Director George Lucas has made some dramatic last-minute edits in his new “Star Wars” flick, a top movie Web magazine says.
The changes leave one minor, but important, character – as well as a critical line of dialogue – on the cutting-room floor.
Cinescape.com reports that the character of Bail Organa, a peace-seeking senator of Alderaan, has vanished from the final version of “Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.”
In previous interviews, Lucas indicated Organa would play a major role in fighting Darth Vader and the evil empire in “Episode 3,” which won’t be filmed until 2004.
Organa was supposed to make an important cameo in “Episode 1” during the Galactic Senate sequence, Cinescape.com says.
The character, played by Adrian Dunbar, is the adoptive father of Princess Leia – leader of Alderaan – and one of the senators who led the failed fight against the rise of Palpatine.
He also is a hero of the Clone Wars under whom Obi-Wan Kenobi fought, and one of the founders of the Rebel Alliance.
Apparently, Dunbar’s scenes have been cut from the film.
Organa is not even mentioned in the novelization of the movie, which was released earlier this week.
The character does, however, remain in “Star Wars: The Illustrated Screenplay,” which is in stores.
In a recent TV interview, Dunbar said he had “a few lines” in the film and mainly acted in front of a blue special-effects screen with two “green, pig-looking guys” behind him.
He said his lines featured him trying to get fellow politicians to “sign up to the federation” and form an alliance of worlds to bring justice against the evil Nimoudia.
Dunbar also said Lucas told him his role would increase in the next two movies.
But the absence of Dunbar, who’s been seen in “The Crying Game” and “The General,” increases the chances he’ll be replaced by another actor – most likely younger – in Episodes 2 and 3.
It’s not known why Lucas cut Dunbar, but a Lucas associate told The Post:
‘George works on his films up to the moment they are released. He’s always fine-tuning. So this is not a total surprise.”
Cinescape.com also reports that a key bit of dialogue has been snipped from a conversation during which Anakin Skywalker tells Padme that he is going to marry her one day.
Sources say the cut was made because the line was seen as too overt in hinting at the characters’ obvious future.
As fans well know, Anakin is the boy who becomes the devious space villain Darth Vadar. Padme is the girl who becomes Queen Amidala.