Star Wars has been entwined with Indiana Jones since its very origin. It was after the first Star Wars movie was released in 1977 that George Lucas escaped for a vacation in Hawaii, to avoid the scrutiny and potential negative reception to his passion project. His friend Steven Spielberg was invited along, and while there, Lucas pitched “The Adventures of Indiana Smith” to him.
The rest as they say, is history, but not before another more noticeable Star Wars connection was made. After Tom Selleck famously dropped out only a few weeks before filming, Spielberg once again mentioned Harrison Ford, who he’d loved in The Empire Strikes Back.
There was only one month between the release of The Empire Strikes Back and filming beginning on Raiders of the Lost Ark, so things could have gone very differently. Ford had been considered too well-known, and Lucas didn’t want to appear too reliant on him and didn’t think Ford would commit to another trilogy. Ford thought that Indiana Jones seemed fun, and he negotiated a favourable deal.
But, as well as George Lucas and Harrison Ford’s heavy involvement, there is a third and more secret connection between Star Wars and Indiana Jones. You have to be eagle-eyed to spot it, but two of the most loyal droids in all the galaxy appear in one of the Egyptian tombs. That’s right, C3PO and R2D2 are immortalised in hieroglyphics and given that Star Wars is set a “long time ago” (not in the future, as many assume) maybe their legend was passed down to the Ancient Egyptians?
Twitter user Drew Struzan pointed out the Easter Egg last year (to those who hadn’t seen it before) and other fans replied, noticing other homages that Lucas and Spielberg have made in their movies to each other’s work. It’s one of the longest lasting friendships in Hollywood.
Check out our guide to the cast of Star Wars.