News culture Nobody understands the Force in Star Wars! George Lucas reveals filming secrets and talks about Disney takeover

Culture news Nobody understands the Force in Star Wars! George Lucas reveals filming secrets and talks about Disney takeover

Lack of originality

Is the Brut microphoneon the occasion of the Cannes Film Festival, that George Lucas – creator of the legendary Star Wars saga – spoke about the takeover of his franchise by Disney, as well as the general state of Hollywood. Now 80 years old, the director, who has taken advantage of his free time to watch a myriad of feature films, had a lot to say when asked what cinema would look like in 10 years.

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(Cinema in 10 years, editor’s note) will be like what is happening now […] no one knows what to do. The stories the films tell are simply dated. “Let’s make a sequel, let’s make another version of this movie.” And it’s not just in movies, but in almost everything, there is almost no original thought. – George Lucas (Raw)

And when The Hollywood Reporter asks the filmmaker his opinion on the new direction of Star Wars since its acquisition by Disney, Lucas is categorical. A lot of original ideas have been forgotten and put aside, sometimes to the detriment of several new projects. He deplores the studio’s lack of originality, and then confesses various anecdotes relating to the filming of the first opus of the saga. “If I could achieve Star Wars, that’s because while I was writing the script, I hired an artist to draw what I was doing. I knew full well that I couldn’t describe my ideas any other way.”, before adding that “as soon as we saw the drawings, we said to ourselves “Ah, I see!” and everything became possible”. An indescribable creativity that would still elude new filmmakers todayaccording to him.

Sacred beast

The filmmaker was present at this 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival as guest of honor, having received a Palme d’Or rewarding his contribution to cinema. Invited on stage, Lucas said he was nostalgic to return to the French city, where he presented his first feature film – THX-1138 – in 1971, on the occasion of the Quinzaine des Cinéastes. And while he greeted Walter Murch, sound designer on the film, who was present in the room, Lucas revealed that at the time, Warner Bros. had refused to finance their trip to France.

“We weren’t interested in money, but in the love of movies” he said then, explaining that he and Murch had had to scrape together their savings to afford the trip. He also told various filming anecdotes concerning Star Warsexplaining in particular that at the time of the filming ofA New Hope, no one on set could understand the principle of the Force, forcing him to be continually present with the teams. Now retired, the filmmaker is simply a creative consultant for Star Wars and does not intend to resume production.