Lost Star Wars Companion Short Black Angel To Get Full-Length Feature Film
Black Angel, the fantasy short film that accompanied the original theatrical release of The Empire [...]
Black Angel, the fantasy short film that accompanied the original theatrical release of The Empire Strikes Back, is being turned into a full length feature film, featuring genre film greats Rutger Hauer and John Rhys-Davies.
Creator Roger Christian will write the new script, and make his directorial debut on the film. Christian won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for his work on the original Star Wars, where he helped design the first lightsaber.
The original Black Angel short was commissioned by George Lucas to accompany The Empire Strikes Back, after Christian presented him with the original script. The 25-minute short film tells a classic fantasy story, following a knight who has returned from the Crusades as he embarks on a quest to save a captured girl from a mysterious dark force.
The original film was shot in Scotland, on a $38,000 budget.
The negatives for Black Angel were believed to be lost for 30 years, until they turned up in 2013. Since then, the film has been screening at film festivals around the world.
"It kind of happened – serendipity of the universe – as J.J. [Abrams] was about to start filming [The Force Awakens], so it became this legendary story of a lost piece of Star Wars history," Christian tells THR.
Now backed by Carnaby International, the feature film version of Black Angel will have a budget of approximately $15 million, and is expected to begin filming later in 2015.
"It's my passion project, has been for 35-36 years," Christian. "I guess 'patience is a virtue' is a true saying."
