Continuity mistake: In the opening shot of the movie, sunlight strikes Tatooine from above, but hitting the two moons from the left. (00:02:00)
Continuity mistake: In the beginning of the movie, aboard Blockade runner, a big smudge of dirt appears on top of R2-D2, close to his square-framed lens 'eye'. This was not present a minute earlier and when the droids have landed on the desert, the smudge is gone again. (00:02:40 - 00:09:50)
Continuity mistake: In the scene after Carrie Fisher inputs the Death Star plans into R2-D2 the droid moves towards C3-PO along a corridor. As you watch you can follow R2's movements until the camera cuts away. If the shot were to continue it seems clear that R2 would have banged into a piece of set protruding from the side of the corridor. (00:05:15)
Continuity mistake: After the Stormtrooper tells Darth Vader the Death Star plans are not in the main computer, when Vader lifts the Rebel off his feet by his throat as the Rebel tells him they intercepted no transmissions, take note of the leg plates on the Stormtrooper to Vader's right. In the wide shot, the Stormtrooper's left leg armor does not have the knee protector plate (it looks as if it's at his right knee because the extra switched them), but in the next closeup the knee plate appears at his left knee, as it should be. The trooper also appears to go from right handed to left handed weapon carry. (00:05:40)
Continuity mistake: As C-3PO enters the escape pod and says, "I'm going to regret this", he is right in front of the round opening. In the next shot, he has already begun to walk through the opening. (00:06:35)
Continuity mistake: After the Stormtroopers have captured Leia aboard the Blockade Runner and are leading her to Vader, one Stormtrooper's armour is visibly damaged (http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67/RoofingGuy/BrokenStormy.jpg). For the close-up of Leia, the damage has been masked with white gaffer tape (http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh67/RoofingGuy/FixedStormy.jpg). [Timecode from 2008 Widescreen DVD release. similar time on the "Theatrical Release" bonus disc.]. (00:07:25)
Continuity mistake: After C-3PO is separated from R2-D2 on Tatooine, when he's walking among the sand dunes, the sky alternates between being clear and cloudy. (00:10:15)
Continuity mistake: As R2-D2 is rolling through the canyon, he's on a smooth part of the land. He then stops and looks around. When he starts moving again, the terrain has changed and is now full of rocks and pebbles. (00:11:20)
Continuity mistake: The Jawa that shoots R2D2 puts his gun in his holster twice. (00:12:40)
Continuity mistake: After Owen buys C-3PO from the Jawas, Luke says, "All Right. Come on." and R2-D2 begins to turn his head/dome. In the next shot, his head is still turning, but his dome is in a different position from the previous shot, evident from the droid's features. (00:17:45)
Continuity mistake: When Luke and his uncle buy C3-P0 and a white-and-red R5-D4 robot from the Jawas, the R5 unit blows up after travelling a few feet. There's a quick shot of R2-D2 back at the Jawa's transport, and behind R2 you can see the same white-and-red R5-D4 unit being worked on by the Jawas. In the next shot it is back over with Luke. (00:19:15)
Continuity mistake: When the Jawas are walking toward Luke to take the damaged droid, there's no more smoke coming from it but in the following shot, there's a lot of smoke. (00:19:18)
Continuity mistake: When Luke comes to eat dinner with his aunt and uncle, as the shot ends, he has just sat down by the table, but in the next shot, he's already helping himself to the food. (00:22:45)
Continuity mistake: When Luke and C-3PO run out of the house to find R2-D2, Luke takes out his binoculars and looks through them. The shot cuts back to Luke and C-3PO, where C-3PO has his arms are by his side, but in the next shot, C-3PO suddenly has his right arm raised almost half way. (00:26:45)
Continuity mistake: When Luke has been knocked unconscious by the Sand People and Obi-Wan appears and scares them off, there's a shot of Luke lying there and one of his sleeves is in disarray, halfway up his arm. But when Obi-Wan checks his pulse, he does it right through a fully-covered-by-the-sleeve wrist. (00:28:25)
Continuity mistake: After Obi-wan saves Luke from the sand people, there is a shot of him sitting on a rock and his white robe is visible, then there is a close-up and he says "I don't seem to remember owning a droid" and his robe is not visible. (00:30:20)
Continuity mistake: When Luke is in Obi-Wan's house trying Anakin's lightsaber, the coat behind him keeps appearing and disappearing. (00:32:15)
Continuity mistake: When Obi-wan and Luke are watching the hologram of Princess Leia projected onto a small table, the objects on the table change position and number in each shot. (00:33:35)
Continuity mistake: When Luke is in Obi-Wan's home, C-3PO tells him "Sir, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for a while." and Luke nods. However, when R2-D2 projects Leia's recording, C-3PO turns his head to look at it. (This is only just visible). (00:35:06)
Continuity mistake: Special Edition: Luke, accompanied by the droids and Obi Wan, is in the speeder heading into Mos Eisley, but just as the shot ends it looks like they're about to run over a few pedestrians... they're heading full speed at a group of three or four people just when the camera angle changes. (00:40:50)
Answer: While planning Star Wars, Lucas had a vague notion of doing a long series of movies inspired by old serials, then dropped that idea in favor of just one. When Star Wars became a phenomenon and sequels became feasible, Lucas revisited the idea. He thought of three trilogies along with some stand-alone "in-between" stories for a total of 12 films. By the time of The Empire Strikes Back's release, this was pared down to the 9 mainline films, going by interviews with Lucas and the cast at the time. By Return of the Jedi, Lucas had decided to end the saga there, with the option that he could revisit the first three at some later point. It's unclear if Lucas ever had any specific story ideas for the proposed sequel trilogy, and they never had any scripts. Producer Gary Kurtz suggested in an interview they would've been about Luke's twin sister (not Leia), though many fans are skeptical about just how much he would know about them. Of course since this question was asked a sequel trilogy was written and released.
TonyPH