George Lucas consulted with world renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell to develop the script.

     Lucas had trouble getting funding for this movie, most studios thinking that people wouldn't go to see it.

     The Director's Guild of America (DGA) didn't like the fact that there were no specific credits at the beginning of the film.
     They "ordered" Lucas to recut the film and put some credits at the beginning. Lucas refused, claiming that this would
     destroy the opening of the film. The DGA fined Lucas, who paid up, and promptly quit the DGA.

     The Millennium Falcon was originally modelled after a hamburger with an olive next to it.

     Derived from (among other things) a Japanese movie called Kakushi toride no san akunin (1958). Obi Wan Kenobi was
     modeled after a Samurai warrior, and C-3PO and R2-D2 are derived from a couple of petty crooks he conscripted to
     help rescue a princess.

     The word "Jedi" is derived from the Japanese words "Jidai Geki" which translate as "period drama." A period drama is a
     Japanese TV soap opera program set in the samurai days. Lucas mentioned in an interview that he saw a "Jidai Geki"
     program on TV while in Japan a year or so before the movie was made and liked the word.

     Sissy Spacek originally cast as Leia, but when Carrie Fisher refused to do the nude scenes in Carrie (1976), they
     swapped roles.

     Jodie Foster was Lucas' second option for Princess Leia, Christopher Walken was second in line for Han Solo. Lucas
     also considered Nick Nolte for the role of Solo.

     Burt Reynolds was originally cast as Han Solo, but he dropped out.

     A great deal of the film was shot by vintage 1950's VistaVision cameras, because they were of higher quality than any
     others available. After the film was released, the prices of these cameras skyrocketed.

     The episode number and subtitle "A New Hope" did not originally appear in the film's opening crawl. These were added
     in a later re-release to be consistent with those seen in Empire Strikes Back, The (1980).

     Scene of escape pod leaving Leia's ship was the first ever done by ILM.

     C-3PO originally scripted as a "used car salesman" type, and designed after the robot from Metropolis (1926).

     The Tatooine scenes were filmed in Tunisia. There is a town in Tunisia called "Tatahouine". Some of the interiors of
     Luke's house were filmed in a hotel in Tunisia, but the exterior is an actual home in the village of Matmata, where caves
     and craters have been inhabited for a long time.

     After the sets were constructed, Lucas went through them and had every single one of them "dirtied up". The R2-D2s
     were all rolled in the dirt, nicked with a saw, and kicked around a bit.

     The sounds of the lasers were made by striking one of the guy wires of a power pylon.

     There is a rumour that Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) was having trouble timing his conversations with R2-D2, as R2-D2's
     dialogue was to be dubbed in later. Supposedly, Daniels asked Lucas to make some kind of noise to help him, but when
     Lucas forgot, the matter was dropped.

     Chewbacca was modeled after Lucas' dog, Indiana. See also Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

     C-3PO loses an arm when attacked by the Sandpeople. Ben cuts off a creature's hand in the Cantina. See also Empire
     Strikes Back, The (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).

     The following characters "have a bad feeling about this": Luke and Han. See also Empire Strikes Back, The (1980), and
     Return of the Jedi (1983).

     A scene where Jabba the Hutt confronts Han Solo in front of the Millennium Falcon was filmed human standin Declan
     Mulholland, but cut when Lucas decided that technology couldn't convincingly superimpose what he wanted Jabba to
     look like. Due to great advances in computer technology, Lucas was able to include the scene in the 1997 special
     edition.

     A small pair of metal dice can be seen hanging in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon as Chewbacca makes
     preparations to depart from Mos Eisley. They don't appear in subsequent scenes.

     The piece of equipment used to fire the Death Star's weapon is actually a Grass Valley Group 1600-7K television
     production switcher.

     The targeting grid used for the Millennium Falcon's canon is based on a paperweight Lucas saw on Arthur C. Clarke's
     desk

     Han and Luke "transfer" Chewbacca from cell block 1138: Lucas directed a film called THX 1138 (1970).
     "THX-1138" was going to be the serial number of the guard with the faulty transmitter on the Death Star, but this was
     changed.

     Harrison Ford deliberately didn't learn his lines for the intercom conversation in the cell block, so it would sound
     spontaneous.

     When the stormtroopers enter the room where C-3PO and R2-D2 are hiding, one of them "accidentally" bumps his
     head on the door, complete with sound effects.

     The Chewbacca suit retained a bad smell for the duration of filming after the trash-compactor scene.

     Scenes featuring Luke and his Tatooine friend "Biggs" were cut from the film. Biggs was a young pilot who left the
     Imperial Academy to join the Rebellion. Luke mentions him to his "aunt" and "uncle" during the breakfast scene, and the
     character later shows up as a Rebel pilot who accompanies Luke down the final run on the Death Star trench (and is
     killed by Darth Vader).

     James Earl Jones supplied the voice of Darth Vader, but specifically requested that he not be credited, as he felt he had
     not done enough work to get the billing. He receives billing in the Special Edition. David Prowse was supposedly
     extremely annoyed at not being told that his voice would be dubbed.

     Cardboard cutouts are used for some of the background starfighters in the Rebel hanger bay.

     Mark Hamill held his breath for so long during the trash compactor scene that he broke a blood vessel in his face.
     Subsequent shots are from one side only.

     Denis Lawson plays Wedge Antilles, despite his name being misspelt in the credits as "Dennis Lawson". See also Return
     of the Jedi (1983).

     The final battle has been described as borrowed from Dam Busters, The (1954), but much more closely resembles one
     in 633 Squadron (1964).

     Most of the crowd watching the heroes receive their medallions are cardboard cutouts.

     It is rumoured that the shots of Owen and Beru's burning bodies were added to avoid an MPAA rating of "G", which it
     was believed would hurt ticket sales.

     At one point when the prospects for the movie's release seemed bleakest, the idea came up that perhaps the effects
     could be removed from the movie and recycled into a TV show.

     The final medal scene parallels shot-for-shot a sequence in Triumph des Willens (1934).