Initially budgeted at $8 million, costs had risen to $30.5 million by the project's conclusion. Filmed from March to September 1979, in Finse, Norway, and Elstree Studios in England, The Empire Strikes Back faced production difficulties, including actor injuries, illnesses, fires, and problems securing additional financing as costs rose. To avoid the stress he faced directing Star Wars, Lucas handed this responsibility to Kershner and focused on expanding his special effects company Industrial Light & Magic instead. Following her death in 1978, he outlined the whole Star Wars saga and wrote the next draft himself, before hiring Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) writer Kasdan to enhance his work. The ensemble cast includes Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, and Frank Oz.įollowing Star Wars ' success, Lucas hired Brackett to write the sequel. Luke Skywalker trains to master the Force so he can confront the powerful Sith lord, Darth Vader.

Set three years after the events of Star Wars, the film recounts the battle between the malevolent Galactic Empire, led by the Emperor and the Rebel Alliance led by Princess Leia. The sequel to Star Wars (1977), it is the second film in the Star Wars film series and the fifth chronological chapter of the ' Skywalker Saga'. The Empire Strikes Back (also known as Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back) is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas.

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