Editing American Graffiti (section)

===United Artists===
After [[Warner Bros.]] abandoned Lucas's early version of ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (during the post-production of ''THX 1138''), the filmmaker decided to continue developing ''Another Quiet Night in Modesto'', eventually changing its title to ''American Graffiti''.<ref name="Whatev"/> To co-write a 15-page [[film treatment]], Lucas hired [[Willard Huyck]] and [[Gloria Katz]], who also added semiautobiographical material to the story.<ref name=DVD>(DVD) ''The Making of American Graffiti''. [[Universal Studios Home Entertainment]]. 1998.</ref> Lucas and his colleague [[Gary Kurtz]] began [[pitch (filmmaking)|pitching]] the ''American Graffiti'' treatment to various Hollywood studios and production companies in an attempt to secure the financing needed to expand it into a screenplay,<ref name=first/> but they were unsuccessful. The potential financiers were concerned that [[music licensing]] costs would cause the film to go way over budget. Along with ''[[Easy Rider]]'' (1969), ''American Graffiti'' was one of the first films to eschew a traditional [[film score]] and successfully rely instead on synchronizing a series of popular hit songs with individual scenes.<ref name=Kurtz>{{cite news |author=Ken Plume |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/376/376873p1.html |title=An Interview with Gary Kurtz |work=[[IGN]] |date=November 11, 2002 |access-date=April 30, 2009 |archive-date=June 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629121040/http://movies.ign.com/articles/376/376873p1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

''THX 1138'' was released in March 1971,<ref name=first>Hearn, pp. 10–11, 42–47</ref> and Lucas was offered opportunities to direct ''[[Lady Ice]]'', ''[[Tommy (1975 film)|Tommy]]'', or ''[[Hair (film)|Hair]]''. He turned down those offers, determined to pursue his own projects despite his urgent desire to find another film to direct.<ref name=pain/><ref name=sound/> During this time, Lucas conceived the idea for a [[space opera]] (as yet untitled) which later became the basis for his ''[[Star Wars]]'' franchise. At the [[1971 Cannes Film Festival]], ''THX'' was chosen for the [[Directors' Fortnight]] competition. There, Lucas met [[David Picker]], then president of [[United Artists]], who was intrigued by ''American Graffiti'' and Lucas's space opera. Picker decided to give Lucas $10,000 (equivalent to about ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|10000|1971|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}} dollars) to develop ''Graffiti'' as a screenplay.<ref name=pain/>

Lucas planned to spend another five weeks in Europe and hoped that Huyck and Katz would agree to finish the screenplay by the time he returned, but they were about to start on their own film, ''[[Messiah of Evil]]'',<ref name=DVD/> so Lucas hired [[Richard Walter (screenwriter)|Richard Walter]], a colleague from the [[USC School of Cinematic Arts]] for the job. Walter was flattered, but initially tried to sell Lucas on a different screenplay called ''Barry and the Persuasions'', a story of [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] teenagers in the late 1950s. Lucas held firm—his was a story about [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] teenagers in the early 1960s. Walter was paid the $10,000, and he began to expand the Lucas/Huyck/Katz treatment into a screenplay.<ref name=pain/>

Lucas was dismayed when he returned to America in June 1971 and read Walter's script, which was written in the style and tone of an [[exploitation film]], similar to 1967's ''[[Hot Rods to Hell]]''. "It was overtly sexual and very fantasy-like, with [[chicken (game)|playing chicken]] and things that kids didn't really do," Lucas explained. "I wanted something that was more like the way I grew up."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/luc0int-1 |title=A Life Making Movies |author=<!--Not stated--> |work=Academy of Achievement |date=June 19, 1999 |access-date=April 22, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509145340/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/luc0int-1 |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |url-status = dead}}</ref> Walter's script also had Steve and Laurie going to Nevada to get married without their parents' permission.<ref name=York/> Walter rewrote the screenplay, but Lucas nevertheless fired him due to their creative differences.<ref name=pain/>

After paying Walter, Lucas had exhausted his development fund from United Artists. He began writing a script, completing his first draft in just three weeks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Echarri |first=Miquel |date=May 18, 2023 |title=Fires, alcohol and an out-of-control Harrison Ford: 50 years later, the making of 'American Graffiti' has not been forgotten |url=https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-05-18/fires-alcohol-and-an-out-of-control-harrison-ford-50-years-later-the-making-of-american-graffiti-has-not-been-forgotten.html |access-date=May 21, 2023 |website=EL PAÍS English |language=}}</ref> Drawing upon his large collection of vintage records, Lucas wrote each scene with a particular song in mind as its musical backdrop.<ref name=pain>Hearn, pp. 52–53</ref> The cost of licensing the 75 songs Lucas wanted was one factor in United Artists' ultimate decision to reject the script; the studio also felt it was too experimental—"a musical montage with no characters". United Artists also passed on ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', which Lucas shelved for the time being.<ref name=sound/>