Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina

Originally erected as a defensive structure against Sand People attacks, Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina was a sandstone building. Its location was on Inner Curved Street, positioned on the outskirts of the Mos Eisley landing field of Tatooine. The building included a bar area capable of accommodating up to 102 customers, offering seating at the bar itself as well as at various tables and enclosed booths. The mounted heads of several creatures, including a crocodina, adorned the walls surrounding the bar area.

The cantina's drink selection included twelve different beverages available from the tap, with each standard serving containing 16 ounces. The most requested drinks included blue milk, Tatooine Sunset, Jawa Juice, Yatooni Boska, Tatooni Junko, and Hutt's Delight. In addition, a secret menu was available upon request, featuring items like Red Dwarf, Cassandra Sunrise, Nova Blaster, and Flameout. The Bith musician Figrin D'an, a kloo horn player and the leader of the musical group the Modal Nodes, regularly performed at Chalmun's Cantina.

Regulars at the cantina had access to certain exclusive services that could be requested from the owners. For example, if a patron asked for a Nova Blaster, but requested that Savareen Brandy be substituted with Corellian liquor, they would be escorted to a concealed armory where they could purchase illicit weaponry. For a considerable fee, customers could also gain access to a private back room, offering seclusion from both the cantina's security personnel and other patrons. Furthermore, a signal blocker was discreetly positioned behind the building to provide additional privacy.

Apart from the public bar area, the establishment also contained a private bar. This exclusive bar was staffed by Nimbanel bartender Husklf and was reserved solely for the owner, Chalmun, as well as occasional VIPs or associates of the Hutt clan. The Wookiee Chalmun also maintained an office located behind the private bar, from which he conducted business with the bartenders and monitored the main lounge through a hidden observation window. Chalmun's head of security utilized the rear of the office to eavesdrop on patrons' private conversations, seeking any indications of potential trouble. Aware of the questionable activities of his clientele, Chalmun converted one of the back rooms into an outdoor vehicle bay where his getaway ship was stored and maintained by his personal pilot.

Beneath the cantina, in the cellar, was a laboratory where Wuher concocted specialty drinks that were then delivered to the bar's dispensers through an underground piping system. Behind the lab was a vat of corrosive chemicals used for disposing of unwanted items (and sometimes bodies), as well as ancient catacombs that predated the building's construction.

Originally, the Cantina was built by early Tatooine settlers as a defense against attacks by Tusken Raiders. As Mos Eisley grew, the building was repurposed as a weapons depot, a brewing facility, and a temporary shelter for drifters. Eventually, the Vriichon brothers acquired the property and transformed it into an illegal narcotics distribution center.

Before the Clone Wars, the Wookiee Chalmun purchased the building and legalized the operation by turning it into a bar catering to travelers arriving at the busy Mos Eisley spaceport. Over time, it became a renowned landmark on Tatooine, with many individuals traveling to the planet specifically to make connections within the establishment.

During the Blockade of Pantora, the disreputable bar, then managed by a Nimbanel bartender, was a well-known refuge for criminals and other unsavory characters, many of whom were employed by Jabba the Hutt. Greedo, a bounty hunter in the service of Trade Federation official Sib Canay, abducted Che Amanwe Papanoida, the daughter of Pantoran Supreme Chairman Notluwiski Papanoida, and held her prisoner in one of the cantina's back rooms. When Jabba forced Greedo to lead Chairman Papanoida and his son Ion to the cantina, a gun battle erupted in the bar between the three Pantorans and Greedo's associates.

Around the time of the Battle of Kadavo during the Clone Wars, two tourists from Alderaan, who were visiting Tatooine, died in a speeder bike accident. Zygerrian News suggested that the two had become intoxicated at the Mos Eisley cantina, leading to the accident.

Following the Battle of Dathomir, Asajj Ventress arrived at the Mos Eisley cantina and began to drink away her sorrows with prow. A bounty hunter named Oked propositioned her, and when he persisted, Ventress killed him. Two other bounty hunters, Bossk and Latts Razzi, convinced Ventress to take Oked's place in their assignment.

Shortly after, Ventress and Razzi were in the cantina when Ventress sensed a disturbance in the Force, which was Savage Opress nearing the location of his brother, Maul.

After Opress located Maul, the two began a series of murders to lure out Maul's rival, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Opress's image appeared on a screen displaying open bounties, prompting Ventress to take the job in an attempt to defeat her former apprentice.

After the mission to Raxus Secundus, Ventress returned to Tatooine to recruit Boba Fett's Syndicate to assist her in rescuing Jedi Master Quinlan Vos from Serenno. She met with Boba Fett in the cantina, and after some deliberation, the two formed an alliance to free Vos.

By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the cantina had changed hands twice since the Clone Wars: the Ranat siblings known as the Vriichon brothers had converted the building into an illegal narcotics den, before the Wookiee Chalmun restored it as a bar. Working for him was the surly human Wuher, who, despite his unfriendly demeanor, was respected by his customers for his discretion, and Ackmena, the female bartender on the night shift, who was known for her more amiable personality.

Shortly before the destruction of Alderaan, Kenobi and Luke Skywalker visited the cantina to hire transport to the doomed planet, with the goal of delivering technical schematics of the Empire's Death Star. After having their droids ejected due to the cantina's ban on droids, they hired the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee companion Chewbacca, who were in need of funds to repay their debt to Jabba the Hutt. Their visit was eventful; the Jedi Master and his apprentice were harassed and confronted by Doctor Cornelius Evazan and his thug Ponda Baba, the latter of whom lost an arm after provoking Kenobi. Subsequently, Solo had a confrontation with the bounty hunter Greedo, who was seeking to collect the bounty on Solo. However, Solo killed him with a single shot after Greedo fired first and missed. Han then tossed some credits to Wuher and left the cantina to prepare the Millennium Falcon for the two fugitives.

Not long after the Battle of Yavin, Darth Vader hired Fett to find and capture the mysterious pilot who destroyed the Death Star. Aware that Solo frequented Mos Eisley, the bounty hunter interrogated and then murdered his informants after they failed to provide useful information. Upon entering the Mos Eisley Cantina, Boba Fett announced to the patrons that he would not leave until he obtained the information he sought. After severely injuring a six-armed alien and intimidating the bar's occupants, Wuher stated that no one knew the boy, and that he had only arrived with Kenobi some time ago. After shooting a length of fibercord and causing a fleeing patron to fall, a teenager revealed Luke Skywalker's name to Boba. Boba then shot the boy and headed to Ben Kenobi's residence to learn more about Luke's identity. Unbeknownst to Boba, his discovery of Skywalker's name at Chalmun's Cantina would soon lead Darth Vader to realize that he had a son.

By 3 ABY, it became a superstition to avoid sitting in the booth where Han Solo had shot Greedo, due to the belief that anyone who sat there would be shot. Later, Kay Vess met Hoss there, who betrayed Nix by selling him to Jabba Desilijic Tiure.

By 9 ABY, following the fall of the Empire, the cantina had a new owner, and the no-droid policy was lifted. Several supervisor droids now served as bartenders. When bounty hunter Din Djarin visited the cantina in search of work, one of the droid bartenders, EV-9D9, informed him that the Bounty Hunters' Guild was no longer operating from Tatooine. The droid stated that he operated independently of the Guild, but also said that no work was available. Djarin was then approached by rookie bounty hunter Toro Calican, who proposed a partnership to capture the assassin Fennec Shand.

During the filming of the cantina scene, the crew members who played the Bith musicians synchronized their movements to the rhythm of Benny Goodman's 1937 hit song, "Sing, Sing, Sing."

Upon closer inspection of the bar behind Wuher, one can observe surplus jet engine components that were later repurposed for the head of the bounty hunter droid IG-88.

The filming of the cantina's exterior shots for A New Hope took place in Ajim, Djerba, Tunisia from April 2 to 3, 1976. However, the majority of the interior scenes were filmed at Stage 6 of Elstree Studios between April 13 and 21.

To create the background alien chatter in the A New Hope scene, sound technician Ben Burtt had crew members inhale helium and record their conversations. It took four attempts for them to overcome their laughter and converse properly. The oxygen deprivation also had an intoxicating effect on the session. The female voices (Lucy Wilson and Bunny Alsup) were recorded separately and then slowed down, while the male voices (Michael Kitchens, Howie Hammerman, Todd Boekelheide) were sped up before being mixed to create the background soundscape. More specific effects included the "laughter" of a hippopotamus and a spring peeper frog. A friend of Burtt's was also recorded reading Latin, and his voice was then manipulated in a synthesizer.

Chalmun's Cantina was the same cantina featured in the now non-canonical The Star Wars Holiday Special, which was set months after A New Hope and depicted the cantina during a night shift.

A skit on a 1977 episode of The Richard Pryor Show was set in the "Star Wars Bar," with Pryor playing the bartender. Although the skit did not utilize the original sets, many of the masks from A New Hope's cantina scene were used for the patrons.

The cantina was featured in an official 1979 public service announcement about drunk driving. In 2007, the official Star Wars website made the PSA available for viewing.