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Alternate title for "A New Hope"?

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What is the origin of this title? What year can it be traced back to? I'm not talking about the theatrical re-release of 1981, but rather when it has been documented to have been thought up as a title for the film.

There are a few specific bits I'm looking for a response on. #4 can be answered by just about everyone!

1. Supposed year of origin (attributable to a GL quote where he says he had that idea since he was 5 or whatever).
2. Actual year of origin (a script draft or other documented evidence of this title).
3. Any official alternate titles (again, from documented sources).
4. If YOU had to give this episode a title, what would it be?

I've never cared for A New Hope as a title, particularly because as a stand-alone it is atrocious, unlike ESB and ROTJ. But I've never bothered to ponder it long enough to come up with an alternate.

Pink Floyd -- First in Space

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The oldest place I've seen it is in the Art of Star Wars book, from 1979. It isn't a very pulpy title. If he had gone that route, some early subtitles from the old 1974 drafts like "Adventures of Starkiller" or "The Princess of Ondos" could've been tweaked to fit maybe? "The Princess of Alderaan" or "The Adventures of Skywalker" or something. I always liked the title of a section of the Marvel comics version, simply "Death Star!"
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Star Wars
works fine.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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I'd be curious to find out when he nailed down the Episode 4 part. Empire was Chapter 2 for a while. And was the Splinter of the Mind's Eye part of this? (meaning influential on the production schedule)
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It first appeared in The Art of Star Wars in a forged version of the script which was included in that book, which was published in November of 1979. The earliest pinpoint we can give is that "Episode IV" was put in place as early as November of 1978, when the fourth draft of ESB was written; the second draft was Chapter II but then Lucas merged Father Skywalker and Darth Vader and created the prequel trilogy, reflected in the next drafts where the episode listing was bumped ahead by three films and the nine-episode plan established.
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Originally posted by: Sluggo
I'd be curious to find out when he nailed down the Episode 4 part. Empire was Chapter 2 for a while. And was the Splinter of the Mind's Eye part of this? (meaning influential on the production schedule)


Wasn't the Holiday Special supposed to be Chapter 2?
I am fluent in over six million forms of procrastination.
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Originally posted by: zombie84
It first appeared in The Art of Star Wars in a forged version of the script which was included in that book, which was published in November of 1979.
My Art of Star Wars is the '94 re-print, so I wasn't sure if "Episode IV: A New Hope" appeared in the '79 original or if it was added for this version. So it is confirmed to be in the original printing of Art of SW?


Originally posted by: zombie84
The earliest pinpoint we can give is that "Episode IV" was put in place as early as November of 1978, when the fourth draft of ESB was written; the second draft was Chapter II but then Lucas merged Father Skywalker and Darth Vader and created the prequel trilogy, reflected in the next drafts where the episode listing was bumped ahead by three films and the nine-episode plan established.

Okay. So in Nov. '78 only "Ep4" became a reality but not the specific ANH title? Am I reading you right?

Pink Floyd -- First in Space

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Originally posted by: auximenies

Originally posted by: zombie84
The earliest pinpoint we can give is that "Episode IV" was put in place as early as November of 1978, when the fourth draft of ESB was written; the second draft was Chapter II but then Lucas merged Father Skywalker and Darth Vader and created the prequel trilogy, reflected in the next drafts where the episode listing was bumped ahead by three films and the nine-episode plan established.

Okay. So in Nov. '78 only "Ep4" became a reality but not the specific ANH title? Am I reading you right?


Yes, as far as we can tell, though we can't know for sure. But based on the fact that ESB was suddenly moved from Episode II to Episode V, obviously that raises Star Wars from Episode I to Episode IV as well; Lucas may or may not have had "A New Hope" in mind at that time. All we can say is that he had figured out that specific title by late 1979, when it appeared in the script in The Art of Star Wars. Two years after that title was integrated into the film itself, in 1981.
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4. If YOU had to give this episode a title, what would it be?

I initially thought of this:
Star Wars Episode IV: Assault on the Death Star
but then decided it sounds too much like a board game.

The best I could come up with is Star Wars Episode IV: Awakening of the Force. Although the idea of A New Hope refers in part to the optimism the Rebellion gained with its victories, I believe Luke himself is the "New Hope". Therefore Awakening of the Force seems appropriate as it maintains the "big picture" view of things, and fits the back-and-forth which-side-is-winning theme of the titles.

Pink Floyd -- First in Space

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Darth Richard said:

Awakening of the Force
I like it

“Get over violence, madness and death? What else is there?”

Also known as Mr. Liquid Jungle.

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auximenies said:

<div class=“PostQuote”>
4. If YOU had to give this episode a title, what would it be?</div>

I initially thought of this:
<span class=“Italics”>Star Wars Episode IV: Assault on the Death Star</span>
but then decided it sounds too much like a board game.

The best I could come up with is <span class=“Italics”>Star Wars Episode IV: Awakening of the Force</span>. Although the idea of A New Hope refers in part to the optimism the Rebellion gained with its victories, I believe Luke himself is the “New Hope”. Therefore <span class=“Italics”>Awakening of the Force</span> seems appropriate as it maintains the “big picture” view of things, and fits the back-and-forth which-side-is-winning theme of the titles.

So very close

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I quite like “The Princess of Alderaan” title, actually.

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I really like the original title “Adventures of the Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars”

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ChainsawAsh said:

I quite like “The Princess of Alderaan” title, actually.

I like it too. It’s better than “A new hope”, a title that I find quite bland. But I think a better title would have to include a reference to the rebellion, as the other two titles in the trilogy reference the empire and the Jedi. With rebellion in the title you would have the 3 main organizations referenced in the trilogy titles.

What about “The Rebel Princess of Alderaan”? Or “The Rebel Princess”!

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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It wouldn’t have worked I don’t think. But I generally dislike titles that get very specific though.

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“The First @#$%ing One”

To be non-Frank frank, though, I don’t mind “A New Hope”. I find it no worse than the other subtitles (which are all lame, let’s be honest).

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Awakening of the Force >>>>>> The Force Awakens

“Get over violence, madness and death? What else is there?”

Also known as Mr. Liquid Jungle.

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I initially thought The Force Awakens should’ve been Awakening of the Force to match the grammatical structure of the other titles, but then I realized The Empire Strikes Back uses the same format. Besides, Awakening of the Force is just a mouthful.