sci-fi film featuring a notably different conclusion. Nonetheless, following thorough evaluation, the character’s demise was abandoned, leading to behind-the-scenes complications and causing one creative figure to forsake this landmark of 70s fantasy cinema entirely.
In a discussion with the L.A. Times, Gary Kurtz, who was a producer on both “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” believed that Han’s demise would have yielded a more significant conclusion than what ultimately occurred. “The initial concept was that they would rescue [the kidnapped] Han Solo early in the storyline and that he would subsequently perish in the central segment of the film during an assault on an Imperial installation,” Kurtz detailed. “George then opted against having any of the main characters killed. By that point, substantial toy sales were emerging, and that influenced the decision.”
This was one of the earliest of numerous creative conflicts that troubled Kurtz, including a complaint regarding the reconstruction of the Death Star: “So we concurred that it would be best for me to depart.” Although Kurtz did not attain the conclusion he desired, elements of it would resurface years later in another “Star Wars” production.