“Star Wars” will return to theaters with “The Phantom Menace” in 3D on February 10, and creator George Lucas told Entertainment Weekly about how he constructed the original trilogy beginning with “Episode IV: A New Hope.”
Lucas said structuring the trilogy like a 1930s Saturday matinee serial helped him tell an exciting and easily accessible story without worrying about starting in the middle.
“Sometimes you come into these stories in the middle and never get to see the beginning or the end,” he said.
What is now the third-highest grossing film series started off as a struggle, Lucas explained.
“The first film was really hard. It was painful, it was unpleasant. We never had enough time or enough money. We were always compromising on everything and it was a difficult experience all around.
“I didn’t expect the film to be successful at all.”