As fans continue to squabble over “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and what it has done for the legacy of the franchise, there’s no better time to head back to 1977, just after the original “Star Wars” had landed in cinemas. The creator and eventual godfather of the series for decades to come, it’s easy to forget that George Lucas was a mere 33 years old when the first film came out. Beyond making what would become a spectacular blockbuster smash, ushering in a new era at the multiplex, while also delivering groundbreaking special effects, Lucas’ vision and confidence from the start is remarkable.
Rolling Stone has their full August 25, 1977 interview with Lucas online, who was then basking in early success of “Star Wars.” For the filmmaker, he viewed the movie as a means to an end, with the merchandising money as an avenue for him to go off and make more experimental cinema without having worry about the financial consequences.
“The film is a success and I think the sequels will be a success. I want to be able to have a store where I can sell all the great things that I want. I’m also a diabetic and can’t eat sugar and I want to have a little store that sells good hamburgers and sugarless ice cream because all the people who can’t eat sugar deserve it. You need the time just to be able to retire and do those things, and you need to have an income,” Lucas explained. ” [The ‘Star Wars’ money] will be seed money to try to develop a store and do the other things that I want to do. I’ve made what I consider the most conventional kind of movie I can possibly make. I’ve learned my craft in the classic entertainment sense as well as I think I can learn it. What I want to do now is take my craft in the other direction, which is telling stories without plots and creating emotions without understanding what is going on in terms of purely visual and sound relationships. I think there is a whole world of film there that has never been explored. People have gotten so locked into the story film – the novel and the play have such a strong influence over film that it has sort of become the weak sister. And if the films work, I will try to get them out and get them distributed by whoever would be daring enough to pick them up. Maybe they will be entertaining, it’s hard to know at this point. It is in an area that I have absolutely no way of knowing what would happen and that is what excites me. And I have reached the point now that I can say, well, I am retiring. Because I really can retire now.”
Of course, in retrospect, it’s amusing to hear Lucas talk about retirement, not only in that he would go on to be the franchise guardian for decades to come, but also launch the massively successful “Indiana Jones” series, and then return to helm the “Star Wars” prequels. As for those unconventional movies, it was something he talked again about doing following the multi-billion dollar sale of Lucasfilm to Disney.
What became of those smaller aspirations, we don’t know, but nonetheless, Lucas originally had one foot out the door with “Star Wars,” and even enthusiastically talked about having other directors tackle his movies. It’s an attitude that’s a decided break from what would be become a reputation for excessive control over the “Star Wars” films, and his unending tinkering with their special effects.
“….it would be interesting. I would want to try and get some good directors, and see what their interpretation of the theme is,” Lucas said. “I think it will be interesting, it is like taking a theme in film school, say, okay, everybody do their interpretation of this theme. It’s an interesting idea to see how people interpret the genre. It is a fun genre to play with. All the prototype stuff is done now. Nobody has to worry about what a Wookiee is and what it does and how it reacts. Wookies are there, the people are there, the environment is there, the empire is there… everything is there. And now people will start building on it. I’ve put up the concrete slab of the walls and now everybody can have fun drawing the pictures and putting on the little gargoyles and doing all the really fun stuff. And it’s a competition. I’m hoping if I get friends of mine they will want to do a much better film, like, ‘I’ll show George that I can do a film twice that good,’ and I think they can, but then I want to do the last one, so I can do one twice as good as everybody else. [Laughs]”
For all of those crying foul about what Rian Johnson did or didn’t do to their series, Lucas words are a reminder that he also was curious to see where the “Star Wars” stories could go in the hands of other people. Of course, that would change in years to come.
Now that “Star Wars” is a massive, brand machine, the magic of the series is often overlooked as much of the conversation is always about the business of the franchise. But Lucas’ closing words in the interview about his ultimate legacy of “Star Wars” might leave a lump in your throat.
“I’m hoping that if the film accomplishes anything, it takes some ten-year-old kid and turns him on so much to outer space and the possibilities of romance and adventure. Not so much an influence that would create more Wernher von Brauns or Einsteins, but just infusing them into serious exploration of outer space and convincing them that it’s important. Not for any rational reason, but a totally irrational and romantic reason,” he said. “I would feel very good if someday they colonize Mars when I am 93 years old or whatever, and the leader of the first colony says: ‘I really did it because I was hoping there would be a Wookiee up here.’ ”
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is now playing everywhere.