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  • FRIDAY OCTOBER 6 2006 9:00 AM

George Lucas Takes His Jar-Jar and Goes Home

Submitted by WilWheaton

Edited by WilWheaton

Tags: George Lucas, Star Wars, movies

According to a story in Variety, George Lucas, Executive Producer of Howard the Duck and Willow, and creator of Jar-Jar Binks and the Midichlorians, is calling it quits, and trading the film business for television.

"We don't want to make movies. We're about to get into television. As far as Lucasfilm is concerned, we've moved away from the feature film thing because it's too expensive and it's too risky."

Lucas said that the secret to success is "quantity." Surprising nobody who has seen Star Wars Episodes I-III, Lucas made no mention of "quality."

All betrayed-geek snark aside, I actually agree with Lucas' reasoning on expensive, huge studio films versus smaller, less-expensive films.

Spending $100 million on production costs and another $100 million on P&A makes no sense, he said.

"For that same $200 million, I can make 50-60 two-hour movies. That's 120 hours as opposed to two hours. In the future market, that's where it's going to land, because it's going to be all pay-per-view and downloadable.

Firefly fans may understand the reasoning. How many episodes of the series could have been made and distributed via DVD or online (if no network was interested) for the cost of Serenity?

Lucas is not leaving the huge movies behind just yet, though. Indiana Jones IV is in pre-produciton, and he has a project or two that he's had in development for over a decade that he wants to put out.

He calls himself "semi-retired" but reiterated his plans to direct "small movies, esoteric in nature," after his other projects are launched. He expects to serve as exec producer on the two features and the TV shows, including a live-action "Star Wars" skein.

He also has some changes in mind for special editions of his existing movies: The Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark will be replaced with Care Bears, and Willow will be turned into one 90 minute shot of a walkie talkie. The updated version of Willow is expected to be more enjoyable than its box office counterpart.

(via Slashdot, where one astute commenter observes that Lucas got out of movies three films too late.)

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MschfMayhemSoap

MschfMayhemSoap

Phoenix, AZ
April 2006

OCT 07, 2006 12:57 PM

Westley said:

RemoSuicide said:

Westley said:

RemoSuicide said:
The guy has done more for the sci-fi genre than Isaac Assimov.


Perhaps I am a grumpy old man, but, no.




What movies did Isaac Assimov make again?

Oh that's right...they based the Will Smith vehicle "I, Robot" on oone of his books....genius.

Point being, everybody in Hollywood has made a bad movie. But not everyone has made 2 of the greatest movies of all time.

And Isaac Assimov has never made a movie.



... and making movies has what to do with the sci-fi genre, specifically? I guess you think Sam Mendes has done more for drama than Shakespeare.

And, just for the record,: I, Robot (the novel) is a collection of short stories. The script for the film was written independently and not based on Asimov. Once Fox determined that certain aspects bore a resemblance they hedged their bets, purchased the rights to the name and had nominal changes (character names, the laws of robotics) made to the script to link it to Asimov... What that has to do with whether George Lucas has done more for sci-fi than Isaac Asimov? No idea.


I prefer the "Outer Limits" version myself.... mostly cause Leonard nimoy was in it. biggrin

Westley

Westley

Vatican City
April 2004

OCT 07, 2006 01:10 PM

MschfMayhemSoap said:
I prefer the "Outer Limits" version myself.... mostly cause Leonard nimoy was in it. biggrin


I did not know that. The Alan Parsons Project did a pretty sweet version also.

skeptik

skeptik

New Orleans, LA
February 2004

OCT 07, 2006 01:50 PM

Westley said:

SouthernDJ said:

punksnotdead said:


He also is solely responsible for THX Sound - the standard by which all recording and playback in the WORLD is judged.



In all fairness Tomlinson Holman (Tomlinson Holman Crossover or THX) had a little bit to do with the standardization of theater audio.



Let's get our facts straight: "THX, named after THX 1138 (George Lucas' first feature film), was developed at Lucasfilm in the early 1980s. George Lucas wanted a way to ensure a movie would look and sound exactly the same no matter where it was played. Tomlinson Holman, former corporate technical director for Lucasfilm, and a team of THX engineers took on the challenge of developing a baseline set of standards. "

It was George who set the standards. Yes, Tomlinson Holman had a key role, but it was George who wanted sound to be better to start with. Let's do our homework next time.


Um, the original name of the system, invented by Tomlinson Holman, was Tom Holman's Crossover. It was then renamed Tomlinson Holman's Experiment. These are facts. All THX patents come directly from Tom Holman's experiments and research.



While not disputing that Holman may have had the lion's share of the influence on the technology that became THX, the idea for sound quality standardization is almost entirely George's. And the name 'THX' has been practically a Lucas trademark since 1967, the year he made his student short film Electronic Labyrinth - THX 1138:4EB - out of which came THX-1138 in 1971. He has used references to it in many films since - including American Graffiti (a license plate #) and Star Wars (prison cell #1138).

In essence, calling the technology 'THX' was Lucas' way of stamping his imprimatur on his work with a colleague, and in a winking, inside-joke sort of way. Holman's initials fitting just makes the joke better.

Westley

Westley

Vatican City
April 2004

OCT 07, 2006 02:26 PM

skeptik said:
In essence, calling the technology 'THX' was Lucas' way of stamping his imprimatur on his work with a colleague, and in a winking, inside-joke sort of way. Holman's initials fitting just makes the joke better.


I'm aware of Lucas's connection to the THX name, and definitely give him credit for his huge part in the development of the system (just disagree that Lucas is solely responsible.), but the versions of the story I am familiar with refer to the naming of the system as a happy coincidence recognized because of the working name(s), rather than a predetermined decision to use the THX name.

As far as contributions to filmmaking go, I think I appreciate Lucas most for the fact that Kurosawa's Kagemusha and Ran may never have been made without his support.

Wordwill

Wordwill

Chicago, IL
November 2004

OCT 07, 2006 04:01 PM

WilWheaton said:
Wait. There were Nazis in E.T.? (See "Snarky Geek Responses" in the Encyclopeda of Tired Geek Gripes and Other Chestnuts That'll Get You Punched in the Neck By Folks Who, Like Me, Are Tired of Your Bellyaching.)



Peter Coyote was a Nazi. Subtext, Wil. Read between the lines.

(I thought you'd like that drawn-out-title gag, but not enough to use it right back at me. So, word.)

DrNecessitor

DrNecessitor

San Jose, CA
January 2003

OCT 07, 2006 04:18 PM

Dreu said:

ThisIsWhoWeAre said:
Heeeeyyyy.... I liked Willow!



That's reassuring because I liked Jar-Jar Binks.



I totally dig Jar Jar. Anybody who annoys people so many people so much can't be all bad. Like a CGI Andy Dick.

Markus001

Markus001

United Kingdom
November 2004

OCT 08, 2006 10:16 AM

Penfold said:
As a huge Star Wars fan I believe that many people come down on the prequel trilogy a little too harshly, and overrate the original trilogy just a bit. Sure 'Episode I' leaves a lot to be desired, but I can watch it when taking it as basically a fun popcorn movie more or less aimed at kids, but with some intriguing plot lines to boot. Granted these plotlines don't stand out too much in the film, though I've read the novels (which flesh out those stories much better) and it makes more sense to me. 'Episode II' was better, but still could have been improved. Overall a somewhat more mature offering than 'Episode I'. Having watched the deleted scenes I feel this film was hurt by some of the editing choices. And I'll hold that 'Episode III' is at least as good as the original Star Wars.

Some of the acting may have been chringe-inducing on the prequels, but I feel that's more to due with having badly written material to work with rather than a reflection of the actors themselves. Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid - none of these are bad actors, but all come across as rather B-film at various points during the prequels.

Lucas is a brillant conceptual guy and has an incredible eye for effects, but he can't write or direct actors. Too bad he didn't realize this for the prequel trilogy.



Mostly agree with you!

Westley

Westley

Vatican City
April 2004

OCT 08, 2006 05:22 PM

Penfold said:
As a huge Star Wars fan I believe that many people come down on the prequel trilogy a little too harshly, and overrate the original trilogy just a bit. Sure 'Episode I' leaves a lot to be desired, but I can watch it when taking it as basically a fun popcorn movie more or less aimed at kids, but with some intriguing plot lines to boot. Granted these plotlines don't stand out too much in the film, though I've read the novels (which flesh out those stories much better) and it makes more sense to me. 'Episode II' was better, but still could have been improved. Overall a somewhat more mature offering than 'Episode I'. Having watched the deleted scenes I feel this film was hurt by some of the editing choices. And I'll hold that 'Episode III' is at least as good as the original Star Wars.

Some of the acting may have been chringe-inducing on the prequels, but I feel that's more to due with having badly written material to work with rather than a reflection of the actors themselves. Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid - none of these are bad actors, but all come across as rather B-film at various points during the prequels.

Lucas is a brillant conceptual guy and has an incredible eye for effects, but he can't write or direct actors. Too bad he didn't realize this for the prequel trilogy.


I read the novels also. In fact, when I think of what happened on Attack of the Clones I think of the novelization, because the film is an abortion (I think part one is much better). Anyway, I just wanted to add this: The prequels need Han Solo, or some major non-jedi character (i.e., someone with a personality) (besides Jar Jar)... badly.

I hope future projects take advantage of the wealth of characters and storylines in the expanded universe. A Grand Admiral Thrawn mini-series would be the bee's knees.

be_elzebe

be_elzebe

China
May 2006

OCT 08, 2006 06:33 PM

Al said:

Mark_plus_Beer said:

ThisIsWhoWeAre said:
Heeeeyyyy.... I liked Willow!



you might be the only person



I'm going to get on the "liked Willow" wagon as well. There seems to be plenty of room, and there's no line at the keg!

Man, that movie ruled.



I had (have?) such a huge crush on Mad Martigan. damn skippy.

mydogfarted

mydogfarted

Oakland, NJ
June 2003

OCT 08, 2006 06:57 PM

C'mon... Howard the Duck was awesome. Ok, maybe Leah Thompson being totally hot in it has something to do with it, but that movie cracks me up. Definitely an 8 on the cheese factor, but still. love

Manchester_Black

Manchester_Black

Edmonton, AB
March 2004

OCT 08, 2006 07:38 PM

NinjaTech said:Actually BSG is quite cliche and embarrassingly horrible. From the very first episode.

Lets have the robot dudes come back as a hot chick just so we can toss some TnA around! Yeah!



Considering the surprising lack of T&A in the show as a whole, it would lead one to believe that you havn't actually watched anything past the initial miniseries. I can't think of an episode of Firefly that can hold a candle to the 3rd season opener of BSG.

ASSH0LE

ASSH0LE

Las Vegas, NV
June 2003

OCT 09, 2006 04:52 AM

NickFaust said:
Hey! I liked Willow!



Yeah, I still like Willow. I dunno why all you geeks seem to want to bash her. Is it THAT lonely in your parents' basement?

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