George Lucas is "Retiring" From Film

[WMDogma]

George Lucas is "Retiring" From Film

George Lucas is sick of hearing complaints from the Star Wars fanbase, so he's leaving big-budget filmmaking for smaller projects.

In a recent New York Times interview regarding his upcoming film Red Tails and the difficulties in creating the World War II biopic, filmmaker George Lucas stated he's stepping back and pull the final curtain on his career. Instead of producing any more multi-million dollar blockbusters, Lucas hopes to devote his time to making smaller, more artsy and personal films like his mentor, friend and fellow filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

"I'm retiring," Lucas stated in the the interview. "I'm moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff."

This may also mean that Lucas will finally be done with creating any more adventures (good or bad) in Star Wars' far, far away galaxy, although Lucas sort of attributes this to the increasing backlash he's received from the Star Wars fan base over the 1997's special edition release of the original trilogy and every subsequent re-edit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112701-LucasFilms-Confirms-adding-NOOOOOO-to-Return-of-the-Jedi] since. In explaining why, Lucas likened the negative response to the kind of demands he used to hear from major film studios, who in the past have forcibly re-edited his earlier films like THX 1138. Lucas feels his ability to re-imagine the Star Wars films into what he originally wanted them to be is being restricted by the criticism he's heard over the Star Wars films.

"Why would I make any more," Lucas stated about continuing with his popular sci-fi universe, "when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?"

While it remains to be seen if Lucas' retirement sticks, his next film, Red Tails opens this Friday, and is a historical drama about the all-black fighter squadron known as the Tuskegee Airmen, who fought in the second World War.

Source: New York Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine/george-lucas-red-tails.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hpw]


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[Lost In The Void]

So what you're telling me George, is when you made starwars all those many years ago, you intended for Greedo to shoot first in A New Hope and for Vader to yell at the climax of Return of the Jedi? Those things weren't restricted by the technology of that time so you could have put them in. Of course this could mean that this means those weren't part of your 'original plan' and instead you do just like mucking around with the films.

 

[imnot]

Strange I almost pity him...
On second thoughts, no I dont.

 

[Cousin_IT]

He should totally make a low budget sequel & prequel for THX 1138.

 

[s_h_a_d_o]

Perhaps he's realised just how hypocritical he's been after his 1988 address to Congress denouncing the alteration of films.
:|

 

[teqrevisited]

To illustrate my point to him in a way I feel appropriate I would need hurl my original trilogy tapes at him so hard that the plastic would break.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

"Made the way you originally envisioned it"

Bullshit, I read the original script, it might as well have been a different movie entirely.

 

[Samus Aaron]

Who the hell cares that Lucas altered his films? Is he not entitled to create his stories as he wishes? Further, his edits are so minor that they're barely noticeable at all, and any person who hasn't seen the unaltered versions wouldn't think any less of the altered versions. I really don't see why Lucas is so hated despite everything he has accomplished.

 

[sunburst]

Does this mean he will "allow" the release of the original untainted films onto DVD/Blu-Ray or will he refuse to do so out of hatefulness?

Do you think Lucas realizes how much goodwill he could regain from Star Wars fans by doing that? I know I'd like him a lot better.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Jeez it took him this look to get the hint that people hated all the remake and the alteration to his film?
I guess this mean there won't be plans for the Red Tail trilogy after all!

 

[WMDogma]

"Why would I make any more," Lucas stated about continuing with his popular sci-fi universe, "when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?"

Not the best logic ever...
We think you're a terrible person, George, because you made more bad films. Clearly everyone was on board with what you were doing only until you started to rape Harrison Ford in public.

 

[Sojoez]

"Why would I make any more," Lucas stated about continuing with his popular sci-fi universe, "when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?"

Not the best logic ever...
We think you're a terrible person, George, because you made more bad films. Clearly everyone was on board with what you were doing only until you started to rape Harrison Ford in public.

The problem now is that people see a George Lucas movie and label it 'bad' just because its the bandwagony thing to do.
Seriously, How many here saw the trailer for Red Tails, said: looks awesome! Then saw/heard that its made by Lucas and thought: Oh, it will suck because Star Wars.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Does this mean he will "allow" the release of the original untainted films onto DVD/Blu-Ray or will he refuse to do so out of hatefulness?

Do you think Lucas realizes how much goodwill he could regain from Star Wars fans by doing that? I know I'd like him a lot better.

I don't think it is possible to do so anymore. The original film was destroyed in the process of remastering it (some people claimed Lucas maliciously destroyed it, but it was actually just an unavoidable side effect of the remastering process) so the only truly versions that remain are tapes and secondary recordings of the film, which are a major drop in quality.

 

[Treblaine]

The galaxy's reaction:


You know who is representative of who here.

He can't compare dedicated fanbase to pushy publishers who are purely interested in mass appeal to milking most from their products at cost of artistic integrity. If anyone is guilty of compromise for money grubbing it is Lucas himself with his shameless milking from merchandise to pointless spinoffs. e turned to the dark side of force film.

Only unlike Vader he doesn't seem to have realised how wrong he has been.

 

[InvisibleMan]

No one ever said Lucas is a terrible person! Only that he is a terrible director...

 

[WMDogma]

"Why would I make any more," Lucas stated about continuing with his popular sci-fi universe, "when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?"

Not the best logic ever...
We think you're a terrible person, George, because you made more bad films. Clearly everyone was on board with what you were doing only until you started to rape Harrison Ford in public.

The problem now is that people see a George Lucas movie and label it 'bad' just because its the bandwagony thing to do.
Seriously, How many here saw the trailer for Red Tails, said: looks awesome! Then saw/heard that its made by Lucas and thought: Oh, it will suck because Star Wars.

I mean, to be fair it takes making a lot of shit films before the guy that gave you Han Solo turns into a schmuck. People expect his films to be bad because he's proven that over time.

For example, seen any M. Night Shamylanasfakjhasfn movies lately? Probably not, although his trailers often look intriguing.

 

[The Long Road]

Why do I think he's going to become the film world's Brett Favre? If he goes and makes, say, a Terminator film, then decides to make the next Star Trek movie, the metaphor will be painfully accurate.