Revealing mistake: If you watch carefully before Han Solo shoots Greedo, you can see that Greedo has been replaced with a faker looking goofy dummy just before he explodes. (00:48:45)
Revealing mistake: When Greedo is threatening Han in the Cantina, there's a black object behind him. When Han shoots him, the object is smaller and some round things appear on the wall. It's visible in the screenshot of the dummy Greedo. (00:50:10)
Other mistake: Subtitling and translation can also lead to weird mistakes. Han Solo says (twice in the special edition) that he dumped his cargo because "Even I get boarded sometimes", and in Dutch cinemas the subtitles read as if he said "Even I get bored sometimes." (00:50:35 - 00:53:25)
Continuity mistake: Special Edition: When Han is talking to Jabba the Hutt, as Jabba says, "Why did you fry poor Greedo?", the man standing to his left is pointing a blaster towards Han. In the next shot, the man is no longer pointing the blaster at him. (00:51:00)
Continuity mistake: Special Edition: When Han is talking to Jabba the Hutt, when Jabba begins to says, "What if everyone who smuggled for me dropped their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial starship?", Chewbacca can be seen walking behind them. In the next shot, he is suddenly walking next to a wall that was nowhere near him in the previous shot. In the following shot, he is back to his original position. (00:51:00)
Continuity mistake: Viewed from outside, the Millennium Falcon has 4 windows around a round one, but view from inside, there are only three. (00:52:25 - 00:53:55)
Continuity mistake: When Luke and Obi-Wan enter Docking Bay 94 in Mos Eisley, as the first shot ends, C-3PO is turned to his left and is standing right behind Obi-Wan on Obi-Wan's left. In the next shot, Threepio is turned to his right, and is standing further away from Obi-Wan, behind him on Obi-Wan's right. (00:52:25)
Other mistake: 2004 DVD edition. As Jabba and Han finish their conversation, Jabba turns to his left as Han moves toward the Millenium Falcon. At the end of the shot Jabba then exits by continuing to turn to his left; his tail would have made this movement not smooth- Jabba should have had to move it or twist over it or something. Probably comes from the scene being shot with a person in that place and Jabba being added later; the person could certainly have moved like that. (00:53:50)
Revealing mistake: During the escape from Mos Eisley, when Han says, "They're gonna try and cut us off", he grabs the control panel in the cockpit, and the whole panel lifts off the floor. (00:53:55)
Continuity mistake: When they are leaving Mos Eisley Han wears gloves, but when he pulls the lever to jump into hyperspace, they disappear. (00:54:15)
Other mistake: In the first shot of the Millennium Falcon in the special edition, the top of the ship is missing its radar dish. (00:54:30)
Continuity mistake: When Alderaan is first seen through the Death Star's viewscreen/window, only half of the planet is lit up. The next time we see it, about 75% of it is lit up. (00:54:45 - 00:55:50)
Continuity mistake: The first interior shot of the Millennium Falcon's cockpit shows small hanging dice. In every other shot, however, the dice are gone. (00:54:55)
Audio problem: Widescreen version: When Tarkin attempts to make Leia reveal the location of the Rebel base, he says, "You would prefer another target? A military target? Then name the system." In the next shot, his head is shown from behind, but the motion of his jaw shows that he is still talking, even though nothing is heard. (00:56:00)
Visible crew/equipment: Just after the Falcon takes off from Mos Eisley, there's a shot of the Falcon with Star Destroyers chasing. The next shot is of Han Solo alone in the cockpit. Watch carefully behind him in the doorway, and you'll see the shoulder of a man in a green shirt quickly move out of shot. In fact, this is Alec Guinness and the shot is an insert from the slightly later scene where Obi-Wan and Luke are in the cockpit. After Han tells them to strap in for their jump to light speed, this shot is seen again with the pair retreating down the ship's corridor. The earlier shot reuses the final frames of the later footage and the edge of Guinness' shoulder, his costume reflecting the green set lights, is visible. (01:01:05)
Visible crew/equipment: When the Falcon is in the Death Star hangar, a scanning crew is sent aboard to find passengers, one of the stormtroopers walks straight past the camera and its shadow is visible on his leg. (01:01:55)
Other mistake: After the tractor beam pulls the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star, there's a shot of a MSE-6 droid ("mouse droid") at the feet of four stormtroopers. The trooper in the back right, is holding onto his helmet in a desperate attempt to keep it from falling off. (01:03:15)
Audio problem: When Vader is talking to an Imperial officer in the hangar in the Death Star, when the officer says, "It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned." his head is shown from behind, but his profile shows his mouth is moving before the words are heard. (01:03:55)
Continuity mistake: When the Imperial officer opens the door in the Death Star and sees Chewbacca and Han dressed in an Imperial stormtrooper in front of him, he is seen lifting his head, and in the next shot when we see a close-up of the officer, he is seen lifting his head a second time. (01:08:40)
Continuity mistake: When Luke uses the comlink to call up C-3PO to ask how to get out of the detention block, a rack with 3 blasters can be seen in the control room. But right before the stormtroopers enter the control room, there are suddenly 4. (01:14:45 - 01:18:55)
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