The bar scene in a modern Star Wars film was inspired by a visit to a pub in Newport, it has been claimed.
Maz Kanata’s ‘watering hole’ is featured in the highly-acclaimed Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The scene was a nod to the original bar scene on Tatooine in Star Wars: A New Hope, which in turn was inspired by George Lucas’s visit to Newport in the 1960s, says WalesOnCraic’s showbiz reporter, Brenda Widethighs.
Lucas told WalesOnCraic:
“I can’t remember much about Newport because I was totally stoned the entire time I was there. I needed to be because I was afraid of the women and the sheep. I do remember one pub in particular though – I was feeling anxious because it was coming up to closing time and someone stuck on a slow song. Every woman in the building grabbed a fella and shoved her tongue down his throat. I think they were women, I couldn’t be sure. Anyway, I ran away. A few years later, I was writing Star Wars and I thought I’d feature a similar set in the film. That’s why the film is called A New Hope, because I was staying in a place in Flintshire called Hope. God knows how I got back there after that night out.”
Some fans have poured scorn on the claim, saying that ‘it’s a load of bollocks’.
