According to every source running this story, before this was posted there were exactly two places you could do that: Lucasfilm’s archive and the library of the Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, New Mexico. No copies were allowed to be made.
Somehow, MyPDFScripts.com got a hold of a digital scanned copy of the script and have made it available for download.
You can go to there site here.
This is an incredibly important piece of Star Wars history. Brackett died before The Empire Strikes Back even started and Lawrence Kasdan (the genius behind Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi after this) was asked to start over. How much of Brackett’s script got used was always a point of speculation from writing enthusiasts and Star Wars fans the world over and now we can finally see for sure.
This is the kind of thing that really excites me, both as a Star Wars fan and someone interested in the process of screenwriting, and I hope you guys enjoy it, too. If they happen to take the screenplay down, let me know. I’ll see if we can find it online elsewhere.
As a screenwriter, I always love to see how other screenwriters handle material and the form of screenwriting and this screenplay has a lot of unique quirks, too. It’s just fun to look at. Seriously, this is almost as fun as the transcript of the Raiders of the Lost Ark story conference that was going around a while ago.
And really, what better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back than to read the first draft of the screenplay?