A long time ago, on an island called England, a classically trained and highly respected actor lamented to his agent about a job that had been proposed by an up-and-coming director. The actor read the upstart director’s script and considered it “clunky fairy tale rubbish” with an absurd premise. He admitted to friends that he had little interest in being associated with what looked like a silly B-movie. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, classically trained actors sometimes find themselves in the position of taking a job they don’t believe in simply because the pay is too good to ignore.
The year was 1976. The director was George Lucas. The movie was “Star Wars.” And the reluctant actor was Sir Alec Guinness.
At the time, Guinness was already a legend. He had an Oscar for “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” had starred in more than fifty films, and was regarded as one of Britain’s greatest Shakespearean performers. Yet here he was, thumbing through a script about laser swords, space smugglers, and a villain in a black mask named Darth Vader. To Guinness, it looked beneath him. To Lucas, Guinness was the one performer who could lend gravitas to his story. To entice Guinness to the role, Lucas and the film studio behind the project offered Alex a salary of $150,000. After adjusting for inflation, that’s the same as around $850,000 in today’s dollars. An impressive payday made even more impressive when you consider that Alec would have just 20 minutes of screen time in the film, which surely no one would ever even see. Still, that wasn’t enough. So Alec’s agent went back to Lucas and the studio with another request…
These Are The Points You’re Looking For
Alec Guinness was no ordinary supporting actor, and his agent knew it. The $150,000 paycheck might have been generous for a few weeks of work, but Guinness wanted more than just a flat fee. He wanted ownership. So his team came back to George Lucas and 20th Century Fox with a bold request: backend points.
In Hollywood, “points” refers to a percentage of a film’s gross revenue. At the time, this kind of arrangement was unusual for an actor in Guinness’s position — especially in what looked like a low-budget space adventure from a relatively untested director. But Guinness’s reputation gave him leverage, and Fox was desperate to have a performer of his stature attached to the project. The studio agreed. Guinness would receive 2% of the film’s box office gross, and Lucas personally sweetened the deal by adding an extra 0.25% out of his own share.
To most observers in 1976, this seemed like a meaningless concession. “Star Wars” wasn’t expected to do much business beyond a modest run. Even Guinness himself assumed the film would be a curiosity at best, something that might earn him a few extra pounds if audiences showed up. In his diary, he joked that he was taking the job as much out of resignation as excitement.
What Guinness could not have known was that this single negotiation — insisting on points — would become one of the smartest financial moves in movie history.
Anthony Daniels, Alec Guinness and Mark Hamill. (via Getty)
The Box Office Explosion
On May 25, 1977, “Star Wars” opened in just 32 theaters. Within weeks, it was a runaway sensation. Lines wrapped around blocks. Audiences came back again and again. The film grossed over $300 million in its initial release, making it the highest-grossing movie of all time up to that point.
Guinness’s reaction was captured in his diary. On May 27, he wrote:
“Splendid news of reaction to Star Wars continues to come in.”
A week later, he confessed:
“Am pinning my hopes on Star Wars percentage which could bring me £100,000 or more if it does Jaws business, as predicted.”
In fact, “Star Wars” didn’t just match “Jaws.” It eclipsed it. Guinness’s 2.25% stake translated into more than $7 million from the first run alone — roughly $33 million in today’s money — for less than 20 minutes of screen time.
And that was only the beginning.
Decades of Royalties
The genius of Alec Guinness’s deal wasn’t just the upfront windfall from the first “Star Wars.” His 2.25% cut applied in perpetuity, meaning every re-release, sequel, and spin-off padded his bank account without him lifting a finger. When “The Empire Strikes Back” arrived in 1980, Guinness reluctantly agreed to reprise Obi-Wan for a single day of filming. He thought the material was “dull rubbishy stuff,” but he felt indebted to George Lucas and agreed to appear as a Force ghost. Even so, the real money was already secured by the fine print of his original contract.
Every time “Star Wars” returned to theaters, Guinness cashed another check. When the Special Editions hit in 1997, he earned millions. When merchandise sales exploded — from action figures to lunchboxes to video games — his points ensured he had a cut. By the time of his death in 2000, his lifetime “Star Wars” earnings were estimated at roughly $100 million. And that was a quarter century ago.
Since then, the continued monetization of the franchise — from the prequels and sequels to home video sales, television licensing, and the launch of Disney+ — has only increased the pie. It would be entirely reasonable to assume that Guinness’s original deal has now generated closer to $150 million for his estate.
Legacy
It is one of the great ironies in film history. Alec Guinness thought “Star Wars” was beneath him, a silly B-movie that might damage his reputation. Instead, it became his most iconic role and the source of one of Hollywood’s all-time smartest paydays. He may have bristled at being recognized only as Obi-Wan Kenobi, but his savvy contract turned a reluctant role into generational wealth.
Guinness’s deal has also become a case study in Hollywood negotiations. His decision to demand points paved the way for future stars like Jack Nicholson in “Batman” and Robert Downey Jr. in “Avengers: Endgame” to secure backend profits that dwarfed their upfront salaries. What was once a reluctant actor’s insurance policy is now standard practice for A-list talent.
In the end, Alec Guinness’s shrewd contract ensured that while Obi-Wan Kenobi taught Luke Skywalker about the Force, the actor behind him left the galaxy with something equally powerful: one of the greatest financial legacies in movie history.
Darth Vader Makes a Huge Mistake
While Alec Guinness struck gold with his 2% of the gross, James Earl Jones — the unmistakable voice of Darth Vader — made the opposite decision. When George Lucas first approached him in 1977, Jones was offered points in lieu of salary.
Jones was dead broke at the time and, like everyone else involved at that point, was extremely skeptical of this silly space movie. So, in what might be one of the most regrettable decisions in film history, he rejected the points offer and demanded to be paid in cash… upfront. His full salary for the first Star Wars movie ended up being a grand total of $7,000. That’s equal to roughly $33,000 today after adjusting for inflation. Not a bad haul for a few hours of work in a recording studio. Especially for an actor struggling to pay the rent. But if only James Earl Jones had believed a little more strongly in The Force! Decades later, Jones would explain his thought process at the time:
“$7,000 was big money for me in those days. I was broke and needed the money to pay rent and buy groceries!“
Ouch.
Of course, Jones’s career flourished anyway. His voice became one of the most famous in entertainment, from Mufasa in “The Lion King” to the iconic “This is CNN.” But when it comes to “Star Wars,” the tale of James Earl Jones stands as a cautionary example of how one decision — points versus salary — can mean the difference between a nice payday and a nine-figure fortune.
Spielberg’s Friendly Bet
There’s a third chapter to the “Star Wars” points legend — and it belongs to Steven Spielberg. In 1977, as George Lucas was finishing “Star Wars,” his friend Spielberg was in the middle of his own sci-fi project, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Lucas was convinced that “Star Wars” was going to flop, while Spielberg’s film would be the bigger hit. Spielberg, on the other hand, had absolute faith in Lucas’s space saga.
In a moment of friendly solidarity — and maybe superstition — the two directors struck a handshake deal. Lucas offered Spielberg 2.5% of the backend profits from “Star Wars,” and in exchange, Lucas would get the same cut from “Close Encounters.” Lucas believed he was hedging his bets; Spielberg believed he was making a smart gamble.
History proved Spielberg right. “Star Wars” became a cultural phenomenon, while “Close Encounters” was successful but nowhere near the same stratosphere. Spielberg’s cut of “Star Wars” has presumably been similar to the Guinness windfall, since they had similar equity amounts. Lucas’s share of “Close Encounters” by comparison was far smaller.
The Other Star Wars Paydays
- Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker): Around $650,000 for the film. This was his breakout role, so his salary was strong for a newcomer but not star-level.
- Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia): About $1,000 per week, totaling roughly $150,000 by the end of filming. Like Hamill, she was relatively unknown at the time.
- Harrison Ford (Han Solo): Just $10,000 for the entire film. Ford was still working as a carpenter before Star Wars, and his career exploded after its release.
- Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin): Roughly $5,000 per week; he worked for about four weeks, so around $20,000 total.
