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George Lucas Struggles to Reinvent Himself
GuyMannDude writes "Wired has a lengthy article about what lies ahead for George Lucas. Originally a member of a maverick group of young filmmakers who were at odds with the thinking and methods of the major studios, he has now become the most financially successful director in history by marketing the ultimate popcorn fodder. With the Star Wars saga ending, Lucas now struggles with how to reinvent himself." I imagine it will be hard to get away from Star Wars, given that he's producing television shows set in the fictional universe.
Now that his first group of fans has grown up, there is a whole new area of filmmaking that he hasn't explored yet: Star Wars porn. I mean who wouldn't pay good money to see a wookie getting it on with a bunch of ewoks?
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Certainly in five or ten years we'll get new, blu-ray hi-def versions of I thru III, with Lucas saying in interviews "I added the new scenes to get the movie I really wanted, which I didn't get back then."
He isn't a great filmmaker. He isn't even a passable mass-market filmmaker. He's a guy who made a cult hit that happened to be a global hit.
And then he made a series with Spielberg.
My Photography - http://ian-x.com
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his accumulated capital seems most appropriately put to use cultivating young talent
Michael Jackson already tried that, and look where it got him.
George Lucas is backing the development of a 350 million dollar studio that will combine the functionality of movie special effects with the equipment for video game animation and design features. By combining these two very closely related fields into one mega-location, G.L. is going to ultimately have an impact on entertainment that goes well beyond the scope of "Star Wars" - but even with that titanian accomplishment, there is little chance he will be remembered as such. Ultimately, the innovation that gave him his status is the same innovation that will be tagged to his name inside every electronic wikipedia of the future, and he can't do anything to change that. While many of us rightfully bashed Lucas' work on the first and second (fourth and fifth) Star Wars movies, myself included, he deserves the credit he has earned as a producer and financeer of special effects. Jar Jar sucks, but G.L. will always be a hero in my book for the contributions he has made to computer animation and special effects over the course of his career.
"I've earned the right to fail, which means making what I think are really great movies that no one wants to see."
This is in contrast to his previous strategy of making really bad movies that everyone wants to see.
> Trust me George... you can only go up from here if you follow
> these simple instructions.
This is getting annoying.
George Lucas doesn't read Slashdot, and he probably never will.
We're all sorry he did not use your saliva-encrusted fan fiction as the basis for his script for Episodes I-III, but millions of people enjoyed the movies anyway.
Comments such as yours and of the two dozen other minority ranters on Slashdot are getting irritating to no end. If you don't like the movies, fine -- click on Preferences, then click on Homepage, and de-select Star Wars. There! wasn't that easy?
I hope George Lucas makes Jar-Jar a freakin' Jedi Master in Episode III just to piss off the "George Lucas killed my childhood" crowd.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
I disagree. I know the standard Slashdot claim is that Lucas is only in it for the money. Squeezing the last dollars out of your childhood memories, etc.
But I don't believe it.
Look at the way he lives. Watch any of the biographies on him. He has never been someone in it for the money. See Donald Trump for an example of how someone in it for the money lives. George could afford a wildly lavish lifestyle. But he doesn't live it.
All the money goes back into the process. ILM. THX. Skywalker Sound. LucasArts. Etc. He likes the job. He likes creating stuff. He likes being a part of new filmmaking technology. That's what he is in it for.
I'll readily agree that he isn't necessarily very good at making movies. At least, not at making good movies. But he hit it big with Star Wars (ANH), and has leveraged it to continute doing what he likes. Fox studios would do anything to get 7-9 made, but it isn't their decision. They gave that right to Lucas back in the 70s.