In 1979, Disney Wanted ‘Black Hole’ to Be Its ‘Star Wars’

This story first appeared in the Dec. 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

A long time ago, before Disney could buy Star Wars outright, it tried launching its own sci-fi franchise with 1979’s The Black Hole. The years immediately following Star Wars‘ May 1977 release — during which 20th Century Fox’s space epic amassed $230 million domestically (equivalent to $930 million today) — were heady ones for films set in space: Black Hole opened during the Christmas season alongside Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Alien had been a summer hit and even James Bond had achieved zero gravity in Moonraker.

All of those releases wanted to get a head start on The Empire Strikes Back, which was opening in May 1980. But none got a review like the one Black Hole got in The Hollywood Reporter. In it, THR film critic Arthur Knight begins: “Despite a title that manages to be at once sexist and racist, The Black Hole is far from controversial.” (This about a family adventure set in deep space.)

“It was basically a space version of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” explains Robert Forster, now 74, who in the film plays a spaceship commander who stumbles upon a mysterious vessel led by a Captain Nemo type, played by Maximilian Schell.

The sway of Star Wars on Hole is unmistakable: It features laser battles, helper droids who could be R2-D2’s cousins and a Darth Vader-like heavy in the form of Schell’s hench-robot, Maximilian (no relation).

While not a critical success, Hole is credited with radically advancing computerized effects — though much of its magic was achieved the old-fashioned way.

“This was one of the last films that had the old Disney masters doing things like weightlessness with wires. I don’t think greenscreens existed,” recalls Forster of the $20 million production, then Disney’s priciest. It grossed only $36 million, but there were other lines of revenue: A deal with Mego Toys produced 6 million dolls and models of the movie’s USS Palomino. And like the Palomino, a planned remake is floating in limbo.