Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina

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"Most of the best freighter pilots can be found here. Only watch your step. This place can be a little rough."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Luke Skywalker^[src]

Chalmun's Cantina, also known as the Mos Eisley Cantina, was a drinking and dining establishment located in the city of Mos Eisley on the desert world of Tatooine. Although a dimly lit tavern known for frequent outbreaks of violence, it was a popular stopping point for pilots, smugglers, bounty hunters, alien misfits and renegades.

History

"Leave your droids outside. You don't want Wuher on your case.
Keep your blaster holstered! Why ask for trouble?
Find an empty table or barstool. Crowding other customers will only end in tears.
Be friendly. Buy a drink for your neighbor at the bar.
Applaud the band—even if they're way off-key!
Make pleasant conversation and try to laugh at bad jokes.
Tip the bartender, especially if you make a mess."

―Mos Eisley Cantina house rules^[src]

Clone Wars

During the Blockade of Pantora, the seedy bar, at this point run by a Nimbanel bartender, was a known haven for criminals and lowlifes, many under the employ of Jabba the Hutt. Greedo, a bounty hunter hired by Trade Federation official Sib Canay, kidnapped Che Amanwe Papanoida, the daughter of Pantoran Chairman Papanoida, and held her captive in one of the cantina's back rooms. When Greedo was forced by Jabba to lead the Chairman Papanoida and his son Ion to the cantina, a firefight broke out in the bar between the three Pantorans and Greedo's associates.^[3]

Around the time of the Battle of Kadavo during the Clone Wars, two Alderaanian tourists visiting Tatooine died in a speeder-bike accident. The Zygerrian News implied that the two had gotten intoxicated in the cantina of Mos Eisley, thereby causing the accident.^[4]

Galactic Civil War

By the time of the Galactic Civil War, the cantina had seen two owners since the Clone Wars,^[2] the most recent owner being the Wookiee Chalmun.^[1] Under his employ was the gruff human Wuher, who, despite not being the friendliest bartender in the galaxy, was respected by his customers for never asking any questions,^[2] and Ackmena, the female night-shift bartender.^[1]

MScantina Luke — Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the cantina, meeting Chewbacca

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker came to the cantina shortly before the destruction of Alderaan to charter a course to the doomed planet, in order to deliver technical readouts on the Empire's Death Star. After having their droids tossed out due to the cantina's no-droid policy, they hired the smuggler Han Solo and his compatriot Chewbacca, who needed a way to pay off their debt to Jabba the Hutt. Their visit was not uneventful; the Jedi Master and his apprentice were harassed and confronted by Doctor Cornelius Evazan and his thug Ponda Baba, the latter of whom lost his arm after provoking Kenobi. Afterwards, Solo had an altercation with the bounty hunter Greedo, who was eager to collect the bounty on Solo. Solo however, killed him with a single shot after Greedo foolishly fired first—and missed.^[2] Han then tossed Wuher some credits and left the cantina to prep the Millennium Falcon for the two fugitives.^[5]

Fettcrashesthecantina — Boba addresses the patrons of the Mos Eisley Cantina

Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Sith Lord Darth Vader employed Boba Fett to track down and capture the mysterious pilot who destroyed the Death Star. Knowing that Solo frequented Mos Eisley, the bounty hunter would interrogate and promptly murder his victims after they failed to provide any sufficient leads. Entering the Mos Eisley Cantina, Boba Fett addressed the gathered crowd that he would not leave until he was provided the information he sought. After brutally wounding a six-armed alien and intimidating the bar patrons, Wuher responded that no one knew the boy, and that he had only come in some time ago with Kenobi. After shooting a length of fibercord and causing a fleeing patron to fall down, the teen soon broke down and told Boba the boy's name—Luke Skywalker. He then shot the boy and headed towards Ben Kenobi's home in order to discover more about Luke's identity.^[6] Unbeknownst to Boba, his discovery of Skywalker's name at Chalmun's Cantina would soon allow Darth Vader to realize that he had a son.^[7]

Layout

A sandstone construct, the building housed a bar area with a maximum occupancy of 102 patrons, and had twelve drinks available on tap, with the size of a standard drink being 16 ounces. The most popular drinks at the cantina were blue milk, Tatooine Sunset, Jawa Juice, Yatooni Boska, Tatooni Junko, and Hutt's Delight.^[2]

The Bith "Fiery" Figrin D'an, kloo horn player and leader of the Modal Nodes, was a regular act at Chalmun's Cantina.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Crew members playing Bith musicians in the cantina moved to the beat of Benny Goodman's 1937 hit song "Sing, Sing, Sing" while filming on set.^[2]

If one looks closely at the bar behind Wuher, one can see surplus jet engine parts that were later used for the bounty hunter droid IG-88's head.^[2]

Filming for the cantina exteriors in A New Hope took place in Ajim, Djerba, Tunisia on April 2–3, 1976. However, most of the interior shots were from Stage 6 at Elstree Studios on April 13–21.

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

A skit on a 1977 episode of The Richard Pryor Show took place in the "Star Wars Bar," with Pryor playing the bartender. Though the skit did not reuse 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 drunk-driving PSA. In 2007, the official site made it available for viewing.