George Lucas’s told David Prowse he owed him nothing for playing Darth Vader on Return of the Jedi. The film grossed $475 million on a $32.5 million budget.
The 6-foot-six actor who physically played Darth Vader across the trilogy was left with zero backend residuals.
In the video below, recorded 30 years later, Prowse notes that the last time he spoke to Lucas was at the end of Jedi in 1983, right before the invitations stopped.
Across the 3 films of the 1977–1983 trilogy, the 47 year old actor spoke every single line inside the heavy suit on set.
He only found out his voice was dubbed by James Earl Jones while sitting in the theater on premiere night with 0 advance warning from the studio.
When he demanded his percentage, letters claimed the film turned £0 in net profit.
In 2010, exactly 27 years after release, Lucasfilm cut him off completely over public disputes, sealing his bitterness in a 2011 memoir before his death in 2020 leaving behind a cold, unbending ledger:
$475 million box office.
$32.5 million budget.
£0 in residuals.
The suit became a multi-billion-dollar icon. His voice was replaced. His residual never arrived.
Look at the facts. A multi-billion-dollar franchise built on his back, and £0 to show for it. Standard accounting, or a calculated corporate erasure?