George Lucas Didn't Just Miss The Opening Of Star Wars – He Forgot It Was Happening
Imagine, if you will, grabbing a bite to eat in Hollywood in late May of 1977. You look across the street at the world-famous Chinese Theater as you're chewing on your cheeseburger and see a veritable circus. Thousands of people lining up for some new movie called "Star Wars." I'm sure there were people who had that experience, and have a great story to tell their grandkids, but what many of them might not know is they shared that exact same experience with the guy who created "Star Wars" to begin with.
George Lucas was straight-up miserable by the time "Star Wars" came out. He didn't particularly think the movie was any good and was sure he failed to get his vision across after years of fighting studio execs, accountants, and his own imagination to get "Star Wars" across the finish line. He was so exhausted and overworked not just getting the movie ready for American audiences, but also overseeing the mixing for the various formats (70mm was a different mix than the usual 35mm prints because it could handle more audio tracks) as well as the mixes for foreign releases.
The only carrot at the end of the stick for Lucas was a planned Hawaiian vacation after he wrapped the movie out, and he was so focused on finishing those sound mixes and getting his butt to a relaxing beach that he just plain forgot his movie came out.
Surprising success
The story goes that he took a break from overseeing the foreign sound mix and grabbed a bite to eat at Hamburger Hamlet, the iconic Hollywood eatery that used to be across Hollywood Blvd from The Chinese Theater. It's sadly no longer there, but it was an institution for decades and while Lucas was chowing down he noticed something a little strange out the window.
"There was a huge line around the block at the Chinese Theater. I remember saying, 'What's that?' I had completely forgotten, and I couldn't really believe it."
The masses showed up right away for "Star Wars," which was a big surprise for Lucas. I can't imagine being that guy at that point in his life as his baby is released to the world to immediate and overwhelming acclaim, especially if you consider just how down on himself Lucas was at that particular moment.
But show up they did. "Star Wars" was an instant success and that weekend kicked it all off.
One more fun bit of trivia about this weekend: in attendance was Playboy's Hugh Hefner. He took many of his models to see the movie and was one of its earliest and most vocal fans. In another bit of symmetry, years later Supreme Leader Snoke in "The Force Awakens" would be modeled after Hefner, robe and all.
As Lucas might say, that's like poetry. It rhymes.