts on the Expanded Universe. I didn't know if he'd want us to print those, as they differ from what came after, but he said it was okay!"

With the 300-plus page tome now completed and readying for release, Rinzler already has designs on several other "making of" books fans can look forward to, including upgraded versions of the original Making of Empire and Jedi books printed in the early '80s. "If we're able to do it, the basic idea would be to take the existing texts and add text to fill in the gaps," says Rinzler. "Then we'd throw in tons of the photos and documents that have never been seen before. Those would be fun to do."

First, however, Rinzler is busy researching a second set of books chronicling the making of another famous trilogy -- or rather quartet -- of films. "That's the number one priority for the moment," he says.

Look for The Making of Star Wars in book stores this April, which will be offered in a 324-page trade paperback edition ($35) and a 372-page deluxe hardcover with stamped George Lucas signature on the cover ($75).