A: Look, there's no question that Leigh Brackett was one of the great screenwriters of all time. But it was an odd job for her, and there's nothing of that draft left in "Empire."
Not to say it's all me. The truth is these movies are all George. I wouldn't say that of "Raiders," but I would say that of the "Star Wars" movies. He has the stories in mind and the difference in each film is how they're executed.
George had hired Leigh the way anyone would--because, oh my God, she's Leigh Brackett, and because he wanted a Hawksian, goading humor between Han Solo and Princess Leia. But Leigh couldn't serve George the way he wanted to be served. Out of all our respect for her, she was always going to get a credit for the movie.
Q: I'm intrigued that you think Lucas wanted a Hawksian feeling out of "Big Sleep" or "Rio Bravo" in "Empire" and that's why he hired Brackett; for years we've only thought of him in terms of heroic archetypes out of Joseph Campbell--or comic books.
A: It is a part of what he wanted, whether he could achieve it or not. It was better achieved in "Raiders" [than in other Lucas-produced or directed movies] and better in "Raiders" than in other Spielberg-directed movies....
When they went to cut "Raiders," they chopped out all sorts of funny character stuff between Harrison Ford and Karen Allen--all of it was sacrificed for speed and momentum, and that's more the case in the "Star Wars" movies.
Much as George has an interest in Hawksian flavor, I don't know that he exercises it that much. Who knows--this new one is the first that he's advertised as a flat-out romance. And now we're getting the pure George. Of course, it was always really George--with everything he does it's George.
Q: Then why does he bring in other writers?
A: I think he hates to write. In both "Empire" and "Jedi," I came in as a fireman--with "Jedi" I had already done "Body Heat," so it wasn't an obvious move for me to do another "Star Wars" movie. I just liked working with George and wanted to help him out when he said he was behind the eight ball. He knows there are certain things he wants to get in and somehow curl a story around and it's not easy--that's why he gets stuck. I saw him a couple of weeks before he left to shoot "Phantom Menace" ... and the first remark he made to me was, "Hey, do you want to write 'Phantom Menace'?" I asked, "Aren't you starting to shoot it?" "Yeah," he said, "but it would be great if you took a second pass at it." For George, the movie is bigger than the script....
