Duke held a steaming mug of fresh coffee in his office.
He had a neat stack of magazines resting right next to his rotary telephone.
His assistant, Simpson, had left them there before Duke arrived, he picked one up, it was a Carl Barks comic book, brought to the office under his orders.
The stack of comics, was a complete run of Barks' Daffy Duck stories.
Carl Barks was in Duke's opinion one of the craziest stories in american history.
Carl Barks, or sometimes also known as "The Duck Man," was an American cartoonist whose Disney comic stories established the foundational mythology of animated series like DuckTales.
Barks built an entire universe around Donald Duck.
The cultural consensus in the future was that Barks work elevated comic books to high art, with Will Eisner calling him the "Hans Christian Andersen of comic books".
His contribution to the medium were too much to even count.
He inspired the earliest mangas in post-WW2 japan with Osamu Tezuka also known as the "God of Manga" being one of his biggest fans.
Spielberg and Lucas were also big fans of his work as kids, even using a piece of his adventures for Indiana Jones.
The rolling boulder Scene.
Duke had hired him to take over the Looney Toones comics without much expectation, and the sales had been nothing too exciting either.
This was the first time he had read these stories
Duke sat down in his wide leather chair, intending only to skim the first few colorful pages before his morning meetings, and maybe check them out later.
He took a sip of his hot coffee, flipping open the cover.
He quickly inmersed himself, and read through the first major story arc th a smile.
The issue was titled "The Lost Duck Civilization."
In this adventure, Daffy stumbled upon an ancient map hidden inside a thrift store painting.
He went and dragged his reluctant friend Porky Pig on a wild expedition all the way to a remote jungle in Peru.
The artwork depicted stone temples and intricate booby traps.
Daffy's relentless greed led them to a legendary treasure room.
But instead of leaving peacefully after filling their bags, Daffy refused to leave a single golden coin behind.
His stubborn pride triggered a self-destruct mechanism, collapsing the temple and ruining the entire expedition.
Duke reached for the next issue in the stack.
This story was titled "The Landscape Architect." Daffy developed an irrational obsession with beating his rival, Bugs Bunny, in a local neighborhood garden contest.
The stakes are small, but Daffy treats the competition like a military campaign.
To secure a victory, the duck bypassed standard gardening tools.
He purchased industrial-grade excavation machinery.
The panels showed Daffy sitting behind the levers of a yellow bulldozer.
Naturally, he misread the operating instructions.
In a sequence of visual slapstick, Daffy accidentally threw the machine into the wrong gear, effortlessly leveling a part of the city block in the process.
Bugs Bunny simply watched from a distance, munching a carrot while Daffy stood in the dusty ruins of his own ambition.
The third comic in the pile took an even wilder turn.
It was called "Daffy the Marine."
The ambitious bird decided to enlist in the armed forces, somehow landing a spot as a tough Marsoc Raider though a series of events.
Barks played the military setting straight, using the strict discipline and rigid structure to highlight Daffy's chaotic nature.
Every attempt Daffy made to prove his bravery backfired in spectacular ways.
The story was played strictly for laughs, proving the character could thrive in any imaginable genre or setting.
The final arc in the stack brought Daffy back to civilian life.
Having left his disastrous military career behind, Daffy decided to conquer the world of sports.
The new storyline was simply titled "Duck Dodgers." He formed his own neighborhood baseball team, convinced he possessed the natural talent to manage a championship roster.
Duke laughed out loud. He loved the creativity of the medium.
Barks had elevated Daffy Duck from a simple cartoon clown into an ambitious, insecure anti-hero who was hilarious.
Every wild scheme Daffy launched ultimately failed, but rarely because of outside villains.
Daffy was always the architect of his own downfall.
Duke tapped his finger against his coffee mug. He saw potential in the printed pages.
"This is the kind of nuanced character that could easily carry a television series," Duke murmured to himself. "He is a lovable loser. You always root for him to win, even when you know he will sabotage himself."
Duke made a firm mental note to speak with Archie Goodwin later in the week to consider it.
Duke reluctantly closed the final comic book and stacked it neatly on the corner of his desk.
He glanced at his wristwatch, realizing the morning had slipped away.
___
Later that afternoon, Duke sat near the center of a casting suite.
A long table in front of him, covered in headshots, and resumes binders.
Duke had been sitting in this exact chair for weeks, leading the casting effort for Star Wars.
The volume of applicants was staggering, once again the box office success of Jaws had changed everything.
Everyone in Hollywood desperately wanted a ticket on the Star Wars train.
Established actors and eager newcomers alike were trying to secure an audition using every backdoor connection available in the industry.
Powerful talent agents were calling his private line constantly.
Rival studio heads called to offer friendly favors.
Even a few prominent politicians had reached out, hoping to secure a minor background role for a niece or nephew, with Reagan bringing his daughter to talk with Duke and hinted at her being an upcoming actress.
The hype surrounding the script was huge, even Duke was surprised, wasnt it common knowledge that Star Wars was the only one of his books that never became a best seller, even Neuromancer had better sales.
Duke rubbed his tired eyes, he had personally watched dozens of talented actresses read for the role of Princess Leia, and he still had not found the right fit.
Worse, he had not even begun to tackle the casting for Luke Skywalker.
The casting suite had become an assembly line of hopeful faces, each one walking through the door with dreams of becoming a princess in a galaxy far, far away.
Duke sat behind the long table, flipping through headshots as the parade continued.
Jodie Foster delivered a surprisingly sharp read for a 13 year-old. Duke thanked her warmly, knowing she had a brilliant career ahead. But she was a child.
The romantic lead opposite a smuggler required someone older.
Cindy Williams brought her natural charm to the room, flashing that sitcom smile that had made her famous.
She was polite and professional, but the energy she projected belonged on a soundstage, not on a starship.
Amy Irving drifted through her audition in a flowy bohemian dress, her delivery competent but forgettable.
Duke found himself already reaching for the next headshot before she had even finished her final line.
Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Sigourney Weaver, Kim Basinger and even Diane Keaton all came to audition.
Diane Keaton tried a different approach that everyone else.
She entered with nervous energy, attempting to engage Duke in conversation before the read even began. And even mentioned how they had already worked together.
He politely redirected her to the camera, without engaging too much.
She delivered her lines with her signature quirky charm, but Leia was not quirky.
The door opened again, and a young girl named Terri Nunn walked to the center mark.
Duke studied her face.
She had memorized the lines, delivered them with a great intonation.
But there was a youthfulness in her features that no amount of makeup could conceal. Her jaw was still soft, her cheeks full with roundness.
"Before we proceed," Duke said, keeping his voice even, "I need to see a driver's license or some form of valid state identification."
Terri's smile faltered. She looked down at her shoes, her shoulders slumping. In a defeated voice, she admitted she was only 14 years old.
"We cannot cast a 14 year-old as a romantic lead in a major motion picture," Duke said, his tone professional but final. "This audition is over. You can go home."
Tears welled in her eyes. She rushed out of the casting suite, crying into her hands. The door swung shut behind her, and the room fell silent.
Duke sighed, wrote down the name of this Terri girl agent to avoid whoever he sends and pulled a short stack of manila folders toward the center of the table.
Despite the long string of rejections, he actually had 3 strong contenders left. He fanned the headshots out in front of him.
Jessica Lange was 26, stunning, with great dramatic range and a beautiful face.
Kathleen Turner, his notes indicated, could easily sell the illusion of royalty.
Geena Davis was a fresh face with good potential, a raw talent waiting to be shaped.
As for Carrie Fisher, she had auditioned early in the process. She gave a solid read and several people related to her parents tried to intervene to let her advance on the audition process, Duke didnt care about their calls.
He simply did not find her as attractive as the other leading contenders.
Hollywood was a visual medium, and he needed a specific aesthetic to sell tickets.
He had quietly moved her file to the bottom of the stack. Although her file did ended up appearing higher in the stack for some reason every couple of hours.
With Leia narrowed down, Duke's attention shifted to the Han Solo problem.
He needed a charming smuggler who could balance the earnestness of the other heroes.
The role required someone who could make the audience believe he had seen everything, done everything, and owed everyone money.
John Travolta had come in wearing a sharp leather jacket, that might have worked in a musical. But his delivery lacked the edge Han required. He was too nice.
Al Pacino treated the dialogue like a Shakespearean tragedy.
Kurt Russell had a great, easy smile, the kind that made audiences like him. But he felt more like a traditional hero than an outlaw.
Burt Reynolds and Robert Redford had both shown significant interest. They were certified box office draws.
But they were too old, and too established in the minds of the public.
Dustin Hoffman had also scheduled a reading.
Duke sat through the audition, politely wondering why the actor had even shown up.
Hoffman was significantly shorter than most of the actresses they had seen today.
Han Solo was an attractive outlaw, not a short man with a big nose.
Hoffman was a brilliant actor, but he was also visibly wrong for the part.
Then there was Harrison Ford.
Duke felt conflicted. Ford was perfect for the role.
He had the rugged look, the cynical attitude, the movie-star charm. but there was a problem.
Ford did not seem to care about the movie at all.
He was dismissive in the auditions, rushing through the dialogue with an almost bored expression.
He read the lines like he was doing Duke a favor.
Over drinks, Ford had told Duke several times he just wasn't interested in the space movie.
He thought it was silly and he wanted to do serious work, like that Gladiator Script Duke was talking about a few years ago.
Nick Nolte was the other primary contender.
He had the outlaw energy Duke was looking for, but something about him felt too unstable. Han Solo needed to be charming, but not scary.
Duke stared at Ford's headshot. Perfect. If only he could convince the man to give a damn.
Nolte was fantastic in the room. He had a gritty edge, tough physical presence, and a great voice.
Duke sat in the quiet suite, staring blankly at Ford's file.
He knew Ford would be magical on the big screen.
But as a director, he didnt want to cast a leading man who didnt actually believe in the project.
Beyond the smuggler and the princess, there was the Luke Skywalker problem.
Duke had not even started formally casting the young farm boy.
He had hundreds of colorful headshots piled in boxes, but no clear contender had emerged from the pile of hopefuls.
Duke raised his hands and rubbed his temples.
"Cancel all of my morning meetings for tomorrow," Duke instructed to an upcoming Simpson. "Clear the entire schedule. I need some quiet time to sit and think about decisions."
He walked the familiar path back to his private office.
Duke stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and collapsed into his chair with an exhausted sigh.
He leaned back, staring up at the ceiling tiles.
His mind drifted to a horror movie he remembered where a woman looks up and sees the words "Sow" scrawled across the ceiling.
He didn't know why that image popped into his head right now. Maybe he was losing his mind or he needed a nap most likely
His thoughts then wandered, completely unprovoked, to the Daffy Duck comics he had flipped through that morning over coffee. The one where Daffy tries desperately to be the best, only to fail spectacularly and repeatedly, because of his own delusional hubris.
The duck cannot stop tripping over his own ego.
Duke stared at the ceiling a moment longer.
'There must be some profound, life-altering philosophical lesson buried in that comic book scenario for me. Something something ambition. Something something self-awareness.'
He quickly shook his head, clearing the thought away.
He was the head of a major motion picture studio.
He was not going to sit here and have a midlife crisis inspired by a cartoon duck.
He reached forward and picked up the receiver of his rotary phone.
"Simpson," Duke said, "Get me Harrison Ford's home number. And find Nick Nolte for me. I want to see him back in the casting room tomorrow. Ask his agent if he would be interested in the role of Luke Skywalker."
___
Luke Skywalker options:
Mark Hammil
William Katt
Nick Nolte
Han Solo options:
Harrison Ford
Burt Reynolds
Kurt Russell
Princess Leia options:
Jessica Lange
Carrie Fisher
Genna Davis
Kathleen Turner
Check out this video:
https://youtu.be/IvcoQ7vwr6s?si=jNQOg3iH0Veee1J3
Star Wars Anime Opening - Prequel Trilogy