38 Years Ago Today, 'Willow' Premiered in Theaters-and It Almost Didn't Happen
George Lucas paved the way for contemporary science fiction to flourish with Star Wars, but did you know he also made waves in the fantasy genre in the late '80s? The filmmaker crafted the story for the 1988 Ron Howard-helmed Willow and executive-produced the project through his company, Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC. Industrial Light & Magic, a division of said company, also created groundbreaking visual effects.
Released on this day 38 years ago, Willow follows a young dwarf farmer and aspiring magician, the titular Willow Ufgood. He embarks on a dangerous mission to protect a special baby, Elora Danan, from the evil Queen Bavmorda, with some assistance from Madmartigan, a mercenary swordsman. Howard directed the film from Lucas' story, which was turned into a screenplay by Bob Dolman.
It starred Warwick Davis as Willow, Val Kilmer as Madmartigan, Joanne Whalley as Sorsha, Patricia Hayes as Fin Raziel, Billy Barty as High Aldwin, Kevin Pollak as Rool, Kate/Ruth Greenfield & Rebecca Bearman as baby Elora Danan, and Jean Marsh as Queen Bavmorda.
It was quite the uphill battle to get the fantasy epic off the ground. Lucas conceived the idea for Willow in 1972 and approached Davis about playing the title role in 1982 on the set of Return of the Jedi. Then, Lucas bided his time until the mid-1980s, when he eventually brought the movie to life. He wanted to wait for advancements in visual effects technology, so they could accurately execute his vision. Howard boarded the project in the hopes of adding a fantasy film to his resume. Pre-production finally began in 1986.
In addition to Lucas playing the waiting game, several major film studios declined to finance and distribute Willow because, at the time, fantasy as a genre was box-office poison, with a string of failures, including Labyrinth, as proof. They saw fantasy as a financial risk not worth taking. Lucas then shopped the movie to Alan Ladd Jr., who was the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) at the time. MGM had fallen on hard times financially, so Ladd advanced half of the budget, which was $35 million, in return for theatrical and TV rights.
Willow went on to perform well at the box office. It grossed $137.6 million globally and even became MGM's highest-grossing film in Japan. Critically, reviews were mixed, but the movie scored two Oscar nominations for Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects. Industrial Light & Magic also made breakthroughs in digital morphing, laying the groundwork for further advances in the technology.
The now cult classic film spawned a sequel TV series of the same name in 2022, which premiered on Disney+ on Nov. 30, but was unfortunately canceled after one season.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 9:49 AM.