The main title card is preceded by the statement: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....” The Empire Stikes Back was the second installment in the Star Wars series, and its prologue explains events that unfolded since the conclusion of its precursor, Star Wars (1977, see entry): “It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy. Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space…” The prologue heading “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” introduced audiences to the non-sequential timeline of the series, as noted in a 19 May 1980 Time article, leading Lucas to explain that Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back were centerpieces in a nine-part narrative; only two characters were planned to continue their roles throughout the series, robots “R2-D2” and “C-3PO.”
       On 22 Jun 1977, HR announced that Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. was negotiating with executive producer George Lucas for a sequel to Star Wars, which had been released one month earlier to record-breaking revenues surpassing $13 million. Referring to the picture as Star Wars 2, a 12 Oct 1977 Var reported that preproduction was scheduled to begin one year later, in Nov 1978, for an anticipated start date in Jan 1979. A 1 Mar 1978 Var article, which noted that preproduction would be delayed until summer 1979, confirmed that Lucas had finalized a deal with Twentieth Century-Fox, and the three principal actors in Star Wars, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher, were contracted to reprise their roles. However, Lucas intended to finance the $10 million unnamed sequel independently through Lucasfilm Limited, with Twentieth Century-Fox serving only as distributor. Director Irvin Kershner was hired to direct his first science-fiction picture based on his “insights into human relationships,” according to production notes in AMPAS library files, and principal photography was planned to begin in Africa and Europe within six months. A 16 May 1980 NYT article added that Kershner was one of Lucas’s film professors at the Univeristy of Southern California (USC).
       According to the 19 May 1980 Time article, Star Wars had grossed approximately $400 million by the time The Empire Strikes Back began development. Although Lucas’s percentage participation netted $51 million, he siphoned away much of his fortune in cash rewards for cast and crew. Time explained that Lucas had secured talent for Star Wars by wagering one quarter of his profits as “points,” or percent-shares in the picture’s income. For example, Alec Guiness was paid an additional $2,880,000 in accordance with his “points” agreement. Other actors, such as Carrie Fisher, were not initially awarded points, but Lucas voluntarily supplemented their salaries; Fisher was paid an extra $320,000. Lucas also gave crew and staff members another fraction of 1%, which resulted in anywhere from to $6,400 to $64,000 per recipient. Because of these contributions, Lucas was left with approximately $12 million after taxes; he used nearly the entire sum as collateral for a $22 million loan to make The Empire Strikes Back. Lucas told Time that he kept only $50,000, for “living expenses.” While a 16 May 1979 Var article estimated the final budget at between $15-20 million, Kershner reported a total cost of $26 million in a 10 Apr 1997 letter to New Times.
       Despite Lucas’s Star Wars contract with Twentieth Century-Fox, he retained film rights to all twelve stories in his “Adventures of Luke Skywalker” series, as noted in the 1 Mar 1978 Var. The first adaptation of the Star Wars sequel was scripted by prolific science-fiction novelist and screenwriter Leigh Brackett, who was known for her work on The Big Sleep (1946, see entry) and Rio Bravo (1959, see entry). However, Brackett died of cancer several weeks after completing the sequel’s first draft, according to her 24 Mar 1978 LAT obituary. Lawrence Kasdan, who had recently adapted another George Lucas story for the upcoming production Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, see entry), was hired to replace Brackett shortly after her death; The Empire Strikes Back marked his first theatrically released feature film.
       By the beginning of 1979, the sequel had been titled The Empire Strikes Back, as first noted in a 3 Jan 1979 Var news item, which listed a secondary working title of Star Wars Two. A 6 Mar 1979 DV column reported that principal photography began 5 Mar 1979 in Finse, Norway, despite the interference of blizzards and avalanches. The production was scheduled to continue filming for up to two weeks before moving to EMI Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England, for an additional fifteen weeks. However, Kershner told the 16 May 1980 NYT that filming actually began at Elstree in Sep 1978, six months before location work began in Norway. A 24 Jan 1979 fire at Elstree’s Stage 3, which was being used at the time for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980, see entry), caused delays in returning to the studio.
       According to production notes, a first unit crew officially started work at Elstree by 12 Mar 1979. The studio’s existing eight soundstages, which were all used for Star Wars, did not provide enough space, so a new building was added to the facility. Its foundation was set before winter 1978 in preparation for the shoot, but bad weather delayed construction. Upon its completion in May 1979, the so-called “Star Wars” stage became one of the largest studio facilities in the world at the time, measuring 250 feet long, 122 feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
       Meanwhile, maritime engineers constructed a full-sized, forty-ton model of the Millenium Falcon at a hangar in Pembroke Dock, Wales. The prop was divided into sixteen parts and moved by a convoy of trucks to Elstree Studios, where it was outfitted with “compressed air pads” to float above the stage like a hovercraft.
       By early summer 1979, a second unit crew was hired to hasten production, with Star Wars production designer John Barry as second unit director. On 1 Jun 1979, just two weeks after joining The Empire Strikes Back, Barry collapsed on set and died soon after, as noted in his 5 Jun 1979 Globe and Mail obituary. Producer Gary Kurtz briefly took over Barry’s role until Harley Cokliss was hired as a replacement.
       According to the 19 May 1980 Time article, the set was shrouded in secrecy. To prevent the shooting script from being publicized, several actors had access only to their own lines, and David Prowse performed the role of “Darth Vader” with “dummy lines,” since the character’s voice was later overdubbed by the uncredited James Earl Jones. Prowse told Time that he remained oblivious to the film’s actual story throughout production, with no concept of events in the narrative before or after he appeared onscreen. He also reported that the filmmakers were “really paranoid, about security.”
       The completion of principal photography in fall 1979 was met with months of post-production special effects work centered at Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic, which had moved from Van Nuys to San Rafael, CA, in 1978.
       During production, The Empire Strikes Back marked several first-time marketing ventures. On 16 Apr 1979, Publishers Weekly reported that the novelization rights to The Empire Strikes Back, and a companion book, The Making of the Empire Strikes Back, were sold “for the highest amount paid for a license in England” to that time, $420,000. The same day, a 16 Apr 1979 HR news item announced that Twentieth Century-Fox broke an industry record by bidding the picture to exhibitors thirteen months before its 25 Mar 1980 release date. Although thirteen U.S. states had recently outlawed “blind bidding,” in which exhibitors agreed to rent a picture without viewing it, Twentieth Century-Fox received theater-owner guarantees of approximately $26 million, according to a 12 May 1979 LAT brief.
       On 8 Jun 1979, Var reported that music manager Robert Stigwood was working with Lucas on the film’s soundtrack, and Mick Jagger had been approached to compose the score, but one week later, a 15 Jun 1979 HR news item announced that Star Wars composer John Williams was set to reprise his role for The Empire Strikes Back.
       The picture opened 21 May 1980, nearly three years to the day after the debut of its predecessor, to general acclaim and vast marketing. As reported in the 25 Mar 1980 LAHExam, many Los Angeles, CA, theaters screened the picture twenty-four hours straight on its Wednesday opening, earning nearly $1.4 million, and audiences camped out in lines for up to ten hours to gain admittance. The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood ran the picture for 144 consecutive hours, according to the 21 May 1980 DV. By 10:30 p.m. Friday, 23 May 1980, the film had grossed $3,731,953 nationally, breaking house records in 125 of the 127 theaters in which it opened, as noted in the 25 May 1980 DV. A 21 May 1980 HR news item reported that the opening also coincided with new, record-high ticket sale prices in Los Angeles: $5.50 at theaters and $3.50 at drive-ins.
       In a 12 Jun 1980 Rolling Stone interview, Lucas announced his plan to filter income from The Empire Strikes Back into a professional filmmaking retreat, think-tank, and studio on the 2,000 acres of land he recently purchased in Lucas Valley, CA.
       On 16 Jan 1996, DV announced that Twentieth Century-Fox and George Lucas were planning to reissue a special edition of the picture, although a deal had not yet been confirmed. Lucas had used updated technology to “punch up” Star Wars with visual effects, and he wished to do the same for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (1983, see entry), the third film in the original Star Wars series. A 21 Feb 1997 HR review of the reissued The Empire Strikes Back declared it: “unquestionably the best installment of [the]… trilogy and arguably the crowning achievement of the fantasy-adventure genre reinvented in the 1970s and ‘80s by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.”
       The Empire Strikes Back was followed by Return of the Jedi (1983, see entry), as well as a trilogy of prequels, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999, see entry), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, see entry), and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005, see entry). In addition, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released in 2008, and as of Dec 2013, the Walt Disney Company was in pre-production for Star Wars: Episode VII with the three stars of Star Wars, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and Harrison Ford cast in their original roles. J. J. Abrams was set to direct the picture for a projected release date in 2015.
       The Empire Strikes Back was nominated for two Academy Awards in the following categories: Art Direction and Music (Original Score). It received an Academy Award for Sound, as well as a Special Achievement Award for special visual effects artists Brian Johnson and Richard Edlund, effects director of photography (miniature and optical effects unit) Dennis Muren, and optical photography supervisor (miniature and optical effects unit) Bruce Nicholson. AFI named "Darth Vader" as the number three villain in their "100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains" list.
      End credits include the following location information: “Photographed on the Hardangerjøkulen Glacier, Finse, Norway, and at EMI-Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, England.”