also, while it was being made, weren't several of the actors, as well as Lucas afraid it was going to be a major bomb and a fiasco?It's hard to go back thirty some years, I know, but the thing about Star Wars is that it didn't resemble any other movies that 20th (or most anyone) was making at the time it was green-lighted. No one knew what the potential audience for it was; no one understood what the visual impact of the finished film would be; no one had any clear idea how to market it.
And instead, it was glorious.