"If you end your training now - if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did - you will become an agent of evil"Introduction
It is the sequel to the most successful film of 1977. Star Wars was inevitably going to spawn a sequel and ironically Lucas - a man who was almost as obsessed with control as Vader himself, handed the directorial duties over to Irvin Kershner. Though credited for the "story", Lucas even handed over screenplay-writing duties to Leigh Brackett (who died shortly after writing the script in 1978) and Lawrence Kasdan (Someone Lucas was impressed with through his writing on a project called Raiders of the Lost Ark). This would give the impression that Lucas became less involved - but in fact he was more involved as every penny which was put up to support the production was from his own pocket. $33 million dollars from his profit of Star Wars and what he found through loans provided the foundations for The Empire Strikes Back - who would've known that this was an independent film? Not to mention how such a huge franchise was bred from decisions that rebelled against the usual studio practices - but Lucas did it to gain complete control of the franchise. And, financially, it was worth every penny.
