For decades, a dark, medieval short film called Black Angel was considered lost—a mythical piece of cinema that once played before The Empire Strikes Back in select theaters. Now, its creator, Oscar-winning set decorator and director Roger Christian, is bringing the story back to life as a feature-length film, and he's turning to fans for help.
Christian, who worked as set decorator on Star Wars: A New Hope and art director on Alien, originally wrote a fantasy script that caught George Lucas's eye. Lucas commissioned a short version to accompany The Empire Strikes Back, and Black Angel was born. Shot in Scotland on leftover film from the Star Wars sequel, the 25-minute film follows a knight named Sir Maddox on a quest to rescue a maiden from an evil sorcerer. Its haunting visuals and Arthurian tone directly influenced the darker aesthetic of Empire, including the iconic slow-motion lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader.
After its brief theatrical run in Europe and Australia, the original negative was thought destroyed when Rank Laboratories went bankrupt. For years, only a degraded copy survived. Then, in 2011, an archivist miraculously discovered the negative in Universal's archives. Restored frame by frame, Black Angel finally reached new audiences at film festivals, cementing its legacy as a lost gem of Star Wars history.
Now, Christian is taking the next step. In 2015, he announced plans to expand Black Angel into a full-length feature, and he's launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the project. The campaign aims to raise money for pre-production, including script development, location scouting, and casting. Christian has described the feature as a darker, more immersive version of the original, staying true to the mythic, subconscious-driven style inspired by Andrei Tarkovsky.
Fans of legendary directors and lost cinematic artifacts will find this revival particularly exciting. The Indiegogo campaign offers backers exclusive perks, including digital copies of the restored short, behind-the-scenes content, and even producer credits. Christian hopes to begin production in 2025, with a release planned for 2026.
For those who missed the original, the restored Black Angel is available on Blu-ray and streaming platforms, offering a glimpse into the creative spark that helped shape one of the greatest sequels ever made. As Christian puts it, "This story has waited 40 years to be told properly. Now it's time."
