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Face Palm Moments: Some of History’s Most Embarrassing Mistakes

Khalid Elhassan March 23, 2025 16 min

Mistakes - Cain, by Henri Vidal, in the Tuileries Garden, Paris — Cain, by Henri Vidal, in the Tuileries Garden, Paris. Wikimedia

10. A Runaway Success

Lines of moviegoers wait outside the Avco Center Theater in Los Angeles to see Star Wars, June, 1977. Associated Press

A number of studios passed on Star Wars, before 20^th Century Fox finally agreed to make the film. The studio’s execs were still a bit unsure about the movie’s prospects, however. So when Lucas offered to give up $500,000 of his director’s fee in exchange for complete ownership of merchandise and licensing fees, the studio agreed. It was a costly face palm mistake that 20^th Century Fox came to greatly regret. Upon its release in 1977, Star Wars: A New Hope became a runaway box office success. It also generated massive demand for toys and merchandise based on characters and vehicles. George Lucas had contracted with toymaker Kenner. Like 20^th Century Fox, however, Kenner had not expected the movie to become so popular, or the resultant demand for tie-in merchandise to be so huge. Soon, demand for toys and merchandise outran supplies.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.