Via Starwars.com:

LEARN THE STORY OF LAWRENCE KASDAN’S “BEST UNMADE SCREENPLAY IN HOLLYWOOD.”

The Bodyguard, starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, is a film that came out in 1992 and is far more important to Star Wars than you would ever guess. Written by Lawrence Kasdan, this was the screenplay that got him the attention of Steven Spielberg and eventually got him his work in the world of Indiana Jones and Star Wars. “But it came out in 1992, and Raiders and Empire came out in the ‘80s,” I can hear you saying, but sometimes filmmaking can be a lot more complicated than that. The Bodyguard tells the story of Frank Farmer, played by Kevin Costner, a former Secret Service agent who is pressed into service to protect an international pop star named Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) who is receiving regular death threats. She’s been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and they’re certain the plot to murder her will unfold there.

This was a screenplay Lawrence Kasdan actually wrote in the ‘70s. It was in development as a vehicle for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross at Warner Brothers. The development process for it was a nightmare, and it was called repeatedly “the best unmade screenplay in Hollywood.” The film wouldn’t get made for a long time, but it lit a fire under his agent, and he pressed to sell more of his screenplays. His next sale was to Amblin Entertainment, Steven Spielberg’s production company, which became the first film to come out of that studio. That was the open door he needed to land Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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