From how he snuck into Cannes in 1971 to criticism about the lack of diversity in his filmsGeorge Lucasthe creator of “Star Wars”, He opened up to the public in a talk at the festival, the day before receiving an honorary Palme d’Or.
No “rewards”
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Despite the billions his films have earned, the American filmmaker has never won an Oscar, except for an honorary statuette.
“It’s always great to receive recognition,” he commented on Friday. George Lucas. “Of course, we have a lot of fans and all that kind of stuff. But in terms of reward, I don’t make the kind of movies that win awards!”
“We didn’t have tickets.”
Lucas first came to Cannes in 1971 for his experimental science fiction film “THX 1138.” It was a failure at the box office and Warner refused to pay for his trip to France for the festival.
George Lucas smartened up to reach the Côte d’Azur. “We got to see the movie. We snuck in, we didn’t have tickets, we didn’t have anything. We just walked in,” he recalled.
Asked decades later why he did not appear at the press conference for the film, he responded: “I didn’t know there was one…”.
“Dogs and spaceships”
“THX 1138” ended up becoming a “cult” film because people took acid watching it, he explained. George Lucas. His next work, “American Graffiti” (1973), also did not initially please the studio, but it grossed more than $100 million.
A manager at the Fox studio suggested he do “whatever you want.” […] Do you have any other movies?” “I said, ‘Hey, well, I have this kind of sci-fi fantasy, crazy movie from the 1930s… with dogs flying spaceships and all that.'” To their surprise, the studio agreed “Star Wars” came out in 1977.
“Secret sauce”
The “Star Wars” phenomenon would not exist without the legendary music of composer John Williams. And in that, Lucas thanked “Steve”, that is, Steven Spielberg. It was he who recommended the musician, who at that time had the reputation of “someone from jazz.” “When I heard the music with the whole orchestra, I was like ‘Oh my God!’,” the filmmaker explained. “The sound is half the movie… it’s the secret sauce.”
“And Princess Leia?”
In his talk, Lucas downplayed critics who see “Star Wars” as too white and masculine. “Most of the characters are aliens,” he insisted. “Even if they’re big and hairy or even if they’re green, the idea is that everyone is the same.” To the reproach of the lack of women in his films, George Lucas responded: “Who do you think are the heroes of these films? And Princess Leia? She is the leader of the rebellion.”
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