Fact Check

Did George Lucas Confirm the Millennium Falcon Is in 'Revenge of the Sith'?

The scene with the supposed Millennium Falcon sighting is visible just a few seconds short of 24 minutes into 2005's "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."

Published June 20, 2022

George Lucas did confirm that the Millennium Falcon was in a docking bay scene in Star Wars Episode II 2 Revenge of the Sith. (Lucasfilm/Disney)
George Lucas did confirm that the Millennium Falcon was in a docking bay scene in Star Wars Episode II 2 Revenge of the Sith. (Image Via Lucasfilm/Disney)
Claim:
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas confirmed that the famed Millennium Falcon spaceship is visible in the 2005 film, "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."

Fact Check

In June 2022, a TikTok user published a video that highlighted the fairly well known and dated fact that a spaceship that looks much like the Millennium Falcon can be spotted in the 2005 movie, "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." If this sighting could be confirmed to be of the Millennium Falcon itself, perhaps by an official source such as "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, we'd know it wasn't just another ship of the same model. Well, the good news is that we have that evidence. It's true.

Why is this noteworthy? The Millennium Falcon is arguably one of the most famous spaceships in film history. So famous is the spaceship that it's a star attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at both Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland.

Further, and perhaps more important, the confirmation of its sighting is noteworthy because the spaceship played no role in the plots of the three "Star Wars" prequel films, which were released between 1999 and 2005. This meant that the Millennium Falcon's presence in "Revenge of the Sith" was was an Easter egg.

Video

The TikTok video showed the moment in question. If you're watching the full film, the Millennium Falcon appears at around the 23:51 mark (running time) in "Revenge of the Sith":

This YouTube video provides a better look of the Millennium Falcon in "Revenge of the Sith":

When Did George Lucas Confirm It?

Fans of the "Star Wars" franchise on Reddit have often claimed in discussions, without any links or evidence, that "Star Wars" creator George Lucas once confirmed the sighting in the film to truly be the Millennium Falcon. Did he say it in a red carpet interview? Perhaps it was revealed in a documentary? This question of where Lucas confirmed it led us on a brief journey.

A Google search for "Millennium Falcon Episode 3" (without quotes) took us to a forum post from 2016 on the Wookieepedia website. The forum post linked to an even older wiki entry on the same website. The wiki entry directed us to an old article on StarWars.com, the official website for the franchise. The story was titled, "Episode III Easter Egg Hunt: Ships Aplenty." It was so old that it was no longer accessible.

However, thanks to the Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive, the article from May 2005 is still available. The story on the official "Star Wars" website read as follows:

It's tiny, but visible enough to send a warm fuzzy through the hearts of original trilogy fans. In the establishing shot of the expansive Senate docking bays, there's a tiny Millennium Falcon easing into frame. And it's not just a non-descript Corellian freighter; it's on good authority -- namely George Lucas -- that this is the infamous hunk-of-junk before it came into the ownership of either Lando Calrissian or Han Solo. Also peculiar about that shot: there are no less than three gleaming Naboo star skiffs parked on the lot. Does Padmé have spares?

Seeing as this was published on the official "Star Wars" website, this was enough to earn a firm "True" rating from us.

Millennium Falcon History

The Millennium Falcon was first featured in 1977's "Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope." Over its lifetime, the spaceship was piloted by Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and a number of other characters. According to the Wookieepedia website, its model is known as a YT-1300 light freighter.

Another YouTube video claimed to show a second YT-1300 taking off from the same docking bay in "Revenge of the Sith":

"Star Wars" fans have also debated whether or not a YT-1300 can be spotted in the 2002 film, "Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones." We didn't yet find any official confirmation that it was, in fact, the Millennium Falcon. We'll leave that rumor to the fans to discuss.

In sum, yes, the Millennium Falcon is indeed visible in "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." Lucas confirmed it in 2005. Attribution was published on the official website for the franchise.

Sources

Doomacracy. “In Star Wars Episode III You Can Spot the Millennium Falcon.” r/MovieDetails via Reddit, 5 July 2017, www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/6lhoye/in_star_wars_episode_iii_you_can_spot_the/.

Hazzabailey227. Did You Know That the Millennium Falcon Was in Episode III | Fandom. https://starwars.fandom.com/f/p/2866516522887545856/r/2866538371990161097.

@jediobiwan69 via @reallifedetails. TikTok, 2022, https://www.tiktok.com/@jediobiwan69/video/7110696047420165419.

loudclapper. “Just Found the Falcon in Episode III. Who Was the Pilot? Lando?” r/StarWars via Reddit, 28 May 2015, www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/37j5v7/just_found_the_falcon_in_episode_iii_who_was_the/.

MetaNerdz Lore. There Are TWO Millennium Falcon’s in Revenge of the Sith - Star Wars Bonus Easter Egg. 2018. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMXOp9NjuME.

“Millennium Falcon.” Wookieepedia, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Millennium_Falcon.

“Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.” Walt Disney World Resort, https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/hollywood-studios/millennium-falcon-smugglers-run/.

Star Wars: Episode III | Episode III Easter Egg Hunt. 26 May 2005, https://web.archive.org/web/20050530005538/https://www.starwars.com/episode-iii/bts/production/f20050526/.

TheLethalCarrot. “Star Wars - Is the Millennium Falcon Seen in Attack of the Clones?” Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange, 12 Jan. 2017, https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/150032/is-the-millennium-falcon-seen-in-attack-of-the-clones.

“YT-1300 Light Freighter.” Wookieepedia, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/YT-1300_light_freighter.

Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016.