The time Star Wars was set ‘last Tuesday, just round the corner.’

‘A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away’ – the most famous introductory sentence in cinema history

For excitable boys and girls around the world, a sentence that promises excitement, fun, and adventure – provided they’re not watching the prequels, obviously.

But, what many people don’t know is that the famous introduction actually first appeared on the second film – The Empire Strikes Back.

When Star Wars was first released, the introduction was – ‘Last Tuesday, just round the corner.’

“We had two options,” said Carrie Ford, a script advisor.

“The ‘last Tuesday’ one or the ‘long time ago’ one. They were both good, both strong, they worked.”

“George [Lucas] though, he was nuts for the ‘last Tuesday’ intro. He just figured it was way more relatable for people. I guess it made sense, I mean, most people have been round the corner, but hardly anyone had ever been to a galaxy far, far away.”

However, there were problems with the introduction from the early days.

“Well, the picture was a hit, right? A big deal,” said Ms Ford.

“Kids were nuts for it, and what would happen is that they’d all come running out of theatres and straight round the corner, only to be really disappointed when there was no tie-fighter wreckage or dead jawas from space battles that they believed had happened last Tuesday.

“Kids are stupid. What can you do?”

Ultimately, the visionary director relented, and on the second film in the series, the more familiar ‘A long time ago…’ introduction was used.

“It was just better, I think even George thought so in the end.”

Subsequent releases of Star Wars have had the ‘A long time ago…’ introduction edited in, but for a generation of children from the late seventies, Star Wars will always be set ‘last Tuesday, just round the corner.’