Jump to content

George Lucas

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the American film director. For other people named George Lucas, see George Lucas (disambiguation).

George Lucas
Lucas at the 2009 Venice Film Festival
Born
George Walton Lucas Jr.

(1944-05-14) May 14, 1944 (age 80)
Modesto, California, U.S.
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Film director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
  • entrepreneur
Years active1965–present
WorksFull list
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1969; div. 1983)​
  • ​
    (m. 2013)​
Children4, including Amanda and Katie

George Walton Lucas Jr.[1] (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman of Lucasfilm before selling it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012.[2] Nominated for four Academy Awards, he is one of history's most financially successful filmmakers: he directed or conceived ten of the 100 highest-grossing movies at the North American box office, adjusted for ticket-price inflation.[3] He is considered to be one of the most significant figures of the 20th-century New Hollywood movement, and a pioneer of the modern blockbuster. Despite this, he has remained an independent filmmaker away from Hollywood for most of his career.[4]

After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967, Lucas moved to San Francisco and co-founded American Zoetrope with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. He wrote and directed THX 1138 (1971), based on his student short Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, which was a critical success but a financial failure. His next work as a writer-director was American Graffiti (1973), inspired by his youth in early 1960s Modesto, California, and produced through the newly founded Lucasfilm. The film was critically and commercially successful and received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture. Lucas's next film, the epic space opera Star Wars (1977), later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, had a troubled production but was a surprise hit, becoming the highest-grossing film at the time, winning six Academy Awards and sparking a cultural phenomenon. Lucas produced and co-wrote the sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). With director Steven Spielberg, he created, produced, and co-wrote Indiana Jones films Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Temple of Doom (1984), The Last Crusade (1989) and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and served as an executive producer, with a cursory involvement in pre and post-production, on The Dial of Destiny (2023).[5] Lucas is also known for his collaboration with composer John Williams, who was recommended to him by Spielberg, and with whom he has worked for all the films in both of these franchises. He also produced and wrote a variety of films and television series through Lucasfilm between the 1970s and the 2010s.

In 1997, Lucas re-released the original Star Wars trilogy as part of a Special Edition featuring several modifications; home media versions with further changes were released in 2004 and 2011. He returned to directing with a Star Wars prequel trilogy comprising The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). He last collaborated on the CGI-animated movie and television series of the same name, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2014, 2020), the war film Red Tails (2012) and the CGI film Strange Magic (2015).

In addition to his career as a filmmaker, Lucas has founded and supported multiple philanthropic organizations and campaigns dedicated to education and the arts, including the George Lucas Educational Foundation, which has been noted as a key supporter in the creation of the federal E-Rate program to provide broadband funding to schools and libraries, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a forthcoming art museum in Los Angeles developed with his wife, Mellody Hobson.

Early life

Lucas was born and raised in Modesto, California,[6] the son of Dorothy Ellinore Lucas (née Bomberger) and George Walton Lucas Sr., and is of German, Swiss-German, English, Scottish, and distant Dutch and French descent.[7] His family attended Disneyland during its opening week in July 1955, and Lucas would remain enthusiastic about the park.[8] He was interested in comics and science fiction, including television programs such as the Flash Gordon serials.[9] Long before Lucas began making films, he yearned to be a racecar driver, and he spent most of his high school years racing on the underground circuit at fairgrounds and hanging out at garages. On June 12, 1962, a few days before his high school graduation, Lucas was driving his souped-up Autobianchi Bianchina when another driver broadsided him,[a] flipping his car several times before it crashed into a tree; Lucas's seatbelt had snapped, ejecting him and thereby saving his life.[10] However, his lungs were bruised from severe hemorrhaging and he required emergency medical treatment.[10] This incident caused him to lose interest in racing as a career, but also inspired him to pursue his other interests.[11][12]

Lucas's father owned a stationery store, and had wanted George to work for him when he turned 18. Lucas had been planning to go to art school, but his father said he wouldn't pay for it. Lucas declared upon leaving home that he would be a millionaire by the age of 30.[13][b] He attended Modesto Junior College, where he studied anthropology, sociology, and literature, amongst other subjects.[11] He also began shooting with an 8 mm camera, including filming car races.[11] At this time, Lucas became interested in Canyon Cinema: screenings of underground, avant-garde 16 mm filmmakers like Jordan Belson, Stan Brakhage and Bruce Conner.[15] Lucas and childhood friend John Plummer also saw classic European films of the time, including Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, François Truffaut's Jules et Jim and Federico Fellini's 8½.[15] "That's when George really started exploring," Plummer said.[15] Through his interest in autocross racing, Lucas met renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler, another race enthusiast.[11][15] Wexler, later to work with Lucas on several occasions, was impressed by Lucas's talent.[11] "George had a very good eye, and he thought visually," he recalled.[15]

At Plummer's recommendation,[16] Lucas then transferred to the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts. USC was one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to motion picture film. During the years at USC, Lucas shared a dorm room with Randal Kleiser. Along with classmates such as Walter Murch, Hal Barwood, John Milius and Matthew Robbins, they became a clique of film students known as The Dirty Dozen. He also became good friends with fellow acclaimed student filmmaker and future Indiana Jones collaborator, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.[c]

A group of friends, which included Chris Lewis and Don Glut, started the Clean Cut Cinema Club. Lucas, Kleiser and Lewis then formed a short-lived production company called Sunrise Productions with offices on Sunset Boulevard. There they would make up stage names for themselves, Lucas calling himself Lucas Beaumont. Their only project would be the never completed short "Five, Four, Three", a self-referential and self-deprecating mockumentary about the making of a satirical teen beach movie called "Orgy Beach Party".[18]

Lucas was deeply influenced by the Filmic Expression course taught at the school by filmmaker Lester Novros which concentrated on the non-narrative elements of Film Form like color, light, movement, space, and time. Another inspiration was the Serbian montagist (and dean of the USC Film Department) Slavko Vorkapich, a film theoretician who made stunning montage sequences for Hollywood studio features at MGM, RKO, and Paramount. Vorkapich taught the autonomous nature of the cinematic art form, emphasizing the kinetic energy inherent in motion pictures.

After graduating with a bachelor of fine arts in film in 1967, he tried joining the United States Air Force as an officer, but he was immediately turned down because of his numerous speeding tickets. He was later drafted by the United States Army for military service in Vietnam, but he was exempted from service after medical tests showed he had diabetes, the disease that killed his paternal grandfather.[19]

Film career

1965–1969: Early career

Lucas saw many inspiring films in class, particularly the visual films coming out of the National Film Board of Canada like Arthur Lipsett's 21-87, cameraman Jean-Claude Labrecque's cinéma vérité 60 Cycles, the work of Norman McLaren and the documentaries of Claude Jutra. Lucas fell madly in love with pure cinema and quickly became prolific at making 16 mm nonstory noncharacter visual tone poems and cinéma vérité with such titles as Look at Life, Herbie, 1:42.08, The Emperor, Anyone Lived in a Pretty (how) Town, Filmmaker and 6-18-67. He was passionate and interested in camerawork and editing, defining himself as a filmmaker as opposed to being a director, and he loved making abstract visual films that created emotions purely through non-narrative structures.[15]

In 1967, Lucas re-enrolled as a USC graduate student in film production.[20] He began working under movie and logo designer Saul Bass and film editor Verna Fields for the United States Information Agency, where he met his future wife Marcia Griffin.[21] Working as a teaching instructor for a class of U.S. Navy students who were being taught documentary cinematography, Lucas directed the short film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, which won first prize at the 1967–68 National Student film festival. Lucas was awarded a student scholarship by Warner Bros. to observe and work on the making of a film of his choosing. The film he chose after finding the animation department closed down was Finian's Rainbow (1968) which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who was revered among film school students of the time as a cinema graduate who had "made it" in Hollywood.[22] In 1969, Lucas was one of the camera operators on the classic Rolling Stones concert film Gimme Shelter.

1969–1977: THX 1138, American Graffiti, and Star Wars

In 1969, Lucas moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area and co-founded the studio American Zoetrope with Coppola, hoping to create a liberating environment for filmmakers to direct outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywood studio system.[23] Coppola thought Lucas's Electronic Labyrinth could be adapted into his first full-length feature film,[24] which was produced by American Zoetrope as THX 1138, but was not a success. Lucas then created his own company, Lucasfilm, Ltd., and directed the successful American Graffiti (1973).

Lucas then set his sights on adapting Flash Gordon, an adventure serial from his childhood that he fondly remembered. When he was unable to obtain the rights, he set out to write an original space adventure that would eventually become Star Wars.[25] Despite his success with his previous film, all but one studio turned Star Wars down. It was only because Alan Ladd Jr. at 20th Century Fox liked American Graffiti that he forced through a production and distribution deal for the film, which ended up restoring Fox to financial stability after a number of flops.[26] Star Wars was significantly influenced by samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, Spaghetti Westerns, as well as classic sword and sorcery fantasy stories.

Star Wars quickly became the highest-grossing film of all time, displaced five years later by Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. After the success of American Graffiti and prior to the beginning of filming on Star Wars, Lucas was encouraged to renegotiate for a higher fee for writing and directing Star Wars than the US$150,000 agreed.[11] He declined to do so, instead negotiating for advantage in some of the as-yet-unspecified parts of his contract with Fox, in particular, ownership of licensing and merchandising rights (for novelizations, clothing, toys, etc.) and contractual arrangements for sequels.[11][27] Lucasfilm has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from licensed games, toys, and collectibles created for the franchise.[11]

The original Star Wars film went through a tumultuous production, and during editing, Lucas suffered chest pains initially feared to be a heart attack, but actually a fit of hypertension and exhaustion. The effort that Lucas exerted during post-production for the film, and its subsequent sequels, caused strains on his relationship with his wife Marcia Lucas, and was a contributing factor to their divorce at the end of the trilogy.[25] The success of the first Star Wars film also resulted in more attention focused on Lucas, both positive and negative, attracting wealth and fame, but also many people who wanted Lucas's financial backing or just to threaten him.[28]

1977–1993: Hiatus from directing, Indiana Jones

Director Jim Henson (left) and Lucas working on Labyrinth in 1986

Following the release of the first Star Wars film, Lucas worked extensively as a writer and producer, including on the many Star Wars spinoffs made for film, television and other media. Lucas acted as executive producer for the next two Star Wars films, commissioning Irvin Kershner to direct The Empire Strikes Back and Richard Marquand to direct Return of the Jedi, while receiving a story credit on the former and sharing a screenwriting credit with Lawrence Kasdan on the latter.[29] Lucas also gave away his screenwriting credit out of great respect for Leigh Brackett for The Empire Strikes Back after her death from cancer.[30] He also acted as story writer and executive producer on the first four Indiana Jones films, which his colleague and good friend Steven Spielberg directed.

Craig Barron, who worked at ILM as part of the matte painting department, told Star Wars Insider that Lucas liked to spend time with the department's painters and often spoke of what movies he wanted to make. According to Barron, Lucas had wanted to make a film about Alexander the Great, but this film was ultimately never produced.[31] Projects where Lucas was credited as executive producer and sometimes story writer in this period include Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980), John Korty's Twice Upon a Time (1983), Ewoks: Caravan of Courage (1984), Ewoks: Battle for Endor (1985), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Jim Henson's Labyrinth (1986), Ron Howard's Willow (1988), Don Bluth's The Land Before Time (1988), and the Indiana Jones television prequel spinoff The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–93). There were unsuccessful projects, however, including More American Graffiti (1979), Willard Huyck's Howard the Duck (1986), which was the biggest flop of Lucas's career, Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) and Radioland Murders (1994) directed by Mel Smith.

The animation studio Pixar was founded in 1979 as the Graphics Group, one third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm.[32] Pixar's early computer graphics research resulted in a digital film The Adventures of André & Wally B. and groundbreaking effects in films such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan[33] and Young Sherlock Holmes,[33] and the group was purchased in 1986 by Steve Jobs shortly after he left Apple Computer. Jobs paid Lucas $5 million and put $5 million as capital into the company. The sale reflected Lucas's desire to stop the cash flow losses from his seven-year research projects associated with new entertainment technology tools, as well as his company's new focus on creating entertainment rather than tools. As of June 1983, Lucas was worth $60 million,[34] but he met cash-flow difficulties following his divorce that year, concurrent with the sudden dropoff in revenues from Star Wars licenses following the theatrical run of Return of the Jedi. At this point, Lucas had no desire to return to Star Wars, and had unofficially canceled the sequel trilogy.[35]

Lucas, formerly a member of Writers Guild of America West, left and maintained financial core status in 1981.[36]

Also in 1983, Lucas and Tomlinson Holman founded the audio company THX.[37] The company was formerly owned by Lucasfilm and contains equipment for stereo, digital, and theatrical sound for films, and music. Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic, are the sound and visual effects subdivisions of Lucasfilm, while Lucasfilm Games, later renamed LucasArts, produces products for the gaming industry.

1993–2012: Return to directing, Star Wars and Indiana Jones

Lucas receiving the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President George W. Bush, February 2006

Having lost much of his fortune in a divorce settlement in 1987, Lucas was hesitant on making additional Star Wars features.[35] However, the prequels, which were still only a series of ideas partially pulled from his original drafts of "The Star Wars", continued to tantalize him with technical possibilities that would make it worthwhile to revisit his older material. When Star Wars became popular once again, in the wake of Dark Horse's comic book line and Timothy Zahn's trilogy of spin-off novels, Lucas realized that there was still a large audience. His children were older, and with the explosion of CGI technology he began to consider directing once again.[38]

By 1993, it was announced, in Variety among other sources, that Lucas would be making the prequels. He began penning more to the story, indicating that the series would be a tragic one, examining Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. Lucas also began to change the status of the prequels relative to the originals; at first, they were supposed to be a "filling-in" of history tangential to the originals, but now he saw that they could form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step towards turning the film series into a "Saga".[39] In 1994, Lucas began work on the screenplay of the first prequel, tentatively titled Episode I: The Beginning.

In 1997, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Wars, Lucas restored the original trilogy and made numerous modifications using newly available digital technology to bring them closer to his original vision. The films were re-released in theaters as the "Special Editions".[40][41][42] The trilogy received further modifications and restorations for DVD releases in 2004, Blu-ray releases in 2011 and 4K releases released in 2019. Additionally, Lucas released a director's cut of THX 1138 in 2004, with the film re-cut and containing a number of CGI additions.

George Lucas liegt auf einem Sofa in einem Hotelzimmer mit einem Kissen auf dem Schoß.
George Lucas, Berlin 2005 (Portrait by Oliver Mark)

The first Star Wars prequel was finished and released in 1999 as Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which would be the first film Lucas had directed in over two decades. Following the release of the first prequel, Lucas announced that he would also be directing the next two, and began working on Episode II.[43] The first draft of Episode II was completed just weeks before principal photography, and Lucas hired Jonathan Hales, a writer from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, to polish it.[44] It was completed and released in 2002 as Attack of the Clones. The final prequel, Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, began production in 2002[45] and was released in 2005. Numerous older fans and critics considered the prequels inferior to the original trilogy,[46][47][48] though they were box office successes and popular with younger fans.[49][50][51][52] In 2004, Lucas reflected that his transition from independent to corporate filmmaker mirrored the story of Star Wars character Darth Vader in some ways, but concluded he was glad to be able to make his films the way he wanted to.[53]

Lucas in 2007

Lucas collaborated with Jeff Nathanson as a writer of the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, directed by Steven Spielberg. Similar to the Star Wars prequels, the reception was mixed with fans and critics alike. From 2008 to 2014, Lucas also served as the creator and executive producer for a second Star Wars animated series on Cartoon Network, Star Wars: The Clone Wars which premiered with a feature film of the same name before airing its first episode. The supervising director for this animated series was Dave Filoni, who was chosen by Lucas and closely collaborated with him on its development.[54][55][56][57][58] This series bridged the events between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and featured the last Star Wars stories in which Lucas was involved in a major way.

In 2012, Lucas self-funded and served as executive producer for Red Tails, a war film based on the exploits of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He also took over directing of reshoots while director Anthony Hemingway worked on other projects.

2012–present: Semi-retirement

I'm moving away from the business ... From the company, from all this kind of stuff.

—George Lucas on his future career plans[59]

In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing large blockbuster films, and instead re-focusing his career on smaller, independently budgeted features.[59][60][61]

In June 2012, it was announced that producer Kathleen Kennedy, a long-term collaborator with Steven Spielberg and a producer of the Indiana Jones films, had been appointed as co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd.[62][63] It was reported that Kennedy would work alongside Lucas, who would remain chief executive and serve as co-chairman for at least one year, after which she would succeed him as the company's sole leader.[62][63] With the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney, Lucas is currently Disney's second-largest single shareholder, after the estate of Steve Jobs.[64]

Lucas worked as a creative consultant on the Star Wars sequel trilogy's first film, The Force Awakens.[65] Lucas's involvement included attending early story meetings; according to Lucas, "I mostly say, 'You can't do this. You can do that.' You know, 'The cars don't have wheels. They fly with antigravity.' There's a million little pieces ... I know all that stuff."[66] Lucas's son Jett told The Guardian that his father was "very torn" about having sold the rights to the franchise, despite having hand-picked Abrams to direct, and that his father was "there to guide" but that "he wants to let it go and become its new generation."[67] Among the materials turned over to the production team were story treatments Lucas developed when he considered creating Episodes VII–IX himself; in January 2015, Lucas stated that Disney had discarded his story ideas.[68][69]

Lucas with Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington, D.C., on December 5, 2015

The Force Awakens, directed by J. J. Abrams, was released on December 18, 2015. Kathleen Kennedy produced the film and its sequels.[70][71] The new sequel trilogy was jointly produced by Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company, which had acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.[72] During an interview with talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose that aired on December 24, 2015, Lucas likened his decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney to a divorce and outlined the creative differences between him and the producers of The Force Awakens. Lucas went on to say that he needed to support the company and its employees who were going to suffer financially.[73] Lucas described the previous six Star Wars films as his "children" and defended his vision for them, while criticizing The Force Awakens for having a "retro feel", saying: "I worked very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships – you know, to make it new." Lucas also drew some criticism and subsequently apologized for his remark likening Disney to "white slavers".[74][75]

In 2015, Lucas wrote the CGI film Strange Magic, his first musical. The film was produced at Skywalker Ranch. Gary Rydstrom directed the movie.[76] At the same time the sequel trilogy was announced, a fifth installment of the Indiana Jones series also entered pre-development phase with Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg set to return. Lucas originally did not specify whether the selling of Lucasfilm would affect his involvement with the film. In October 2016, Lucas announced his decision to not be involved in the story of the film but would remain an executive producer.[77][78] In 2016, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first film of a Star Wars anthology series was released. It told the story of the rebels who stole the plans for the Death Star featured in the original Star Wars film, and it was reported that Lucas liked it more than The Force Awakens.[79] The Last Jedi, the second film in the sequel trilogy, was released in 2017; Lucas described the film as "beautifully made".[80]

Lucas has had cursory involvement with Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018),[81][82] the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian,[83] and the premiere of the eighth season of Game of Thrones.[84] Lucas met with J. J. Abrams before the latter began writing the script to the sequel trilogy's final film, The Rise of Skywalker, which was released in 2019.[85]

Other ventures

Main articles: Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, THX, and Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

Lucasfilm

Lucas founded a film production company Lucasfilm in 1971,[86] and incorporated as Lucasfilm Ltd. on September 12, 1977.[87] In the mid-1970s, the company's offices were located on the Universal Studios Lot.[88] Lucas founded the Star Wars Corporation, Inc. as a subsidiary to control various legal and financial aspects of Star Wars (1977),[89] including copyright, and sequel and merchandising rights. It also produced the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special for 20th Century Fox Television.[90] That year, Lucas hired Los Angeles-based real-estate specialist Charles Weber to manage the company, telling him that he could keep the job as long as he made money.[91] Lucas wanted the focus of the company to be making independent films, but the company gradually became enlarged from five employees to almost 100, increasing in middle management and running up costs. In 1980, after Weber asked Lucas for fifty million dollars to invest in other companies and suggested that they sell Skywalker Ranch to do so, Lucas fired Weber and had to let half of the Los Angeles staff go.[91] By the same year, the corporate subsidiary had been discontinued and its business was absorbed into the various divisions of Lucasfilm.

ILM

Lucas founded Industrial Light & Magic in 1975, he wanted his 1977 film Star Wars to include visual effects that had never been seen on film before.[92] After discovering that the in-house effects department at 20th Century Fox was no longer operational, Lucas approached Douglas Trumbull, best known for the effects on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Silent Running (1972). Trumbull declined as he was already committed to working on Steven Spielberg's film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), but suggested his assistant John Dykstra to Lucas. Dykstra brought together a small team of college students, artists, and engineers and set them up in a warehouse in Van Nuys, California. After seeing the map for the location was zoned as light industrial, Lucas named the group Industrial Light and Magic,[93] which became the Special Visual Effects department on Star Wars. Alongside Dykstra, other leading members of the original ILM team were Ken Ralston, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Robert Blalack, Joe Johnston, Phil Tippett, Steve Gawley, Lorne Peterson and Paul Huston.[94]

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

Main article: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

By June 2013, Lucas was considering establishing a museum, the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, to be built on Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which would display his collection of illustrations and pop art, with an estimated value of more than $1 billion. Lucas offered to pay the estimated $300 million cost of constructing the museum, and would endow it with $400 million when it opened, eventually adding an additional $400 million to its endowment.[95] After being unable to reach an agreement with The Presidio Trust, Lucas turned to Chicago.[96] A potential lakefront site on Museum Campus in Chicago was proposed in May 2014.[97] By June 2014, Chicago had been selected, pending approval of the Chicago Plan Commission,[98] which was granted.[99] The museum project was renamed the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. On June 24, 2016, Lucas announced that he was abandoning his plans to locate the museum in Chicago, due to a lawsuit by a local preservation group, Friends of the Parks, and would instead build the museum in California.[100] On January 17, 2017, Lucas announced that an eleven-acre campus with green space and the museum's five-story 300,000 square foot building will be constructed over what was a parking lot in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California.[101] It is due to be completed in 2025.[102]

Collaboration

John Williams

Lucas was also heavily involved and invested in the scoring process for the original Star Wars soundtrack, which was composed by John Williams, on the recommendation of his friend and colleague Steven Spielberg. Whilst initially wanting to use tracks and film music in a similar manner to 2001: A Space Odyssey, which served as the inspiration for the film, Williams advised against this and instead proposed a system of recurring themes (or leitmotifs) to enhance the story in the style of classical composers Gustav Holst, William Walton, and Igor Stravinsky; works that Lucas had used as "temp tracks" for Williams to gain inspiration from.[103][104] The film, and subsequent sequels and prequels, make use of the Main Title Theme, the Force Theme (less commonly referred to as Obi Wan Kenobi's Theme), the Rebel Alliance Theme and Princess Leia's Theme (all introduced in this film) repeatedly. Subsequent films also added to the catalog of themes for different characters, factions, and locations.

The score was released to critical acclaim and won Williams his third Academy Award for Best Original Score. The score was listed by the American Film Institute in 2005 as the greatest film score of all time. The professional relationship formed by Lucas and Williams extended through to Williams working on all of Lucas's blockbuster franchise movies: the remaining two films of the Star Wars original trilogy; all three films of prequel trilogy developed over fifteen years later; and the five films of the Indiana Jones franchise, in which Williams reunited with his long-time collaborator Spielberg. In his collaborations with Lucas, Williams received six of his fifty-two Academy Award nominations (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). After Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, Williams stayed on board with the franchise, and continued to score the remaining three films of the "Skywalker Saga" (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker, for which he received a further three Oscar nominations), after which he announced his "retirement" from the series.[105]

Lucas was in attendance for a ceremony honoring Williams as the 44th recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, the first composer to receive the honor, and gave a speech in praise of their relationship and his work.[106] In interviews, and most famously at the 40th Anniversary Star Wars Celebration convention, Lucas has repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of Williams to the Star Wars saga, affectionately referring to him as the "secret sauce" of his movies.[107]

Philanthropy

Lucas is the wealthiest film celebrity in the world. His personal net worth is estimated to be between $7.5–9.4 billion.[108][109] Lucas has pledged to give half of his fortune to charity as part of an effort called The Giving Pledge led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to persuade America's richest individuals to donate their financial wealth to charities.[110][111]

George Lucas Educational Foundation

In 1991, The George Lucas Educational Foundation was founded as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. The foundation's content is available under the brand Edutopia, in an award-winning web site, social media and via documentary films. Lucas, through his foundation, was one of the leading proponents of the E-rate program in the universal service fund,[112] which was enacted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. On June 24, 2008, Lucas testified before the United States House of Representatives subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet as the head of his Foundation to advocate for a free wireless broadband educational network.[113]

Proceeds from the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney

In 2012, Lucas sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company for a reported sum of $4.05 billion.[72] It was widely reported at the time that Lucas intended to give the majority of the proceeds from the sale to charity.[114][115] A spokesperson for Lucasfilm said: "George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors."[115] Lucas also spoke on the matter: "For 41 years, the majority of my time and money has been put into the company. As I start a new chapter in my life, it is gratifying that I have the opportunity to devote more time and resources to philanthropy."[115]

Other initiatives

In 2005, Lucas gave $1 million to help build the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to commemorate American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.[116]

On September 19, 2006, the University of Southern California announced that Lucas had donated $175–180 million to his alma mater to expand the film school. It is the largest single donation to USC and the largest gift to a film school anywhere.[117] Previous donations led to the already-existing George Lucas Instructional Building and Marcia Lucas Post-Production building.[118][119]

In 2013, Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson donated $25 million to the Chicago-based not-for-profit After School Matters, of which Hobson is the chair.[96]

On April 15, 2016, it was reported that Lucas had donated between $501,000 and $1 million through the Lucas Family Foundation (now the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation) to the Obama Foundation, which is charged with overseeing the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side.[120]

In 2021, Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson made a donation to NYU through the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation to establish the Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts.[121]

Personal life

Lucas at the Time 100 2006 gala

In 1969, Lucas married film editor Marcia Lou Griffin,[122] who went on to win an Academy Award for her editing work on the original Star Wars film. They adopted a daughter, Amanda Lucas, in 1981,[123] and divorced in 1983.[122] Lucas subsequently adopted two more children as a single parent: daughter Katie Lucas, born in 1988, and son Jett Lucas, born in 1993.[123] His three eldest children all appeared in the three Star Wars prequels, as did Lucas himself. Following his divorce, Lucas was in a relationship with singer Linda Ronstadt in the 1980s.[124][125]

Lucas began dating Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments and chairwoman of Starbucks, in 2006, after meeting in 2005 at a business conference. She formerly served as chairwoman at DreamWorks Animation.[126][127][128][129] Lucas and Hobson announced their engagement in January 2013,[130] and married on June 22, 2013, at Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California.[122] They have one daughter together, born via surrogate in August 2013.[131]

Lucas was born and raised in a Methodist family.[11] The religious and mythical themes in Star Wars were inspired by Lucas's interest in the writings of mythologist Joseph Campbell,[132] and he would eventually come to identify strongly with the Eastern religious philosophies he studied and incorporated into his films, which were a major inspiration for "the Force". Lucas has come to state that his religion is "Buddhist Methodist". He resides in Marin County.[133][134]

Lucas is a major collector of the American illustrator and painter Norman Rockwell. A collection of 57 Rockwell paintings and drawings owned by Lucas and fellow Rockwell collector and film director Steven Spielberg were displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from July 2, 2010, to January 2, 2011, in an exhibition titled Telling Stories.[135]

Lucas has said that he is a fan of Seth MacFarlane's hit TV show Family Guy. MacFarlane has said that Lucasfilm was extremely helpful when the Family Guy crew wanted to parody their works.[136]

Lucas supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[137]

Filmography

Main article: George Lucas filmography
Directed features
Year Title Distribution
1971 THX 1138 Warner Bros.
1973 American Graffiti Universal Pictures
1977 Star Wars 20th Century Fox
1999 Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
2002 Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
2005 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Awards and honors

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by George Lucas

In 1977, Lucas was awarded the Inkpot Award.[138]

The American Film Institute awarded Lucas its Life Achievement Award on June 9, 2005.[139] This was shortly after the release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, about which he joked stating that, since he views the entire Star Wars series as one film, he could actually receive the award now that he had finally "gone back and finished the movie."

Lucas was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Directing and Writing for American Graffiti and Star Wars. He received the academy's Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1991. He appeared at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony in 2007 with Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola to present the Best Director award to their friend Martin Scorsese. During the speech, Spielberg and Coppola talked about the joy of winning an Oscar, making fun of Lucas, who has not won a competitive Oscar.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted Lucas in 2006, its second "Film, Television, and Media" contributor, after Spielberg.[140][141][d] The Discovery Channel named him one of the 100 "Greatest Americans" in September 2008.[142] Lucas served as Grand Marshal for the Tournament of Roses Parade and made the ceremonial coin toss at the Rose Bowl, New Year's Day 2007. In 2009, he was one of 13 California Hall of Fame inductees in The California Museum's yearlong exhibit.

In July 2013, Lucas was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama for his contributions to American cinema.[143] In October 2014, Lucas received Honorary Membership of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.[144][145]

In August 2015, Lucas was inducted as a Disney Legend,[146] and on December 6, 2015, he was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors.[147] In 2021, coinciding with Lucasfilm's 50th anniversary, an action figure of Lucas in stormtrooper disguise was released as part of Hasbro's Star Wars: The Black Series.

In May 2024, Lucas was given the Honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It is considered one of the highest recognitions in the film industry.[148][149]

Bibliography

Main article: George Lucas bibliography
  • 1980: Alan Arnold: A Journal of the Making of "The Empire Strikes Back." ISBN 0-345-29075-5. (contributor)
  • 1983: Dale Pollock: Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas. ISBN 978-0517546772. (contributor)
  • 1995: George Lucas, Chris Claremont: Shadow Moon. ISBN 0-553-57285-7. (story)
  • 1996: Chris Claremont: Shadow Dawn. ISBN 0-553-57289-X. (story)
  • 1997: Laurent Bouzereau: Star Wars. The Annotated Screenplays. (contributor) ISBN 0-345-40981-7.
  • 2000: Terry Brooks: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (novelization, contributor), Del Rey Books, ISBN 978-0-09-940996-0
  • 2000: Chris Claremont: Shadow Star. ISBN 0-553-57288-1. (story)
  • 2003: R. A. Salvatore: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (novelization, contributor), Del Rey, ISBN 978-0345428820
  • 2004: Matthew Stover: Shatterpoint. (novel, prolog), Del Rey, ISBN 978-0345455741.
  • 2005: James Luceno: Labyrinth of Evil (novel, contributor), Del Rey, ISBN 978-0345475732
  • 2005: Matthew Stover: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith., Del Rey, ISBN 978-0345428844. (novelization, contributor & line editor)
  • 2007: J. W. Rinzler: The Making of "Star Wars". The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film. ISBN 0-09-192014-0. (contributor)
  • 2012: James Luceno: Star Wars: Darth Plagueis. novel (contributor), Del Rey, ISBN 978-0345511294.
  • 2020: Paul Duncan: The Star Wars Archives. 1999–2005 (contributor), Taschen, ISBN 978-3836563444

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Lucas was later ticketed for making an illegal left-hand turn.[10]
  2. ^ He became a millionaire at the age of 28 after selling American Graffiti to theaters.[14]
  3. ^ Spielberg attended a USC screening in early 1968 and met Lucas after being impressed by his Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB.[17]
  4. ^ After inducting 36 fantasy and science fiction writers and editors from 1996 to 2004, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame dropped "fantasy" and made non-literary contributors eligible.[150] Filmmaker Steven Spielberg was the inaugural "Film, Television and Media" inductee in 2005; Lucas the second in 2006. Previously Lucas had received a special award at the 1977 World Science Fiction Convention (for Star Wars) and annual professional achievement awards voted by fantasy fans in 1981 and 1982.[151]

Citations

  1. ^ White, Dana (2000). George Lucas. Lerner Publishing Group. p. 12. ISBN 0822549751.
  2. ^ "Disney Acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion – STAR WARS: Episode 7 in 2015!". broadwayworld.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  3. ^ "Top Lifetime Adjusted Grosses". BoxOfficeMojo.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  4. ^ McMillan, Graeme (January 29, 2015). "George Lucas: Hollywood Is a "Circus"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 17, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Mangold, James (October 10, 2023). "'Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  6. ^ "Biography". www.historicmodesto.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  7. ^ Roberts, Gary Boyd (April 18, 2008). "No. 83 Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources: A Third Set of Ten Hollywood Figures (or Groups Thereof), with a Coda on Two Directors". New England Historic Genealogical Society. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014.
  8. ^ Jones 2016, p. 26.
  9. ^ Jones 2016, pp. 22, 25.
  10. ^ a b c Pollock, Dale (June 1983). "A Man and His Empire: The Private Life of 'Star Wars' Creator George Lucas". Life. pp. 85–86.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pollock, Dale, Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas, Harmony Books, New York, 1983, ISBN 0-517-54677-9
  12. ^ "Filmmaker George Lucas' Near-Death Experience" Archived December 30, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, oprah.com, January 22, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  13. ^ Jones 2016, p. 36.
  14. ^ Jones 2016, p. 161.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Silberman, Steve (May 2005). "Life After Darth". Wired. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  16. ^ Sunstein, Cass R. (2016). The World According to Star Wars. Harper Collins.
  17. ^ Jones 2016, p. 92.
  18. ^ George Lucas, by Brian Jay Jones (2016)
  19. ^ Jones 2016, p. 65.
  20. ^ "George Lucas". Forbes. September 2012. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  21. ^ Jones 2016, pp. 68, 70.
  22. ^ Jones 2016, p. 88.
  23. ^ "American Zoetrope: In a galaxy not from Hollywood ..." The Guardian. November 17, 2011. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  24. ^ Jones 2016, p. 90.
  25. ^ a b Cooray Smith, James (May 25, 2019). "Starting Star Wars: How George Lucas came to create a galaxy". New Statesman. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  26. ^ Tom Shone: Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer (2004). London, Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN 0-7432-6838-5. Chapter 2.
  27. ^ Harris, Mark (2008). Pictures at a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of the New Hollywood. Penguin Press. pp. 378–9. ISBN 9781594201523.
  28. ^ Rinzler, J. W. (2010). The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — The Definitive Story. United Kingdom: Aurum Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-84513-555-3. OCLC 657407687.
  29. ^ "The Making of Empire Strikes Back". Empire Magazine. June 2002. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  30. ^ W., Rinzler, J. (2010). "The Road to Oz". The Making of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story (Digital). Del Rey Books. p. n390. OCLC 657407687. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved October 6, 2022. I don't think Leigh Brackett would've gotten a story credit. I said that to George and he said, you know, from his heart he felt she should get a co-writing credit on it, so he gave that to her.-Howard Kazanjian "I didn't like the first script, but I gave Leigh credit because I liked her a lot," Lucas says. "She was sick at the time she wrote it and she really tried her best.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Brandon Wainerdi (August 2, 2022). "It's a Matte, Matte World!". Star Wars Insider. No. 212. Titan Publishing Group. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  32. ^ Shah, Rina (January 7, 2021). "George Lucas: Pixar Was Sold to Save Lucasfilm". Shortform Books. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  33. ^ a b Hormby, Thomas (January 22, 2007). "The Pixar Story: Dick Shoup, Alex Schure, George Lucas, Steve Jobs, and Disney". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  34. ^ Pollock, Dale (June 1983). "A Man and His Empire: The Private Life of 'Star Wars' Creator George Lucas". Life. p. 88.
  35. ^ a b Kaminski 2007, p. 227.
  36. ^ "WGAW Financial Core List". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  37. ^ Truta, Filip Truta (May 5, 2011). "Apple Hires Sound Systems Inventor Tomlinson Holman" Archived April 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Softpedia.
  38. ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 294–95.
  39. ^ Kaminski 2007, pp. 299–300.
  40. ^ George Lucas On the Special Editions of the Original STAR WARS Trilogy, November 18, 2009, archived from the original on December 15, 2022, retrieved December 16, 2022
  41. ^ Star Wars – The Magic and the Mystery – Hosted by Howie Long – Fox TV Special, January 18, 2017, archived from the original on December 16, 2022, retrieved December 16, 2022
  42. ^ Brooks, Dan. ""All Films Are Personal": An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  43. ^ "Star Wars Insider". Star Wars Insider. No. 45. p. 19.
  44. ^ Kaminski 2007, p. 371.
  45. ^ Rinzler 2007, p. 36.
  46. ^ "Star Wars – Episode II: Attack Of The Clones". Chicago Sun-Times. May 10, 2002. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  47. ^ "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace". Rotten Tomatoes. May 9, 1999. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  48. ^ "Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones 3D". Rotten Tomatoes. May 16, 2002. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  49. ^ "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  50. ^ "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  51. ^ "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  52. ^ "Ewan McGregor shocked by Star Wars fans who prefer prequels to original trilogy". The Independent. September 13, 2020. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  53. ^ Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004). DVD. 20th Century Fox Television. Event occurs at 2:24:45.
  54. ^ "Dave Filoni interview: Star Wars: The Clone Wars". October 17, 2011. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  55. ^ minshewnetworks (August 14, 2008). "George Lucas and Dave Filoni talk Star Wars:The Clone Wars". Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  56. ^ Star Wars (August 12, 2016). "Dave Filoni Extended Interview – The Star Wars Show". Archived from the original on December 11, 2021 – via YouTube.
  57. ^ "Dave Filoni Now Overseeing Creative Development of New Lucasfilm Animation Projects". September 26, 2016. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  58. ^ "How Dave Filoni Redefined 'Star Wars'". December 11, 2015. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  59. ^ a b Curtis, Bryan (January 17, 2012). "George Lucas Is Ready to Roll the Credits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  60. ^ Fischer, Russ (January 17, 2012). "George Lucas Ready to Retire From Blockbuster Filmmaking". /Film. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  61. ^ Yamato, Jen (January 17, 2012). "George Lucas Promises Retirement (From Blockbusters ... Not Counting Indiana Jones 5)". Movie Line. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  62. ^ a b "Kathleen Kennedy to become Co-Chair of Lucasfilm Ltd." Archived October 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, StarWars.com, June 1, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  63. ^ a b Richard Verrier and Ben Fritz, "Kathleen Kennedy to helm Lucasfilm as George Lucas phases out" Archived February 2, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  64. ^ White, Joseph B. (October 30, 2012). "The Mouse and the Wookie: Lucas Becomes a Big Disney Shareholder". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  65. ^ Maçek III, J.C. (August 27, 2018). "Can Star Wars Be Saved?". PopMatters. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  66. ^ Leonard, Devin (March 7, 2013). "How Disney Bought Lucasfilm—and Its Plans for 'Star Wars'". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  67. ^ Child, Ben (October 9, 2013). "Star Wars sequels: George Lucas 'constantly talking' to JJ Abrams". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  68. ^ Chitwood, Adam (January 21, 2015). "George Lucas Says His Treatments for the New STAR WARS Films Were Discarded". Collider. Archived from the original on January 27, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  69. ^ Nick Romano (2015). "How George Lucas' Star Wars 7 Ideas Were Used By Disney" (Written coverage /Video interview). Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  70. ^ "Here's What George Lucas' Role As Creative Consultant in the New Star Wars Films Mean". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  71. ^ "A New Star Wars Is Coming". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  72. ^ a b "Disney buys Star Wars maker Lucasfilm from George Lucas". BBC News Website. British Broadcasting Corporation. October 31, 2012. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  73. ^ George Lucas Calls Disney "White Slavers" in Charlie Rose interview, January 2, 2016, archived from the original on October 27, 2022, retrieved October 27, 2022
  74. ^ Child, Ben (December 31, 2015). "Attack of the moans: George Lucas hits out at 'retro' Star Wars: The Force Awakens". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  75. ^ Peterson, Jeff (January 7, 2016). "George Lucas elaborates on his reaction to 'The Force Awakens'". Deseret News. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  76. ^ "George Lucas producing a CGI musical! Featuring ... fairies?". The Hollywood Reporter. January 27, 2010. Archived from the original on January 30, 2010.
  77. ^ Placido, Dani Di. "George Lucas Is No Longer Involved In 'Indiana Jones 5'". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  78. ^ "Exclusive: George Lucas Not Involved in 'Indiana Jones 5' Story; Writer David Koepp Talks 'Crystal Skull'". Collider. October 24, 2016. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  79. ^ Eddy, Cheryl (December 5, 2016). "George Lucas Likes Rogue One More Than Force Awakens, and Other Fun Facts We Learned This Weekend". Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  80. ^ Parker, Ryan (December 12, 2017). "George Lucas Thinks 'The Last Jedi' Was "Beautifully Made"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  81. ^ McCreesh, Louise (February 13, 2018). "George Lucas was already developing a Han Solo movie before Disney bought Lucasfilm". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  82. ^ Breznican, Anthony (February 9, 2018). "Ron Howard: A Star Wars Story—Why the Oscar-winner joined Solo in its time of upheaval". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  83. ^ Chitwood, Adam (April 18, 2019). "'The Mandalorian' Actor Giancarlo Esposito Describes the New Technology Used on the 'Star Wars' Show". Collider. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  84. ^ Alexander, Julia (April 17, 2019). "George Lucas helped direct Game of Thrones' season 8 premiere". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  85. ^ Nordine, Michael (April 13, 2019). "How George Lucas Helped J.J. Abrams With the Script for 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  86. ^ Moss, Stuart (2009). The Entertainment Industry. Wallingford, UK: cab international. p. 89. ISBN 9781845935511.
  87. ^ "Business Search - Business Entities – Business Programs – California Secretary of State". businesssearch.sos.ca.gov. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  88. ^ Thomas, Roy (2015). Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years – Volume 1. Marvel. p. 4. ISBN 9780785191063.
  89. ^ Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (Documentary film). Prometheus Entertainment/Fox Television Studios/Lucasfilm. 2004. 17:30 minutes in.
  90. ^ Digiacomo, Frank (December 2008). "The Han Solo Comedy Hour!". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  91. ^ a b Pollock, Dale (June 1983). "A Man and His Empire: The Private Life of 'Star Wars' Creator George Lucas". Life. pp. 94, 96.
  92. ^ "Industrial Light & Magic: History". StarWars.com. Lucasfilm. July 15, 1999. Archived from the original on February 16, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  93. ^ Interviewing Return of the Jedi Lucasfilm VFX Editor Bill Kimberlin – Rule of Two, April 7, 2021, archived from the original on November 9, 2021, retrieved April 8, 2021
  94. ^ "We Meet Again At Last: ILM Veterans Reunite To Celebrate 40 Years Of Star Wars". starwars.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  95. ^ Bailey, Holly (June 14, 2013). "George Lucas pitches a San Francisco art museum". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  96. ^ a b "Chicago to vie for George Lucas' museum". Chicago Tribune. April 10, 2014. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  97. ^ Spielman, Fran (May 20, 2014). "Lakefront campus recommended for George Lucas interactive museum". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  98. ^ Sneed, Michael (June 24, 2014). "Sneed Exclusive: Chicago to Get George Lucas Museum". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  99. ^ "A New Museum for Chicago". Lucas Museum.org. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  100. ^ "George Lucas Abandons Plan to Build Art Museum in Chicago". The New York Times. June 24, 2016. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  101. ^ "Los Angeles will be home to George Lucas' $1-billion museum". Los Angeles Times. January 10, 2017. Archived from the original on January 17, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  102. ^ "Lucas Museum delays opening to 2025, 'all areas of construction' moving forward". Los Angeles Times. September 20, 2022. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  103. ^ July 2020, Bradley Russell 22 (July 22, 2020). "George Lucas' original plans for the Star Wars soundtrack involved classical music, not John Williams". Total Film. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  104. ^ Zumwalt, Jason (May 4, 2020). "Star Wars: How John Williams Helped Created An Epic | uDiscover". uDiscover Music. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  105. ^ "John Williams is retiring from Star Wars". Radio Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  106. ^ "George Lucas toasts John Williams". YouTube. August 5, 2016. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  107. ^ John Williams conducts surprise concert at Star Wars Celebration 2017, April 13, 2017, archived from the original on December 11, 2021, retrieved May 15, 2021
  108. ^ "George Lucas is one of America's wealthiest celebrities". businessinsider.com. December 20, 2019. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  109. ^ "George Lucas". forbes. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  110. ^ "Gates, Buffett get 40 pledges". The Boston Globe. AP. August 5, 2010. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  111. ^ Lucas, George (August 11, 2014). "George Lucas & Mellody Hobson" (PDF). The Giving Pledge. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 31, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015. My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages. I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education.
  112. ^ "2008 Rep. Ed Markey's opening statement on universal service". Archived from the original on June 25, 2008.
  113. ^ Nate Anderson (June 24, 2008). "Universal Service Fund should be "blown up" like Death Star". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  114. ^ Solomon, Brian. "Donating Star Wars Billions Will Make George Lucas One Of The Biggest Givers Ever". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  115. ^ a b c Ben Block, Alex. "George Lucas Will Use Disney $4 Billion to Fund Education". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  116. ^ "Star Wars creator George Lucas donates $1 Million for Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Project" Archived December 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, October 20, 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  117. ^ Stuart Silverstein, George Lucas Donates USC's Largest Single Gift[dead link], Los Angeles Times, September 19, 2006.
  118. ^ George Lucas Instructional Building Archived November 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, USC School of Cinematic Arts.
  119. ^ Marcia Lucas Post-Production Archived July 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, USC School of Cinematic Arts.
  120. ^ Sweet, Lynn (April 15, 2016). "George Lucas new major donor to Obama presidential library". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  121. ^ Communications, NYU Web. "NYU Tisch School of the Arts Receives Major Gift to Establish the Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts". www.nyu.edu. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  122. ^ a b c Billups, Andrea (June 24, 2013). "George Lucas Marries Mellody Hobson". People. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  123. ^ a b D'Zurilla, Christie (August 12, 2013). "Newlyweds George Lucas and Mellody Hobson welcome a baby girl". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  124. ^ "What's New with Linda Ronstadt? She's Singing Her Love Songs to Star Wars Czar George Lucas". People. March 26, 1984. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  125. ^ Holden, Stephen (April 19, 1995). "AT LUNCH WITH: Linda Ronstadt; And This Is What 48 Looks Like". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  126. ^ Art, The Lucas Museum of Narrative (July 4, 2023). "George Lucas". The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  127. ^ Germain, David (May 18, 2008). ""Indy" survives Cannes critics". The Denver Post via AP. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2010.
  128. ^ "Red Carpet at the Golden Globes". The New York Times. January 18, 2010. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  129. ^ "Board of Directors". Starbucks. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  130. ^ "George Lucas Engaged to DreamWorks Animation Chairman Mellody Hobson". The Hollywood Reporter. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  131. ^ "Everest Hobson Lucas Born To George Lucas And Mellody Hobson". Huffington Post. August 12, 2013. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  132. ^ "George Lucas – About George Lucas – American Masters". PBS. January 13, 2004. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  133. ^ Cagle, Jess (April 29, 2002). "Director: So, What's the Deal with Leia's Hair?". Time. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  134. ^ "The Religious Affiliation of Director George Lucas". Adherents.com. n.d. Archived from the original on June 12, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  135. ^ "Exhibitions: Telling Stories". Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian American Art Museum. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013.
  136. ^ Burton, Bonnie (September 21, 2007). ""Family Guy" Creator Reveals Star Wars Cred". Starwars.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2007.
  137. ^ Johnson, T., Clinton vs. Trump in Hollywood: Who's Giving Archived October 7, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Variety, October 7, 2016.
  138. ^ "Inkpot Award". Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  139. ^ "AFI.com Error". afi.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2005.
  140. ^ ""Presenting the 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees"". Archived from the original on April 26, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2016.. Press release March 15, 2006. Science Fiction Museum (sfhomeworld.org). Archived April 26, 2006. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  141. ^ Science Fiction Hall of Fame Archived October 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Monday, May 15, 2006. The Cohenside. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
  142. ^ "Discovery Channel :: Greatest American: Top 100". Dsc.discovery.com. September 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 18, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
  143. ^ "George Lucas receives National Medal of Arts". BBC News. BBC. July 11, 2013. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  144. ^ "SMPTE Announces 2014 Honorees and Award Winners". Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  145. ^ "Motion-Imaging Industry Luminaries Recognized at SMPTE® Honors & Awards Ceremony". Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers. November 10, 2014. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  146. ^ Lincoln, Ross (July 14, 2015). "George Lucas, Danny Elfman, Others To Be Honored At D23 2015". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  147. ^ Viagas, Robert (July 15, 2015). "Carole King, Cicely Tyson, Rita Moreno and More Named 2015 Kennedy Center Honorees". Playbill. Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  148. ^ "George Lucas Honorary Palme d'or of the 77th Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. April 9, 2024. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  149. ^ bpavan (May 24, 2024). "An encounter with George Lucas". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  150. ^ "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame" Archived May 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc. Retrieved April 10, 2013. This was the official website of the hall of fame to 2004.
  151. ^ "Lucas, George" Archived November 10, 2002, at the Wayback Machine. The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Dramatic Nominees. Locus Publications. Retrieved April 10, 2013.

Sources

  • Jones, Brian Jay (2016). George Lucas: A Life. New York City: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0316257442.
  • Kaminski, Michael (2008). The Secret History of Star Wars. Legacy Books Press. ISBN 978-0978465230.
  • Rinzler, J.W. (2007). The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film. LucasBooks. ISBN 978-0345494764.

Further reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to George Lucas.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Lucas.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Lucas&oldid=1235629042"