Shadows of the Empire produced as third Star Wars movie

According to Wookieepedia:

The entire Shadows of the Empire project, though not technically a film, can be collectively considered the closest project to a film in the Star Wars official continuity. This story is significant in the fact that Lucas reportedly said he would have made a story like this into a movie if he had had the time and effort back in the early 1980s.

Suppose that Lucas has the time to make this film. Given the popularity of the first two films, it would be a certain hit. The plot is the same as the novel and it comes out in 1983 when Return of the Jedi did IOTL. Return of the Jedi comes out in 1986.

What would the ramifications of this have been?
 

MrP

Banned
The Star Wars tetralogy, eh? Cool. It's a jolly long time since I read SotE, though I think it would help to flesh out the GE, Darth and Palpy considerably. I expect we'd see an impact on RotJ - perhaps elements of the earlier scripts remain, and the fight is at Coruscant.
 
Lucas would have probably expanded the later films, post-Return. There was talk of him doing a second trilogy.

He might have done the first films earlier as well, meaning the galaxy could be spared Jar Jar Binks and the whiney emo-angst douchebaggery of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker.

Also, it might-Might be less likely that you see a lot of the Expanded Universe, the books, comics, etc. Lucas probably would have fleshed out most of the storylines within the movies themselves, firming up the storylines.
Oh, and Lucas probably would have made another billion dollars or so. There's that.

Good idea!
 
I seem to remember sexual tension in that book, so this could push Star Wars in a less 'family-friendly' direction if that is included, though it could very plausibly not be.

If it is included scam pheromone businesses probably get a leg up, and Prince Xizor becomes a very popular subject for fanart when young viewers grow up.
 
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