Revolt in the Stars is a science fiction film screenplay written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1977. It tells the space opera story of how an evil galactic dictator, named Xenu, massacres many of his subjects by transporting them to Earth and killing them with atomic bombs. L. Ron Hubbard had already presented this story to his followers as a true account of events that happened 75 million years ago, in a secret level of Scientology scripture called Operating Thetan, Level III. The screenplay was promoted around Hollywood circles in 1979, but attempts at fundraising and obtaining financing fell through, and the film was never made. Unofficial copies circulate on the internet.

Plot

In the screenplay's story, which takes place 75 million years before modern times, an evil galactic ruler, named Xenu, massacres millions of people with assistance from Chu, the Executive President of the Galactic Interplanetary Bank, and Chi, the Galactic Minister of Police. Xenu's psychiatric advisers, Stug and Sty, help him gather "unwanted" beings from all of the planets in his control and transport them to Earth. In his script, Hubbard wrote: "great winds raced simultaneously across the face of Earth, spreading tales of destruction..." and exterminating all of them by detonating hydrogen bombs. Revolt in the Stars was registered as a screenplay with the United States Copyright Office in November 1977, with Diana Meredith DeWolf Hubbard, Hubbard's daughter, and registered for release as a novel in May 1978, with Hubbard himself as the claimant. A former Scientologist and Sea Org member told the Los Angeles Business Journal that Hubbard intended to distribute the film publicly so that people inhabited with thetans would become "restimulated and upset," and be motivated to learn more about Scientology. Hubbard moved to the Scientology facilities at La Quinta, California and began production on Scientology training films which demonstrated the practice of auditing. A ranch in Indio, California was purchased in addition to a ranch called Silver. The Tech films were produced at the Silver location, and by 1980 Hubbard had made plans to film Revolt in the Stars and publicize the Scientology OT III theology.

Hubbard's screenplay for Revolt in the Stars was passed around Hollywood in 1978. A production company called "A Brilliant Film Company" and also called "Brilliant Films" announced plans, in October 1979, to produce Revolt in the Stars as an independent film production. The New York Post reported that the film had a $49 million budget, and was described as "a science fiction thriller." Efforts to promote the screenplay and get it developed as a film were unsuccessful, and Hubbard focused on writing "Man, the Endangered Species" which later became the novel Battlefield Earth. Copyright was transferred in 1993 with the Church of Spiritual Technology and trustee for L. Ron Hubbard, Norman F. Starkey, listed as parties. Scientologist and actor John Travolta was involved in developing Battlefield Earth into a film of the same name, and in 1996 New York Daily News wrote of reports that he also wanted to develop Revolt in the Stars into a film. According to the website Operation Clambake, a synopsis of the screenplay was posted to the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology in 1995. Scientology critic Grady Ward published a summary of the material. The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements notes that Revolt in the Stars remains one of Hubbard's unpublished science fiction works but unofficial copies circulate on the internet, and this is confirmed in The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions and New Religions: A Guide.

Analysis

In The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions, James R. Lewis cites Revolt in the Stars when comparing Hubbard's science fiction works to Scientology.

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