What RETURN OF THE JEDI Could have been
First of all this is not part of my April Fools joke! Coincidentally enough this is real news on one of the stories that George Lucas' 'Return of the Jedi' could have been. I don't know how I missed this before, but back in 2005 'Empire Strikes Back' producer Gary Kurtz gave an interview in which he tells of a tale of what we could have seen in 'Return of the Jedi' but was ultimately thrown out the window. Why? I have no idea because this vision of the film is so much better! Here is what Kurtz had to say.
The one story thread that got totally tossed out the window, which was really pretty important I think, was the one of Vader trying to convince Luke to join him to overthrow the Emperor. That together they had enough power that they could do that, and it wasn't him saying I want to take over the world and be the evil leader, it was that transition. It was Vader saying, "I'm looking again at what I've done and where my life has gone and who I've served and, very much in the Samurai tradition, and saying if I can join forces with my son, who is just as strong as I am, that maybe we can make some amends." So there was all of that going on in Jedi as well, that was supposed to go on. So the story was quite a bit more poignant and the ending was the coronation of Leia as the queen of what was left of her people, to take over the royal symbol. That meant she was then isolated from all of the rest and Luke went off then by himself. It was basically a kind of bittersweet ending. She's not his sister that dropped in to wrap up everything neatly. His sister was someone else way over on the other side of the galaxy and she wasn't going to show up until the next episode.
Can you believe they didn't go with this ending!? I am shocked! It is so perfect, and had much more thought put into it. This was a much smarter ending and one that would have been incredible! That's the ending I would have loved to see! io9 says it best with the comment "No last minute change of heart from Vader, no creepy retro incest between Luke and Leia, and a non-Ewok village with everyone dancing and singing and ghosts appearing to tell you that everything's okay really ending? Yeah, we were totally ripped off by reality."
So what do you think of this ending that never happened?
Source: Film Threat