Urban Legend: Footage exists of the Millennium Falcon being destroyed at the end of Return of the Jedi.
One of Return of the Jedi's most exciting sequences is the Millennium Falcon's escape from the exploding Death Star, just meters ahead of a burning wall of fire. It's a very close call for Lando, and for a moment, it seems that Han's bleak prophecy -- that he'll never see the Falcon again -- will come true. But the freighter blasts through the flames triumphantly.
It's hard to pin down where the rumor of the Falcon's demise started. Perhaps Harrison Ford's suggestion to George Lucas that Han Solo die at the end of Jedi fueled it spread.
One definite culprit in this legend's longevity is a revised plot synopsis treatment entitled "The Revenge and Return of the Jedi". Dated July 6 1980, (though undoubtedly printed at a later date), this concise retelling of the basic story -- with notable changes -- is a fake. It describes Luke taking over the Death Star (re-christening it the Life Star), Vader being the "other" Yoda spoke of, and Leia and Han marrying at the film's end, with Wicket one of the attendants at the wedding. It also contains the following passage:
"Meanwhile, the Death Star ray begins destroying Rebel ships. Lando and the Rebel Forces unsuccessfully attempt to penetrate the force field, and the efforts on Endor have failed. Lando sees many of his comrades dying for the Alliance. He feels that the Alliance might die itself if something is not done soon. Lando makes a final decision to plow the Millennium Falcon through the force field in a self-sacrificing gesture for the Rebel Alliance. Lando and the Falcon explode in a beautiful burst of energy and color."
The first giveaway that the treatment is bogus is that its 1980 date pre-dates Lucas' hand-written first draft of Jedi by over six months. Not only that, but this supposedly older treatment more closely matches the finished film than the first draft screenplay, which has such differing elements as two Death Stars, the Imperial capital world, and tribes of "Ewaks."
Lucas' very first hand-written draft screenplay of Jedi, dated February 24, 1981, has Lando surviving. "Chewie slaps Lando on the back, almost knocking him over," Lucas writes of the end celebration. Different versions of this survive to the final screenplay. Lando is alive and well in every version.
An excerpt from the screenplay that has Lando and the Falcon destroyed and Han looking up, quietly voicing his loss, has shown up on the Internet, but it too is a fake. Also untrue are tales that footage of the Falcon made its way into test screenings of Return of the Jedi, but was ultimately left out of the movie because it didn't score well with the audience.
Given the weight of this evidence, it appears there is no truth behind the rumor that the Falcon and Lando were originally to have perished. It is possible the idea may have been thrown around during undocumented brainstorming sessions, but the legend that it actually was committed to film is false.