The man responsible for the never-ending franchise that has spanned generations with a newly endowed installment that is currently shattering the global box office and is on course to be the highest grossing film of all time is seemingly having a hard time navigating the potency of the force behind his empowered legacy.
George Lucas hasn’t been able to find peace with the fact that his immaculate conception is now essentially out of his control and in the hands of studio heads that are less interested in maintaining his signature requirements and more dedicated to implementing the standard adherence that guarantees a moneymaking machine.
Lucas couldn’t hold back his frustrations during a conversation with CBS front man, Charlie Rose, where he expressed his displeasure with the The Force Awakens by criticizing the blockbuster’s “retro” approach and comparing Disney’s takeover as selling out to “white slavers”.
Suffice it to say, Lucas’ comments were not well received, which forced the once budding filmmaker to quickly issue an apology via a released statement.
“I have been working with Disney for 40 years and chose them as the custodians of Star Wars because of my great respect for the company and Bob Iger’s leadership. Disney is doing an incredible job of taking care and expanding the franchise “.
Lucas also went on to praise the mind-blowing success of the latest installment and thanked the film’s director, J.J Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasflilm and the brand manager for Star Wars for their efforts and hard work.
Despite the apology, it has to be said that it can’t be difficult to fathom the challenging position Lucas inhabits especially when he gets to witness the creative decimation of a saga that he once regulated without outside forces threatening his vision.
Now he has to contend with the fact that he no longer has any control and even worse, his input has no value – making it easy too discard, as was the case with this latest entry.
Lucas admits that after drafting his contribution for the film, his ideas were shunned in favor of a completely revised edition that was formulated to recruit new fans and keep the loyals.
“They looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans”. This forthrightness may be as a result of Lucas relinquishing his rights for the selling price of $4billion.
He goes on to assert the studio’s determination to move forward without his involvement, “They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing…They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway, but if I get in there, I’m just going to cause trouble, because they’re not going to do what I want them to do. And I don’t have control to do that anymore, and all I would is muck up everything up”.
Lucas also refers to the Star Wars franchise as his “kids” which is pretty accurate and probably best explains the torturous regimen the filmmaker has undergone during the very weird and belligerent process of watching another parent manipulate his offspring all in the name of global dominion and excess wealth.
Sure, the new installment exceeded all expectations and more than lived up to all the serenaded hype but at what expense?
Most critics argue that The Force Awakens borrows heavily from the original predecessors and fails to evoke the spirit and wonder of its founding father.
Either way, Lucas has always vocally accepted the fact that filmmaking today varies drastically from the era that ushered him in.
While speaking to The Guardian back in November, Lucas explained why he wasn’t interested in making another Star Wars movie, “You go to make a movie and all you do is get criticized, and people try to make decisions about what you’re going to do before you do it”. “And it’s not much fun. You can’t experiment. You have to do it a certain way. I don’t like that, I never did. I started out in experimental films and I want too go back to experimental films”.
Sounds like George Lucas sold his soul to the devil. The problem with that is it usually translates to forever unless the force is strong with the designated outcast.
Maybe the creator of the universe currently holding the world hostage can rewrite the future.
He did it before. He can again.