Summary
- The opening crawl in the Star Wars films, inspired by Flash Gordon, played a significant role in the franchise's appeal and success.
- George Lucas faced fines and backlash from the Director's Guild, Writer's Guild, and Motion Picture Association for using the opening crawl in The Empire Strikes Back.
- Lucas's experience with Empire and mistreatment by studios led him to become an independent filmmaker, prioritizing creative freedom over Hollywood politics.
George Lucas quit the Director's Guild of America, Writer's Guild of America, and Motion Picture Association of America due to The Empire Strikes Back's opening crawl. A major part of Star Wars' appeal has been the crawl that precedes any action in the saga films, a callback to the Flash Gordon serials of Lucas' childhood. With A New Hope proving to be such a struggle on production and post-production fronts, both guilds allowed the opening crawl. With the technicality that the director was listed in the Lucasfilm logo, any potential fines were waived, despite the credits taking place at the end of the film.
While the credits transpiring after a picture is now commonplace, they once were required to be shown before a film started. Lucas ran into trouble when he chose not to direct The Empire Strikes Back and passed on writing duties to Lawrence Kasdan. Known for his contempt for Hollywood, it was the fiasco with Empire that truly pushed Lucas over the edge. Though he took his punishment on the chin, Lucas responded to the guilds' actions by taking unprecedented measures.
Your browser does not support the video tag. Why Empire Strikes Back Broke DGA Rules (At The Time) 
As a means of creating a dramatic opening, Lucas used the serialized opening crawl for A New Hope and intended to do so for the sequel. An unusual decision, the opening crawl for the original Star Wars film proved to be wildly impactful, filling audiences in on the events to come before dropping them right into the action. Having endured a variety of production issues for Empire, Lucas wasn't concerned with any potential ramifications for using an opening crawl, having gotten away with doing so for his previous film.
When The Empire Strikes Back was preparing for its 1980 release, the DGA, WGA, and MPAA issued fines surpassing a quarter of a million dollars. The guilds then attempted to pull the film from theaters before pursuing director Irvin Kershner with fines of his owns. Lucas agreed to pay the fines levied by the guilds, protecting his director in the process, but was left feeling persecuted by the respective guilds. Incensed, Lucas dropped out of all three guilds and truly became an independent filmmaker, his only tie to Hollywood being the distribution of his films through 20th Century Fox.
