Hollywood icon Al Pacino has recently reflected on the major Star Wars role he turned down back in 1977 with George Lucas’ very first film set in the galaxy far, far away. Although the role of Han Solo was ultimately given to Harrison Ford, Pacino was reportedly offered the role first. Now, Pacino has revealed he was given the script for Star Wars and was allegedly offered a large sum to become the captain of the Millennium Falcon.

As reported by Variety, Pacino recently spoke at The 92nd Street Y, New York where he confirmed Lucasfilm gave him a script for 1977’s Star Wars. Likewise, Pacino also claims he was offered quite a bit of money to play Han Solo, presumably before Harrison Ford auditioned for the role:
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“Well, I turned down ‘Star Wars.’ When I first came up, I was the new kid on the block, you know what happens when you first become famous. It’s like, ‘Give it to Al.’ They’d give me Queen Elizabeth to play,” Pacino said. “They gave me a script called ‘Star Wars.’ … They offered me so much money. I don’t understand it. I read it. … So I said I couldn’t do it. I gave Harrison Ford a career.”

Hot off the heels of playing Michael Corleone in the first two Godfather films as well as his role in Serpico, Pacino being a frontrunner for the role of Han Solo in the 1970s makes a lot of sense, especially considering the friendship between Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola who wrote and directed the Godfather movies.

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How Much Money Did Al Pacino REALLY Turn Down For Star Wars?

Unfortunately, it’s hard to know exactly how much money Pacino was actually offered by Lucasfilm. Allegedly, Harrison Ford was only paid $10,000 for playing Han Solo in the first Star Wars movie (just over $50,000 when adjusted for inflation). However, aside from some smaller roles in Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and The Conversation, Ford’s biggest role was in Lucas’ American Graffiti, a part that almost kept him out of the running to play Solo if not for the insistence of casting director Fred Roos. By comparison, Pacino had far more star power which would have likely granted him a much bigger paycheck.

What is confirmed is that Harrison Ford was offered 25 million to return as Han Solo for Disney’s sequel trilogy. As such, that’s definitely a sizable amount Pacino can look to as a major payday he missed out on. Interestingly enough, the first Star Wars and its groundbreaking special effects of the era did put the film over budget from 8 to 11 million. If Pacino had indeed said yes to playing Solo, the alleged increase in pay upfront for actors might have kept Fox from continuing to support Lucas’ vision when more money was needed to complete the effects.

Regardless of “what might have been”, Pacino certainly credits himself with giving Harrison Ford his Hollywood career, and he’s probably right. Playing Han Solo elevated Ford’s reputation in Hollywood, leading to future blockbuster roles such as Indiana Jones and many more. As such, Ford’s role in Star Wars certainly made him as big a movie star as Pacino himself (if not larger).

Source: Variety