When Harrison Ford was in London in 1976 for the shooting of the global mega-hit Star Wars (1977), he stayed in a rental flat. When he vacated the place, he left behind a rare script for the film. That artifact, kept for nearly 50 years by the landlord’s family, who grew quite fond of the actor during his tenancy, has sold for £10,796 ($13,631), setting a record for a Star Killer script (as it was then titled, after being originally called The Adventures of Luke Starkiller).
The presale estimate for the lot, sold at Excalibur Auctions, in Langley, England, was £8,000-£12,000.
The lost ‘Star Wars’ script. Courtesy Excalibur Auctions.
“The sale saw competitive bidding from around the globe for these never-before-seen pieces of Star Wars history,” said Excalibur Auctions’ auctioneer Jonathan Torode. “Although other copies of this script have come to market previously, this sale saw a new record set for a Star Walker script, which shows how a personal link to the items is so enticing to Star Wars fans.
“The personal provenance makes them totally unique,” said Torode. “We hope they will be as treasured by their new owners as much as they were by the previous ones.”
Elgin Crescent, in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood, where Ford stayed during the shoot. Courtesy Excalibur Auctions.
In the film, Ford played Han Solo, the hotshot pilot and owner of the bucket of bolts known as the Millennium Falcon, a role that would rocket him to international stardom. The owners, according to Excalibur, didn’t recognize the actor when he came to look at the apartment; their cleaner, according to the family, fainted upon recognizing Ford, who had already appeared in American Graffiti and The Conversation. The landlords also didn’t know who Carrie Fisher (who played Pricess Leia) or Mark Hamill (who played Luke Skywalker) were when they dropped by to visit.
The fourth draft of the script is incomplete but does include page 56, where Solo is introduced. It also includes characters and scenes that didn’t make it to the big screen. Along with the script, the house sold a shooting schedule, a call sheet, and some miscellaneous notes.
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