20 facts you might not know about 'Attack of the Clones'

The Phantom Menace had not been received very well, and that made Lucas slow to return to writing. However, he had a second film in this trilogy to make. He didn’t even finish a rough draft of the script until three months before shooting began. After doing a couple drafts, Lucas brought in Jonathan Hales to help him with the third and final draft, which got Hales a screenplay credit on the movie. Hales was an unexpected choice, not having a screenplay credit since 1981. Lucas knew him from the fact Hales had written on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

It’s not uncommon for a movie to have a working title, either because they haven’t settled on a title or because they are trying to obfuscate what they are shooting. Attack of the Clones, though, went a different route with its working title. They went with “Jar Jar’s Great Adventure,” which was a self-deprecating joke based on the unpopularity of Jar Jar Binks when he was introduced in The Phantom Menace.

Lucas did a lot of brainstorming when it came to Star Wars, and old ideas often got reused. For example, he thought about clones when he was writing The Empire Strikes Back. Back then, the idea was that Lando Calrissian would be a clone from a planet of clones that had been involved in the "Clone Wars” mentioned in Star Wars.

Since Attack of the Clones jumps forward 10 years, Jake Lloyd couldn’t return as Anakin. A lot of notable actors went up for the part after Lucas’ choice of Leonardo DiCaprio fell through, since he was too busy. The actors who tried out for the role of Anakin included Topher Grace, Colin Hanks, Joshua Jackson, and Paul Walker. In the end, Hayden Christensen got the role.

Best returned as the much-maligned Jar Jar Binks, but he also got to appear in person and not just as a CGI character. He plays somebody at the Coruscant Outlander Club. His character’s name? Achk Med-Beq.

In The Phantom Menace, Keira Knightley plays one of Queen Amidala’s handmaidens. It was one of the first roles for the future star. Amidala has a new handmaiden, Dorme, in this movie. She’s played by Rose Byrne.

It was reported that the members of *NSYNC had been given cameo appearances at the behest of Lucas’ daughter. Indeed, they did apparently shoot a cameo, but Lucas then decided to cut them out of the movie. They can only be seen briefly in a crowd shot.

In 1999, The Matrix kind of outshined The Phantom Menace in the sci-fi realm, even if The Phantom Menace made more money. Lucas didn’t seem to take it too hard, though. He had Fiona Johnston — a.k.a. the Woman in the Red Dress from The Matrix — make a cameo in the movie as effectively the same character. In the world of Star Wars, though, her name is Hayde Gofai.

Previous to Attack of the Clones, Jedis had blue or green lightsabers while Siths had red lightsabers. However, Samuel L. Jackson wanted to stand out. He asked for his character Mace Windu to have a purple lightsaber, and Lucas obliged.

When filming The Phantom Menace, McGregor had a habit of making lightsaber noises when he was wielding Obi-Wan’s lightsaber. Well like Jedi Master, like padawan. When Christensen was given his character’s lightsaber he began making noises when he swung it around.

Hugh Quarshie played Captain Panaka in The Phantom Menace. He was supposed to return for Attack of the Clones, but he wanted to see the full script. Lucas, reasonably being cautious about information getting out, declined the offer. Quarshie then declined to return for Attack of the Clones. The character was written out and replaced by Captain Typho.

The scene where Anakin and Padme have dinner together was entirely improvised by Christensen and Natalie Portman. Lucas didn’t mind. In fact, he asked them to do that because he was unhappy with the dialogue he had written in the script.

Back when he was making the original trilogy, Lucas had to rely on practical effects. His fascination with digital effects and CGI became clear when he started tweaking the original trilogy for rereleases. Another threshold was crossed in Attack of the Clones, as for the first time, there was a fully-CGI Yoda. They consulted Frank Oz on how to make the character look and move, but Oz’s puppeteering was not required.

Lee had originally been offered the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars, but he turned it down. His friend Peter Cushing got the role, but Lee came to regret his decision. Lee did not let the opportunity pass him by a second time, so he agreed to play Count Dooku, finally entering the Star Wars universe.

Count Dooku is mentioned in the opening crawl, and he’s the main villain of the film. However, it takes a while to get around to Christopher Lee’s Dooku showing up in the film. A full 76 minutes of the movie passes before Dooku’s first appearance.

Temuera Morrison, who plays Jango Fett, hits his head on a partially open door at one point. This was not a mistake. It was in fact an intentional reference to what was a real goof. In Star Wars, a stormtrooper banged his head on a door, which became an infamous moment in the franchise’s history.

After filming Attack of the Clones, McGregor went off to shoot Black Hawk Down. Then, Lucas and company needed McGregor back for a few reshoots. There was a slight hitch, though, as the actor had shaved his face and his head for Black Hawk Down. McGregor didn’t have time to regrow his hair, so a hairpiece and fake beard were used.

The DVD for Attack of the Clones included a trailer for a fake documentary called “R2-D2: Beneath the Dome,” a fictional, humorous look at the life of the beloved droid. There was also an option to get the full mockumentary on a bonus disc for an extra fee.

Attack of the Clones made $310.6 million in the United States and Canada, plus $649.3 million worldwide. That’s a lot of money, but the film still made ignominious history for the franchise. It was the first Star Wars movie not to finish atop the year-end box office. It was behind Spider-Man and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in North America, and behind Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets worldwide.

Attack of the Clones only received one Oscar nomination, for Best Visual Effects. That was the fewest for a Star Wars movie at this point. It did win two Razzies, for Worst Screenplay and Worst Supporting Actor, which went to Christensen. That being said, it did get a bit of love from a couple award shows. Yoda’s duel with Count Dooku won Best Fight at the MTV Movie Awards.