YES!! I got it!

I searched some of my old CD archived and found my warezed Star Wars Screen Entertainment. This was a screen saver program made in the early 90s for windows 3.1. Here is a shot of what I found (copy/paste to view).

iceworld2.netfirms.com/swsaver.jpg

Interestingly enough, it works 100% on windows XP SP2. I can still see Obi Wan and Vader battling it out on my desktop!

This program was also advertised as offering a "sneak peak" on the prequel trilogy.

I peaked around in there and found some text in the swtext.imx file. It is interesting to see the original plans. It was lost in the depths of time but now I retrieved this from a 100% official source!

Please show me where it says 9 episodes. I must be blind. Oh wait, nevermind I see it. Interesting considering its context in the article below I wouldn't say its canon.

The only clue to there being 9:

But I could give or take the last three.

And where it says: "The struggle is chronicled in STAR WARS, nine episodes which depict the reign of the Empire and a small, brave band of rebels who threatened to topple it."

It say it right ... oh wait, you corrected yourself but then the next 2 people felt the need to post the exact same thing. I'll never understand why people feel the need to post the same thing over and over again. He sees where it said 9. What's the point of the rest of the posts in this thread so far? Just wondering.

Hey! It says NINE right there Popcorn! Jesus man!! why can't you read, you non-reader!!!1111

Oh wait.. people already corrected you.

... and in turn we all corrected ourselves.

The only thing that changed, as far as I read, aside from there no longer being 9 episodes (unless Spielberg or another director can convince Lucas other wise!) is that they stated you wouldn't be able to tell who was good and evil in the new trilogy. Which was rather wrong, IMHO. It was pretty black and white who the good and bad guys were in Episodes 1-3.

from http://www.jedibites.com/movies/anhfacts.html

I posted this abandonware win 3.1 screen saver on alt.binaries.starwars

Actually, I was referring to Goldberg saying the only thing that says there were nine was referring to the OT as the middle three movies.

I'll quote this again, since it fits here and we have independent confirmation in Class's post. This was from Cinescape.com and the Force.net a few years ago.

Wow, very interesting info. I'm happy to see that someone was able to admit that Star Wars was originally planned as 1 movie until it made money. I wish the Wachowski brothers would admit to that. And I like the reference to The Hidden Fortress as I pointed out in another thread, the original treatment reads like a direct remake. And Luke discovering he has another sister could be a terrific storyline in another trilogy.

I don't quite understand how Leia could become "Queen of her people" when they were little more than kibble & bits after the Death Star came by.

Well, I'm sure that little bit about Leia was abandoned when they decided to destroy Alderaan.

does anyone have the forward George Lucas wrote for the second TPB pressing of splinter of the minds eye...it mentions the initial thought of nine as well.

This copy

Gary Kurtz gave TPM a mixed review as he was clouded by plans made
for Episode 1 back in the early 70s. As someone involved with Star
Wars from the initial concepts, Kurtz revealed the original intentions
for the nine films as they were laid out BEFORE 1980. Very
interesting.

* EPISODE 1: Was to focus on the origins of the Jedi Knights
and how they are initiated and trained
* EPISODE 2: Introduction and development of Obi-Wan Kenobi
* EPISODE 3: Introduction and life of Vader
* EPISODE 4: There were seven different drafts of the film. At
one point, they pursued buying the rights to Hidden Fortress
because of the strong similarities. At one point, Luke was a
female, Han was Luke's brother, Luke's father was the one in
prison (interesting point for some debates) and the film
featured 40 wookies
* EPISODE 5: Once written, the screenplay of Empire is almost
exactly what is seen on screen. The only cut scenes were those
involving wampas in the rebel base (cut because of time and
unsolved technical glitches) and about two minutes of
Luke/Yoda Jedi training with no real dialog.
* EPISODE 6: Leia was to be elected "Queen of her people"
leaving her isolated. Han was to die. Luke confronted Vader
and went on with his life alone. Leia was not to be Luke's sister.
* EPISODE 7: Third trilogy was to focus on Luke's life as a Jedi,
with very few details planned out.
* EPISODE 8: Luke's sister (not Leia) appears from another part
of the galaxy.
* EPISODE 9: First appearance of the Emperor.

The original idea for EP 1 is a lot better than what we saw in TPM, I dont why they didnt stick to it more closely. Of course it doesnt mention the political stuff so it may have been just as good/bad.

I never heard of the Kurtz separation, so I assume it was that the changes ended the series. The unfilmed 'last 3' were already neatly folded into Ep 6, as explained in the Kurtz articles. And they just switched the roles of Leia and Han as being Luke's sibling. None of the main good guys were killed and the major bad ones were so there was always the opportunity to continue but still felt as if it was ending prematurely.
The biggest flaws in my opinion over what we didnt see, is more depth to the Jedi history , and the lack of training Luke had in ROTJ, which are both covered, I guess, in the books. Oh well

This goes back to the original conception that STAR WARS was the movie he wanted to make. Vader was simply the villian and the world itself was the subject. When he came up with the idea of Vader being Luke's father, it changed the dynamic. Rather than the simple escapism of the first film, it became a "saga". They wrote open-ended on Empire and hoped inspiration would hit for Jedi. Unfortunately, it didn't, and they simply regurgitated the previous two films into the third film. Rescue of Leia=Rescue of Han, Luke facing Vader=Luke facing Vader, Destruction of Death Star=Destruction of Death Star. The appendation of Episode numbers starting in medias res was originally meant almost as a joke, in the sense that it was to give the impression of an ongoing serial rather then be legitimate episodes. The first three episodes were little more than backstory for the events in Star Wars. They had vague ideas, as presented in the quote, but the Darth Vader angle gave it some focus and also stubbed out the possibility of continuing with subsequent episodes.

Yeah, but that stuff was thought up when making Empire Strikes Back. Alderaan was already destroyed. Which brings up another question. How did Leia pay Han his reward? Her planet was detroyed along with all her stuff and her parents' stuff. I'm sure, being in the rebellion and on the run, that she didn't have access to an ATM. The Empire would have blocked all accounts from Alderaan and even "nationalized" them.

I'm sure the rebels had sources of funds hidden in the huge galaxy.

This info. about 9 episodes was also stated in the hardcover book that came with the Star Wars Trilogy Definitive Edition LD set from 1993.

Of course, that's what Kurtz would conveniently like everyone to believe. The fact is he ran ESB over budget, and put Lucas in one hell of a pickle with Fox execs. Lucas had used strong-armed tactics to get his way with Fox. Then Lucas trusted Kurtz with the production, and he ran it seriously over the alloted budget. Lucas had to go back Fox to get more money, and they really gave it to him. Their parting ways had everything with Lucas not trusting Kurtz with his money. So they agreed to split up. If not, Lucas would have likely fired him.

Kurtz may have well disagreed with Lucas' decision, but that's not why they split up. It was over money.

I think it goes back to WHO CARES ANYMORE! Sorry, I know it's fun to speculate what could have been, but now we got what we got. I am willing to bet that even if Episodes 7-9 do get made at the hands of another director, they would go in a different direction.

Yeah, I just looked it up. It states on page 42:

"The consolation prize for the long stretch of writing was that Lucas had deatailed story lines for not one but three films and more general outlines for not one but three trilogies. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi are the middle trilogy, with another trilogy covering events previous to Star Wars and a final trilogy that would be a sequel to the three exisiting films. Star Wars is, in fact, identified in the opening credits as 'Episode Four,' a little-observed curiosity that could have been taken as a form of homage to the cliff-hanging Saturday serials but was, in fact, a manifestation of the grand design Lucas had conceived for his space epic."

Quoted from George Lucas: The Creative Impulse.

I wonder if this book will be edited (if they do future editions) to state that Star Wars was always a six part series about the life and death of Darth Vader.