File this under “Why we need libraries and librarians”: A copy of the original shooting script for Star Wars Episode IV was found sitting on a shelf in the University of New Brunswick’s library in Saint John. And it may settle whether or not Han shot first.


Librarian Kristian Brown had been sifting through the library’s science fiction collection for a digitization project when he came across the script, dated March 15, 1976. A script which Lucsasfilm confirms looks like a real version of an early script. Not one used by the production, but a copy made by fans to be sold at conventions.

A few of the changes from this script to the film we ended up getting are well known: Luke Starkiller rather than Skywalker, the film called “Saga I” rather than “Episode IV.” But the big change is, of course, whether Han shot first. Says Brown:

I’ll tell you one thing, right now. Based on the script, I can tell you 100 per cent, Han shot first.


Which just tells us that George Lucas has been changing his mind about the movies for decades.