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118-508: Snoke's appearance changed throughout principal photography and post-production of The Force Awakens . Andy Serkis said, "It's the first time I've been on set not yet knowing what the character's gonna look like. I mean, talk about secrecy!" According to the actor, the character's appearance, voice and movements evolved as he and the film's writer/director J. J. Abrams challenged the visual effects team. According to The Force Awakens senior sculptor Ivan Manzella, "Snoke almost became

236-558: A CGI character named Supreme Leader Snoke, and featured an image of the actor in motion capture gear. Serkis had previously played several CGI characters using motion capture technology, including the titular gorilla in 2005's King Kong , and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot series. In November 2015, Serkis said of the process of creating Snoke: When we first started working on it, [Abrams] had some rough notions of how Snoke

354-468: A "Kongolizer" method of having sound come out of speakers to give a sense of scale and distance for the character. So it was very challenging and scary, in fact probably one of my most scary film experiences I've ever had. Costume designer Michael Kaplan had the idea to give Snoke gold robes to contrast from his red and black throne room in The Last Jedi . Director Rian Johnson said the red motif

472-407: A "very nice person who worked well with actors". Marquand did note that Lucas kept a conspicuous presence on set, joking, "It is rather like trying to direct King Lear – with Shakespeare in the next room!" The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas (with uncredited contributions by David Peoples and Marquand), based on Lucas's story. Kasdan claims he told Lucas that Return of

590-459: A 'true Jedi should never seek revenge' and returned to his original title. By that time thousands of "Revenge" teaser posters (with artwork by Drew Struzan ) had been printed and distributed. Lucasfilm stopped the shipping of the posters and sold the remaining stock of 6,800 posters to Star Wars fan club members for $ 9.50. In 2005, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith , released as part of

708-399: A 1983 American epic space opera film that is a sequel to The Empire Strikes Back (1980). It is the third installment in the original Star Wars trilogy and the sixth chronological film in the " Skywalker Saga ". It is directed by Richard Marquand based on a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who was also the executive producer. The film follows

826-445: A character, or exploring his backstory and inexplicable rise to power after the events of the original trilogy, calling the character "a bandage poorly placed over a gaping plot-hole". Serkis acknowledged that some fans found the lack of backstory "incredibly frustrating", but suggested this as an opportunity to layer Snoke in a future story. Despite the criticisms towards the writing, Forbes praised Serkis' performance in both films, and

944-474: A commercial theater. Lucas and his employees could not hear many of the sound effects they had mixed. To make matters worse, the background noise in the theater muffled the majority of the film's sound, which played through the theater's normal commercial sound system. Many theaters at the time had poor room acoustics with mono sound. Lucas would solve the problem by creating a new cinema audio company, THX , and ensuring that all theaters playing his movies would use

1062-720: A counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to infiltrate the shield generator. Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian and Admiral Ackbar lead the Rebel assault on the Death Star, finding its shield still active and the Imperial fleet waiting for them. The Emperor reveals to Luke that the Death Star is fully operational and orders the firing of its massive laser, which destroys a Rebel starship. He invites Luke to give in to his anger and embrace

1180-541: A day in Death Valley . The other was a special Steadicam unit shooting forest backgrounds from June 15 to June 17, 1982, for the speeder chase near the middle of the film. Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown personally filmed these shots at less than one frame per second . By walking at about 5 mph (8 km/h) and projecting the footage at 24 frame/s, the motion seen in the film appeared as if it were moving at around 120 mph (190 km/h). Vader's funeral

1298-575: A different song in Jabba's throne room, the modification of the sarlacc to include a beak, the replacement of music at the closing scene, and a montage of different alien worlds celebrating the fall of the Empire. The runtime of the 1997 Special Edition of the film and all subsequent releases is approximately five minutes longer than the original theatrical version. The film was re-released theatrically by 20th Century Studios on April 28, 2023, to commemorate

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1416-517: A feast for the eyes and a delight for the fancy. It's a little amazing how Lucas and his associates keep topping themselves." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also gave the film four stars out of four and wrote, "From the moment that the familiar Star Wars introductory words begin to crawl up the screen, Return of the Jedi is a childlike delight. It's the best video game around. And for

1534-459: A female at one point. J. J. picked out a maquette he liked and then we took it to a full-size version, sculpted in plasteline . J. J. and [creature creative supervisor Neal Scanlan ] didn't want him to be old and decrepit, like [ Emperor Palpatine ]." Manzella later revealed that, influenced by a reference by Abrams to Hammer House of Horror , he partially based a maquette of Snoke on Peter Cushing , who portrayed Grand Moff Tarkin in

1652-408: A film to lose its greenlight status during the pre-production phase – for example, when an essential cast member drops out or unexpectedly dies, or some scandal engulfs the studio or an actor – it is rare for a film to lose financing once principal photography has begun. Immediately before a take is shot, the scene is rehearsed with camera, light and sound. Most American productions follow

1770-401: A full film crew with its own director, especially for more complex productions. The second unit works independently but in coordination with the director of the overall project and is responsible for city and landscape shots, establishing shots and intermediate images as well as for mass, action and stunt scenes. The length of the filming depends not only on the length of the film, but also on

1888-424: A great many considerations beyond the scope of this article (but addressed at length in the production board article), the sequence of the scenes to be shot normally does not follow their chronological sequence in the script. These schedules are then used to build the daily call sheets , which summarize the relevant information from the schedule and lists exactly who has to be on the set for a planned daily shoot. At

2006-487: A military leader, and Kylo Ren for his failure to defeat Rey and find Luke Skywalker. Towards the end of the film, Ren brings Rey to Snoke, who tortures her for information on Luke's location. Snoke reveals that he created a psychic bond between Ren and Rey as part of a plan to destroy Luke. He then orders Ren to kill Rey. Ren, however, kills Snoke by using the Force to cut him in half with a lightsaber. Ren later declares himself

2124-428: A performer needs to be replaced entirely. In these circumstances, additional material may have to be shot. When using analog cameras, the exposed photographic film from a day of shooting is rushed to a photographic processing lab for development overnight, and then the developed raw footage is viewed by the director, cinematographer and producer the next day to determine whether reshooting is needed. With digital cameras,

2242-541: A primitive race of small creatures) defeating an armed ground force comprising the Empire's "best troops". Lucas has defended the scenario, saying that the Ewoks' purpose was to distract the Imperial troops and they did not really win. His inspiration for the Ewoks' victory came from the Vietnam War , where the Viet Cong prevailed against the technologically superior United States . The novelization of Return of

2360-460: A record for a nationwide release on an inflation-adjusted basis for 36 years until it was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019. It finished first at the box office for six of its first seven weeks of release, only coming in second once behind Superman III in its fourth weekend. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 80 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run. When it

2478-510: A sequel to The Empire Strikes Back was swiftly put into production. As with the previous film, Lucas personally financed Return of the Jedi . Lucas also chose not to direct the film himself, and started searching for a director. Irvin Kershner , who previously directed The Empire Strikes Back , declined to direct after spending two years working on the previous film, choosing to direct Never Say Never Again . Although Lucas's first choice

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2596-532: A specific procedure: The assistant director (AD) calls "picture is up!" to inform everyone that a take is about to be recorded, and then "quiet, everyone!" Once everyone is ready to shoot, the AD calls "roll sound" (if the take involves sound), and the production sound mixer will start their equipment, record a verbal slate of the take's information, and announce "sound speed", or just "speed", when they are ready. The AD follows with "roll camera", answered by "speed!" by

2714-414: A studio. Depending on the laws of the respective country, the producer must obtain filming permits from private individuals, authorities or companies for the selected locations before filming begins. An extensive production may require closing the area with signs and diversions. A filming permit within an urban area usually requires a fee, which depends on the complexity and scope of the filming as well as

2832-516: A supporting villain in The Rise of Skywalker , was one of the few characters who knew Snoke was subservient to a higher power. The Star Wars Book (released in 2020 and co-authored by Lucasfilm creative Pablo Hidalgo ) suggested Snoke may have been unaware of his origins. In The Rise of Kylo Ren comic book series, Kylo believes that Luke is responsible for Snoke's injuries. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Supreme Leader Snoke

2950-640: A time when ILM rejected about 30,000 metres (100,000 ft) of film when the film perforations failed image registration and steadiness tests. John Williams composed the film's musical score and performed it with the London Symphony Orchestra . Orchestration credits also include Thomas Newman . The initial release of the film's soundtrack was on the RSO Records label in the United States. Sony Classical Records acquired

3068-496: A trapdoor to be eaten by a rancor . After Luke kills the beast, Jabba decrees that he, Han, and Chewbacca will be fed to a Sarlacc , a deadly ground-dwelling creature. Luke retrieves his new lightsaber from R2-D2 , and the group of friends battle Jabba's thugs aboard his sail barge. During the chaos, Boba Fett falls into the Sarlacc's pit and Leia strangles Jabba to death with her chains. The group escapes as Jabba's sail barge

3186-506: A truly amazing array of creatures, old and new, plus the familiar space hardware." Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "is fully satisfying, it gives honest value to all the hopes of its believers. With this last of the central Star Wars cycle, there is the sense of the closing of a circle, of leaving behind real friends. It is accomplished with a weight and a new maturity that seem entirely fitting, yet

3304-467: Is a larger-than-life, vaguely Harry Potter -ish hologram voiced with deep gravity by Andy Serkis ; the full weight of this character's malignancy and dramatic power will presumably be better assessed in subsequent episodes." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called Serkis "the undisputed champion of the performance-capture roles". Though praising the "unobtrusive sophistication" of

3422-459: Is aware of the past to a great degree." Explaining why CGI was the only way to create Snoke's unique appearance, Serkis said before the film's premiere, "The scale of him, for instance, is one reason. He is large. He appears tall. And also just the facial design—you couldn't have gotten there with prosthetics ... he has a very distinctive, idiosyncratic bone and facial structure." Chief of creature and droid effects Neal Scanlan said, "This character

3540-575: Is destroyed. As the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training with Yoda , who is dying when he arrives. Before Yoda dies, he confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father, the former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, and that there is another Skywalker. Obi-Wan Kenobi 's Force spirit tells Luke that Leia is his twin sister, and that he must face Vader again to finish his training and defeat

3658-462: Is his sister, and that Vader is their father. Luke surrenders to Imperial troops and is brought before Vader, but fails to convince him to reject the dark side of the Force. Luke is brought to the Emperor, who intends to turn him to the dark side. He also reveals that Luke's friends on Endor and the Rebel fleet are heading into a trap. On the forest moon, Han's team is captured by Imperial forces, but

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3776-415: Is much better executed as a CGI character. That's just a practical reality when he's 7-foot-something tall; he's very, very thin." Snoke's "scarred, cavernous face" was not revealed before the release of the film, in which he appears as a "massive, ominous hologram". The character's deep voice was first heard in the teaser trailer released on November 28, 2014. Robbie Collin of The Telegraph described

3894-510: Is necessary because time equals money. Every hour spent on set resolving issues which could have been resolved earlier—while the cast and crew wait for filming to resume—equals thousands of dollars which will need to come out of some other portion of the film's budget. As of 2012, the average "day cost" for an American film ranged from as low as $ 25,000 for low-budget films, to $ 35,000-$ 60,000 for midlevel budget films, to as high as $ 100,000-$ 250,000 for blockbuster films. The first assistant director

4012-413: Is paid very well to keep filming on schedule and within the original budget, and may be replaced (that is, fired) if the production strays too far from its original schedule and budget. Principal photography is typically the most expensive phase of film production, due to actor, director, and set crew salaries, as well as the costs of certain shots, props, and on-set special effects. When filming begins,

4130-630: The New Republic with the Starkiller Base superweapon. He then orders Ren to bring Rey ( Daisy Ridley ) to him after she refuses to disclose the map to Luke. After Ren is defeated in a lightsaber duel with Rey, Snoke orders Hux to bring Ren to him to complete his training. Following the events of The Force Awakens , Snoke leads the First Order forces as they pursue the outnumbered Resistance . He reprimands Hux for his failings as

4248-489: The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition . Along with the two other films in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi was rereleased on March 14, 1997 (moved up one week from its original announced release date of March 7 due to the box office success of The Empire Strikes Back the month prior), with a number of changes and additions , including the insertion of several alien band members and

4366-414: The camera operator once the camera is recording. The clapper , who is already in front of the camera with the clapperboard , calls "marker!" and slaps it shut. If the take involves extras or background action, the AD will cue them ("action background!"), and last is the director, telling the actors "action!". The AD may echo "action" louder on large sets. A take is over when the director calls "Cut!" and

4484-442: The dark side by Snoke, the masked Kylo is really Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo ( Harrison Ford ) and Leia Organa ( Carrie Fisher ). Snoke senses an "awakening" in the Force , and warns Ren that the limits of his power will be tested when he faces his father in pursuit of the wayward droid BB-8 , which carries a map to the missing Luke Skywalker ( Mark Hamill ). Later, Snoke orders General Hux ( Domnhall Gleeson ) to destroy

4602-579: The original Star Wars film . While Serkis secretly joined the project in February 2014, his casting in The Force Awakens was first announced on April 29, 2014. When asked about his role in July 2014, he joked, "I'm not Yoda ." In May 2015, a StarWars.com interview with photographer Annie Leibovitz about her The Force Awakens shoot for Vanity Fair revealed that Serkis would be playing

4720-464: The unit production manager plays a decisive role in principal photography. They are responsible for the daily implementation of the shoot, managing the daily call sheet , the location barriers, transportation, and catering. Additional typical roles during filming include the script supervisor to record changes to the script and the still photographer to produce images for advertising and documentation. Several reports are prepared each day to track

4838-613: The 2016 video game Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens , but became playable in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga as a character of the Dark Side class. In the spring of 2018, Snoke was added to the mobile MOBA Star Wars: Force Arena as a playable Dark Side squad leader. Snoke is the focus of the 2019 one-shot comic book Age of Resistance: Villains – Supreme Leader Snoke , in which he says to Kylo, "If I had your uncle by my side instead of you,

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4956-617: The Battle of Endor. On April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios , 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. Return of the Jedi was released through the iTunes Store , Amazon Video , Vudu , Google Play , and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment reissued Return of the Jedi on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on September 22, 2019. Additionally, all six films were available for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos streaming on Disney+ upon

5074-423: The Death Star shaft; the latter change drew sharp negative criticism. Several deleted scenes from the film were included as special features, including a completed scene in which Vader communicates with Luke via the Force as Luke assembles his new lightsaber before infiltrating Jabba's palace, a sandstorm sequence following the sarlacc pit rescue, and a scene featuring Moff Jerjerrod and Death Star officers during

5192-405: The Emperor down a shaft to his demise. Vader is fatally wounded and asks Luke to remove his mask in a moment of reconciliation before he dies. After the Rebel strike team destroys the shield generator, Lando leads fighter ships into the Death Star's core. While the Rebel fleet destroys the Imperial command ship, Lando and X-wing pilot Wedge destroy the Death Star's main reactor and escape before

5310-423: The Empire. The Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Star under the supervision of the Emperor . The station is protected by an energy shield on the forest moon of Endor . To destroy its generator, Han leads a strike team which includes Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca. Once on the moon, the team gains the trust of a tribe of Ewoks after an initial conflict. Later, Luke tells Leia that she

5428-462: The Hutt on Tatooine . They were sent as a goodwill gift by Luke Skywalker , who hopes to negotiate with Jabba for Han's release. Disguised as a bounty hunter , Princess Leia infiltrates the palace under the pretense of having captured Chewbacca . She releases Han from the carbonite but is caught by Jabba and enslaved. Luke arrives to bargain for the release of his friends, but Jabba drops him through

5546-514: The Hutt, speaking only in grunts. Marvel Comics published a comic book adaptation of the film by writer Archie Goodwin and artists Al Williamson , Carlos Garzon, Tom Palmer , and Ron Frenz . The adaptation appeared in Marvel Super Special #27 and as a four-issue limited series . It was later reprinted in a mass market paperback, as well as collections of Marvel's self-titled Star Wars series . Marvel Super Special #27

5664-429: The Jedi "by far the dimmest adventure of the lot" and stated, "The joys of watching space battles as envisioned by wizards in studios and laboratories are not inexhaustible." Pauline Kael of The New Yorker stated, "Some of the trick effects might seem miraculous if the imagery had any lustre, but Return of the Jedi is an impersonal and rather junky piece of moviemaking." Christopher John reviewed The Return of

5782-566: The Jedi in Ares magazine #15 and commented that " Star Wars may not be dead, but Return of the Jedi is a failure, and is a cheap and tarnished crown for the series which shook the world of film when it started out . . . a long time ago, in that galaxy far, far away." Colin Greenland reviewed Return of the Jedi for Imagine magazine, and stated that "You would think a series like Star Wars , fuelled by public adoration, coasting along on

5900-441: The Jedi remains an entertaining sci-fi adventure and a fitting end to the classic trilogy." At Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 based on 24 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In his review of the 1997 Special Edition re-release , the film critic James Kendrick called Return of the Jedi the weakest of the three original films, saying it depended "too much on

6018-451: The Jedi was "a weak title". Kazanjian said the same, and the title was changed to Revenge of the Jedi one or two days later. The screenplay itself was not finished until rather late in pre-production , well after a production schedule and budget had been created by Kazanjian and Marquand had been hired, which was unusual for a film. Instead, the production team relied on Lucas's story and rough draft in order to commence work with

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6136-400: The Jedi was written by James Kahn and was released on May 12, 1983, thirteen days before the film's release. A three-hour radio drama adaptation of the film was written by Brian Daley with additional material contributed by John Whitman and was produced for and broadcast on National Public Radio in 1996 (over a decade after the radio adaptations of the first two Star Wars films). It

6254-594: The Lost Ark had made him an even bigger star. Kazanjian said that Han was frozen in carbonite in Empire because the filmmakers were unsure whether the character would return. He also claimed that Lucas did not expect Ford to return, and that Han was initially not in the script. However, Kazanjian—who also produced Raiders of the Lost Ark— convinced Ford to return. Ford felt that Han should die through self-sacrifice in

6372-512: The Sith and the mentor of Palpatine, allegedly possessing the power to prevent death; Palpatine himself, "the Operator" Gallius Rax , a mysterious First Order manipulator from Chuck Wendig 's Aftermath novel trilogy; or Ezra Bridger , a main character from the animated series Star Wars Rebels . In his first appearance in the film, Snoke is introduced as Supreme Leader of the First Order, and master to Kylo Ren ( Adam Driver ). Seduced to

6490-508: The Sony digital re-mastering, which minimally improved the sound heard only on high-end stereos, this 2004 release is essentially the same as the 1997 RCA Victor release. Return of the Jedi was released on May 25, 1983. It was originally slated to open on May 27, but was subsequently changed to coincide with the date of the 1977 release of the original Star Wars film. With a massive worldwide marketing campaign, illustrator Tim Reamer created

6608-614: The aliens from Close Encounters ." Stephanie Zacharek of Time called the character "a giant, scary, noseless dude who sits placidly in an oversized chair like a dark-lord version of the Lincoln Monument ." There were multiple fan theories regarding the origins and identity of Snoke prior to the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker . Such theories included that he was Darth Plagueis , a Sith Lord anecdotally mentioned in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of

6726-417: The art department. When it came time to formally write a shooting script , Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand and Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas; Kasdan used tape transcripts of these meetings to then construct the script. The question of whether Ford would return for the final film arose during pre-production. Unlike Hamill and Fisher, Ford had not contracted to do two sequels, and Raiders of

6844-407: The attractiveness of the location. Once the locations have been set, the screenplay is summarized in a script breakdown with all information relevant to the shooting. Under the supervision of the producer, the unit production manager prepares the production schedule , production board , and shooting schedule to work out the exact sequence in which the scenes in the script will be shot. Due to

6962-403: The camera and sound stop recording. The ritual helps the general concentration at the location and allows saving costs by only recording the scene rather than the preparation for the scene. Each shot is repeated until the director is satisfied with it. In addition to the actual film crew that does the principal photography (unit), there may be a second team ( second unit ), which in turn comprises

7080-482: The character. That's been fascinating. And in the meantime I've been able to see the look and design of the character grow and change as the performances change. So it's been really exciting in that respect. According to Serkis' costar Lupita Nyong'o , who played the CGI character Maz Kanata in The Force Awakens , the actor coached her on performance-capture work, telling Nyong'o that "a motion-capture character you develop

7198-490: The dark side of the Force ", was introduced as the leader of the First Order and master to the sequel trilogy's main villain, Kylo Ren . Serkis described Snoke as "quite an enigmatic character, and strangely vulnerable at the same time as being quite powerful. Obviously he has a huge agenda. He has suffered a lot of damage." Serkis called Snoke "a new character in this universe", adding "I think it'd be fair to say that he

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7316-443: The dark side of the Force. Luke attacks him, but Vader intervenes and the two engage in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister and threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not join him. Enraged, Luke attacks Vader and severs his prosthetic hand. The Emperor orders Luke to kill his father, but Luke refuses. In response, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning . Unwilling to let his son die, Vader throws

7434-435: The defeat of the Emperor, the film was originally intended to end with Obi-Wan and Yoda returning to life from their spectral existence in the Force, along with Anakin Skywalker, thanks to Yoda being able to prevent him from becoming one with the Force. They would then join the rest of the characters in their celebration on Endor. Alan Webb was originally cast as the Emperor, but dropped out due to illness. Lindsay Anderson

7552-520: The disfigured and skeletal Snoke as a "sepulchral horror", Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called him "hissing and grotesque", and Andrew O'Hehir of Salon dubbed the character "a spectral demonic figure". Variety ' s Justin Chang wrote that Snoke resembled "a plus-sized, more articulate version of his character Gollum ", and Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly described him as "essentially Emperor Palpatine crossed with one of

7670-422: The entire company found it necessary to remain running 20 hours a day on six-day weeks in order to meet their goals by April 1, 1983. Of about 900 special effects shots, all VistaVision optical effects remained in-house, since ILM was the only company capable of using the format, while about 400 4-perf opticals were subcontracted to outside effects houses. Progress on the opticals was severely delayed for

7788-401: The film before Marquand signed on as director. The production team relied on Lucas's storyboards during pre-production. While writing the shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it. Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on

7906-497: The film's 40th anniversary. The original theatrical version of Return of the Jedi was released on VHS and Laserdisc several times between 1986 and 1995, followed by releases of the Special Edition in the same formats between 1997 and 2000. Some of these releases contained featurettes; some were individual releases of just this film, while others were boxed sets of all three original films. On September 21, 2004,

8024-488: The film's effects in post-production. Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to May 1982  ( 1982-05 ) . The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983. It grossed $ 374 million worldwide during its initial theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1983 . The film was well received by critics, with strong praise going to the performances of the actors, John Williams's score,

8142-465: The finished film where the heroes get caught in a sandstorm as they leave Tatooine. (This was the only major sequence cut from the film during editing.) For the rancor, Lucas wanted to use a stunt performer in a suit in the style of the Toho Godzilla films. The production team made several attempts, but were unable to create an adequate result. Lucas eventually relented and decided to film

8260-428: The galaxy through the First Order. Snoke appears in the 2015 novelization of The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster . In the novel, Leia tells Han in more detail how Snoke, aware that their son would be "strong with the Force" and possess "equal potential for good or evil", had long watched Ben and manipulated events to draw him to the dark side. An unplayable Lego minifigure version of Snoke appears in cutscenes in

8378-408: The galaxy would have been mine a long time ago." According to The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary (2019), Snoke's physical appearance was purposefully designed by Palpatine to ensure his species remained unidentifiable. Furthermore, Snoke's reluctance to meet in person with his First Order underlings helped conceal the fact that he was an artificial being. General Pryde ( Richard E. Grant ),

8496-647: The gold ring Snoke wears is set with obsidian from Darth Vader 's castle on Mustafar . The glyphs it is set with are a reference to four philosophers Palpatine had statues of in his office, first seen in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones . Additionally, Palpatine's theme can be heard during the scene in which Snoke tortures Rey . In the context of the story, Snoke is a "genetic strandcast" created by Emperor Palpatine to serve as his proxy in power. Snoke, whom Abrams called "a powerful figure on

8614-461: The highest single day gross. It would hold the record for having the highest pre- Memorial Day Wednesday gross until 1996 when Mission: Impossible surpassed it. The film made $ 23 million from 1,002 theaters in its opening weekend and grossed a record $ 45.3 million in its opening week. It set a new domestic opening weekend record, surpassing the $ 14 million opening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Its $ 22,973 per theatre average would stand as

8732-561: The hyperdrive of its own hyperboles, would get inexorably worse. It is not. It is getting better." In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1997, for the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars (re-titled Episode IV: A New Hope ), Lucas released

8850-415: The image for the movie poster and other advertising. At the time of its release, the film was advertised on posters and merchandise as simply Star Wars: Return of the Jedi , despite its on-screen "Episode VI" distinction. The film was re-released in 1985. The original teaser trailer for the film carried the name Revenge of the Jedi . In December 1982, Lucas decided that "Revenge" was not appropriate as

8968-400: The main drives behind filming on location. However, outdoor shooting requires more effort because equipment and personnel must be transported to the location. In the early days of cinema, filmmakers tried to film outdoors as much as possible, as sunlight was needed to ensure adequate exposure of poor-quality early film stock ; nowadays, due to the increased use of CGI , more shooting is done in

9086-431: The movie has lost none of its sense of fun; it bursts with new inventiveness." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post said, " Return of the Jedi, a feat of mass enchantment, puts the happy finishing touches on George Lucas's Star Wars saga. It was worth the wait, and the work is now an imposing landmark in contemporary popular culture—a three-part, 6¼-hour science-fiction epic of unabashed heroic proclivities." The film

9204-408: The narrative structure may become clear only after filming (such as when a rough cut of the film is put through test screenings with audiences who have not had the benefit of reading the screenplay in advance). Other reasons for re-shoots may be the production company 's desire to make the film more commercially appealing, or the replacement of actors whose performance was lacking or who no longer fit

9322-465: The new Supreme Leader of the First Order, pinning Snoke's death on Rey. In The Rise of Skywalker , Kylo Ren finds several clones resembling Snoke at Emperor Palpatine 's ( Ian McDiarmid ) lair on the Sith world Exegol . Snoke's voice is briefly used by Palpatine when talking to Ren. It is revealed that Palpatine had used his creation Snoke as a puppet to lure Ren towards the dark side, and to reclaim

9440-565: The new system. Meanwhile, special effects work at ILM quickly stretched the company to its operational limits. While the R&;D work and experience gained from the previous two films in the trilogy allowed for increased efficiency, this was offset by the desire to have the closing film raise the bar set by each of these films. A compounding factor was the intention of several departments of ILM to either take on other film work or decrease staff during slow cycles. Instead, as soon as production began,

9558-524: The number and type of locations. The shooting time for a 90-minute film in Europe is 12 to 100 days. In the USA, depending on the film project, a shooting time of 15 to 20, 40 to 50 or, for larger productions, 80 to 100 days is used as a basis for studio productions, although in other countries the shooting takes considerably longer. Because of breaks in recording and subsequent shoots that are difficult to calculate,

9676-594: The ongoing struggle between the malevolent Galactic Empire and the freedom fighters of the Rebel Alliance . As the Rebels attempt to destroy the Empire's second Death Star , Luke Skywalker tries to bring his father, Darth Vader , back from the dark side of the Force . The film stars Mark Hamill , Harrison Ford , Carrie Fisher , Billy Dee Williams , Anthony Daniels , David Prowse , Kenny Baker , Peter Mayhew , and Frank Oz . Steven Spielberg , David Lynch , and David Cronenberg were considered to direct

9794-498: The original Star Wars trilogy was released in a boxset on DVD with digital restoration and additional alterations made by Lucas. In this version of Return of the Jedi , Sebastian Shaw 's portrayal of Anakin's spirit is replaced by Hayden Christensen , who portrayed Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith . All three films of the trilogy were released individually on Limited Edition DVDs on September 12, 2006, with

9912-461: The original unaltered versions included as bonus features. These were collected in a box set on November 4, 2008. A Blu-ray Disc version of the six-film Star Wars saga was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in September 2011, which incorporated more small changes to Return of the Jedi , including making the Ewoks blink and having Vader yell "No!" as he throws the Emperor down

10030-399: The preparation time is over: the final version of the script is done, the cast has been selected, and the buildings and structures on set have largely been completed. The start of filming generally marks a point of no return for the financiers, because until it is complete, there is unlikely to be enough material filmed to release a final product needed to recoup costs. While it is common for

10148-419: The prequel trilogy, alluded to the dismissed title Revenge of the Jedi . Return of the Jedi grossed $ 314.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $ 166 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $ 480 million, against a production budget of about $ 32.5 million. Return of the Jedi collected a total of $ 6.2 million on its opening day, beating out Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to have

10266-495: The previous film. The inclusion led Lucas to insert a scene in which Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father because, after a discussion with a children's psychologist, he did not want younger moviegoers to dismiss Vader's claim as a lie. Many ideas from the original script were left out or changed. For instance, the Ewoks were going to be Wookiees and the Millennium Falcon was going to land on Endor. Following

10384-413: The principal photography is usually planned longer than actually necessary. Once a film concludes principal photography, it is said to have wrapped , and a wrap party may be organized to celebrate. During post-production , it may become apparent that some shots or sequences are missing or incomplete and are required to complete the film, or that a particular scene is not playing as expected, or that

10502-568: The professional moviegoers, it is particularly enjoyable to watch every facet of filmmaking at its best." James Harwood of Variety called the film "a visual treat throughout," but thought that "Hamill is not enough of a dramatic actor to carry the plot load here" and Harrison Ford "is present more in body than in spirit this time, given little to do but react to special effects. And it can't be said that either Carrie Fisher or Billy Dee Williams rise to previous efforts. But Lucas and director Richard Marquand have overwhelmed these performer flaws with

10620-448: The progress of a film production, including the daily production report , the daily progress report , and the sound report . Principal photography can take place in a studio or in an actual setting , and the choice of location depends on artistic and economic aspects. While shooting in a sound stage offers more accurate planning, constructing sets may be expensive. Costs and artistic reasons (see French New Wave and Dogma 95 ) are

10738-461: The project after significant revisions to the film's plot or tone. If the new material has already been shot once or is substantial, this process is referred to as a re-shoot. However, if the material is new and relatively minor, it is often referred to as a pick-up . Return of the Jedi Return of the Jedi (also known as Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi ) is

10856-762: The rancor as a high-speed puppet. In April, the crew moved to Arizona's Yuma Desert for two weeks of Tatooine exteriors. Production then moved to the redwood forests of northern California. Forested private land near Smith River and at the Chetham Grove section of Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park were used for the forests of Endor. The crew spent two weeks shooting the Endor forest exteriors, and then concluded at ILM in San Rafael , California, for about ten days of bluescreen shots. One of two "skeletal" post-production units shooting background matte plates spent

10974-408: The rights to the classic trilogy scores in 2004 after gaining the rights to release the second trilogy soundtracks ( The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones ). In the same year, Sony Classical re-pressed the 1997 RCA Victor release of Return of the Jedi along with the other two films in the trilogy. The set was released with the new artwork mirroring the first DVD release of the film. Despite

11092-610: The same time, the call sheets provides information about the scene numbers, script pages and locations relevant for each day, as well as the necessary equipment. Feature films usually have insurance in place by the time principal photography begins. The death of a bankable star before completing all planned takes or the loss of sets or footage can render a film impossible to complete as planned. Furthermore, professional quality movie cameras are usually rented as needed, and most camera houses do not allow rentals of their equipment without proof of insurance. All this meticulous planning

11210-488: The same way as any other. You have to understand who the character is and what makes them who they are." Serkis said of filming: It was quite an unusual situation. I worked specifically with Domhnall Gleeson and with Adam Driver . My first day was basically standing on a 25-foot podium doing Lord Snoke without the faintest idea what he looked like ... or in fact who he was! I was very high up, totally on my own, away from everybody else, but acting with them ... we used sort of

11328-448: The service's launch on November 12, 2019. This version of the film was released by Disney on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray box set on March 31, 2020. According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 83% of critics have given the film a positive review with an average rating of 7.30/10, based on 103 reviews from critics. The site's critics consensus reads: "Though failing to reach the cinematic heights of its predecessors, Return of

11446-456: The shoot. Working on a budget of $ 32.5 million, Lucas was determined to avoid going over budget as had happened with Empire . Kazanjian estimated that using ILM (owned wholly by Lucasfilm) for special effects saved the production approximately $ 18 million. However, the fact that Lucasfilm was a non-union company made acquiring shooting locations more difficult and more expensive, even though Star Wars and Empire had been big hits. The project

11564-416: The slick commercialism" of the franchise but that it was still "a magnificent experience in its own right". James Berardinelli described it as the least enjoyable and least innovative film of the trilogy. He opined that the Special Edition was not saved by the alterations, but that it was nevertheless a "must-see" for fans as the conclusion of the trilogy. Fans are divided on the likelihood of Ewoks (being

11682-458: The so-called dailies can be viewed immediately after they are recorded. If the material proves to be inadequate or faulty, a re-shoot will be carried out on the day of shooting (digital) or on the day of the viewing (analog). Sometimes, additional shooting is needed after principal photography is complete, because the shots already made have subsequently turned out to be unusable or additional shots are required. For example, serious deficiencies in

11800-491: The special effects and the action sequences. Several re-releases and revisions to the film have followed over the decades, which have brought its total gross to $ 482 million. The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2021. A year after Han Solo 's capture and imprisonment in carbonite, C-3PO and R2-D2 enter the palace of the crime lord Jabba

11918-1208: The station explodes. Luke cremates Vader's body on Endor before reuniting with his friends. As the Rebels celebrate their victory, Luke notices the Force spirits of Obi-Wan , Yoda, and Anakin standing nearby. The cast also includes Michael Pennington as Moff Jerjerrod , Kenneth Colley as Admiral Piett , Michael Carter as Bib Fortuna (voiced by Erik Bauersfeld , who was uncredited), Denis Lawson as Wedge , Tim Rose as Admiral Ackbar (also voiced by Bauersfeld, again uncredited), Dermot Crowley as General Madine, Caroline Blakiston as Mon Mothma , Warwick Davis as Wicket , Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett , Femi Taylor as Oola, Annie Arbogast as Sy Snootles, Claire Davenport as Fat Dancer, Jack Purvis as Teebo, Mike Edmonds as Logray, Jane Busby as Chief Chirpa, Malcom Dixon and Mike Cottrell as Ewok Warriors, and Nicki Reade as Nicki. Additional Imperial officers are portrayed by Adam Bareham (Stardestroyer Controller #1), Jonathan Oliver (Stardestroyer Controller #2), Pip Miller (Stardestroyer Captain #1), and Tom Mannion (Stardestroyer Captain #2). Following discussions between Star Wars creator George Lucas and producer Howard Kazanjian ,

12036-399: The third film. Kasdan agreed, and said it should occur near the beginning of the third act , to make the audience wonder whether the other protagonists will survive. Gary Kurtz , who produced Star Wars and Empire but was replaced by Kazanjian for Jedi , said that Han died in an early version of the script. Kurtz has suggested that one reason Lucas may have rejected the idea of Han dying

12154-468: The visual effects used to portray the character, Variety ' s Justin Chang said that Serkis is "fine but not galvanizing" in the role. Lindsay Bahr of the Associated Press deemed Snoke one of the "less memorable" characters in The Force Awakens . In 2016, Serkis was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Virtual Performance for the role. Some viewers felt that Snoke's character arc

12272-524: Was Steven Spielberg , their separate feuds with the Director's Guild led to him being banned from directing the film. Lucas approached David Lynch , who had recently been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for The Elephant Man in 1980, to helm Return of the Jedi. Lynch declined, saying that he had "next door to zero interest", believing Lucas should direct it since Star Wars

12390-452: Was also featured on the May 23, 1983, Time magazine cover issue (where it was labeled "Star Wars III"), where the reviewer Gerald Clarke said that while it was not as exciting as the first Star Wars film, it was "better and more satisfying" than The Empire Strikes Back , now considered by many as the best of the original trilogy. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called Return of

12508-568: Was based on characters and situations created by George Lucas and on the screenplay by Kasdan and Lucas. Anthony Daniels reprised his role from the film as C-3PO, but Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams (who lent their voices to the previous radio adaptations) were replaced by newcomer Joshua Fardon and character actor Arye Gross , respectively. Bernard Behrens and Brock Peters reprised their roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, respectively. John Lithgow voiced Yoda, and veteran character actor Ed Begley, Jr. played Boba Fett. Ed Asner voiced Jabba

12626-410: Was filmed at Skywalker Ranch . Marquand and Anthony Daniels clashed somewhat, leading to the latter recording his ADR (dialogue overdubs) with Lucas instead. Carrie Fisher disliked working with Marquand, too; he often yelled at her, which caused her to burst into tears on one occasion, which ruined her makeup and required an hour-long redo. Lucasfilm encountered problems when it tested the film in

12744-411: Was given the working title Blue Harvest with a tagline of "Horror Beyond Imagination." This disguised what the production crew was really filming from fans and the press, and also prevented price gouging by service providers. The first stage of production started with 78 days at Elstree Studios in England, where the film occupied all nine stages. The shoot commenced with a scene later deleted from

12862-576: Was gonna look, but it really hadn't been fully-formed and it almost came out of discussion and performance ... We shot on set of course, and I was in the scenes I have with other actors, but the beauty of this process is you can go back and reiterate, keep informing and honing beats and moments. So J.J., after we shot last year, we've had a series of sessions where I'd be in London at The Imaginarium, my studio, while he's been directing from L.A., and we've literally been creating further additions and iterations to

12980-493: Was his creation. Lucas also offered David Cronenberg the chance to direct, but he declined the offer as he did not want to work on material written by others. Lamont Johnson , director of The Last American Hero (1973), was also considered. Lucas eventually chose Richard Marquand . Lucas operated the second camera on set a few times. Lucas has admitted to being on the set frequently because of Marquand's relative inexperience with special effects. Lucas praised Marquand as

13098-457: Was intended to evoke curtains in a nod to The Wizard of Oz , in which the titular character hides behind a curtain. The throne room was designed to look theatrical as opposed to Palpatine's, which was more utilitarian. The conceptual designers of the set were inspired by unused concept art for Return of the Jedi depicting the Emperor's lava-based lair under the surface of Coruscant . According to The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary (2017),

13216-469: Was mistakenly released in April 1983, a month before the film itself, giving away spoilers to the film's plot. Hamill is a comic book fan and while he was in a comic book store, he discovered that the comic book was on sale there and alerted Lucasfilm. According to Carol Kalish who was Marvel's direct sales manager at the time, Marvel quickly recalled the book upon learning this mistake though it did not stop

13334-566: Was much more positive towards his appearance in The Last Jedi , highlighting his death and his relationship with his apprentice, Kylo Ren. Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production . Besides the main film personnel, such as actors , director , cinematographer or sound engineer and their respective assistants ( assistant director , camera assistant , boom operator ),

13452-433: Was offered the role, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. Ben Kingsley and David Suchet were also considered. Alan Rickman auditioned for the role of Moff Jerjerrod, but Michael Pennington was cast instead. Marquand initially wanted a famous actor such as Laurence Olivier or John Gielgud to play the unmasked Vader, but Lucas was concerned that such an actor would be distracting for audiences. Kenny Baker

13570-569: Was originally cast as Wicket the Ewok, but he fell ill with food poisoning on the day of the shoot. He was replaced by Warwick Davis, who had no film acting experience. Filming began on January 11, 1982, and lasted through May 20, 1982, a schedule six weeks shorter than Empire . Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting as early as possible in order to give Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as much time as possible to work on effects, and left some crew members dubious of their ability to be fully prepared for

13688-454: Was re-released in 1985, it made $ 11.2 million, which totaled its initial theatrical gross to $ 385.8 million worldwide. During its re-release in 1997, the film grossed $ 16.29 million in its opening weekend. When it was re-released in 2023, for its 40th anniversary, the film grossed $ 5.1 million to place #4 in the weekend box office. Film critic Roger Ebert gave Return of the Jedi four out of four stars, calling it "a complete entertainment,

13806-414: Was that it would not be good for merchandising. Kurtz also has claimed that an early script ended with the Rebel forces in tatters, Leia grappling with her new duties as queen, and Luke walking off alone "like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti Westerns ". Yoda was originally not meant to appear in the film, but Marquand strongly felt that returning to Dagobah was essential to resolve the dilemma raised by

13924-576: Was underdeveloped. Various fan theories about his origins were held so strongly among some viewers that it was difficult for them to accept his demise in The Last Jedi . Rian Johnson's decision to kill the character without developing him further was criticized by many. Serkis addressed the criticisms by saying producers wanted the character "to have a great deal of mystery", but that he "has been asked to not shed anything should they want to bring him back in any way, whether prequel or whatever". Forbes criticized The Force Awakens for not developing Snoke as

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