"Star Wars" producer Gary Kurtz says the Hollywood franchise's creator considered killing off Han Solo, but opted against it for merchandising reasons.

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Kurtz worked with George Lucas on the first two "Star Wars" films, "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back."

"The original idea was that they would recover Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the (third) film ('Return of the Jedi') in a raid on an Imperial base. ... George then decided he didn't want any of the principals killed. By that time there were really big toy sales and that was a reason," Kurtz told the Los Angeles Times.

"We had an outline and George changed everything in it," Kurtz added. "Instead of bittersweet and poignant, he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy."

Cinematical said Kurtz disagreed with the decision and decided not to work with Lucas on the other movies in the series.

The Web site did not say whether Lucas responded to Kurtz's claims.