ROTTEN TOMATOES: Lucas Talks With Time About "Star Wars" Series

Lucas Talks With Time About "Star Wars" Series

by Scott Weinberg | March 16, 2006

Time Magazine recently had a rather interesting sit-down with mega-successful moviemaker George Lucas, and topics included the next Indiana Jones epic, "day & date" release patterns, 2D vs. 3D, and, of course, the upcoming "Star Wars" TV series.

Regarding "Indy 4"

R.C. If you’re retired, I guess you'll be less involved with an "Indiana Jones 4" than you were in the first three?

G.L. Well, I've been working on Indy 4 for ten years. So I've been more involved, so no matter how you count it on this one I'll be more involved than I'll have ever been on the other three put together. It's taken forever to get a script of it. That's my part of it.

R.C. Isn't Harrison Ford now older than Sean Connery was when he played his father in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?"

G.L. Uhh, yeah. But the thing is designed for that. And I think it's funny, it's exciting. You know the problem there, which is not a problem, is that we don't have to make that movie. All we can do is hurt ourselves, all it's going to do is get criticized. I mean it's basically "Phantom Menace" we're making. No matter how you do it, no matter what you do, it won't be what the other ones were in terms of the impact or the way people remember them.

R.C. But there's also no need to complete the holes in the epic.

G.L. We don't have anything like that. We just had a great time making those movies. And if we can have a great time doing this one and we can enjoy ourselves, and make something that's entertaining to us, no matter what the world thinks, let's just do it.

Regarding the "Star Wars" series:

R.C.Do you think audiences are so technically sophisticated now that they know the difference between formats? Virtually every CGI animated feature has been a much bigger hit than any non-CGI over the last ten years. Is that just a coincidence or a better story?

G.L.What happened with Pixar is they made brilliantly creative movies, but they looked different. They had a different quality about them than on television, than Rugrats. When you see a 3D movie, you assume it's a higher-quality movie and it's something you don't see on television. Now the television show I'm working on, the "Star Wars" television show, is 3D.

R.C.When you said you were going to do Star Wars in 3D, do you mean in the old-fashioned 3D?

G.L.Yeah, with glasses and everything.

For more banter between Richard Corliss and George Lucas, head on over to the interview at Time Magazine's website.

Related Items

Movie:	The Star Wars Holiday Special
	Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
	Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
	Return of the Jedi
	Raiders of the Lost Ark
	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
	The Empire Strikes Back
	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
	Star Wars - Clone Wars: Vol. 1
Celeb:	George Lucas
	Harrison Ford
	Sean Connery

(1-20 of 25 posts) | Reply

cabezone writes:
on Mar 16 2006 12:03 PM

[b]and....[/b]
It'll suck just as much as I, II, and III. Not because our expectations are wrong as he suggests, but because he is an awful storyteller.

(Reply to this)

sneppo writes:
on Mar 16 2006 02:34 PM

And his characters are always whiny little bitches.

(Reply to this)

Skeptic44 writes:
on Mar 16 2006 03:15 PM

Hold on for the TV show.

I promise you, the TV show is going to be different.

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Mar 16 2006 03:17 PM

Yes, but I seriously doubt he'll be that involved in the stories on the television series. He'll lay out the basics and let TV writers do the rest.

(Reply to this)

rockstarfrank writes:
on Mar 16 2006 03:20 PM

3-D...ha, haha, hahahaha,hahahahahahahahhahahahaha, ha, hahahahaha, hahaha...haha...oh boy

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rockstarfrank writes:
on Mar 16 2006 03:22 PM

"I mean it's basically "Phantom Menace" we're making. No matter how you do it, no matter what you do, it won't be what the other ones were in terms of the impact or the way people remember them."

no comment needed

(Reply to this)

rockstarfrank writes:
on Mar 16 2006 03:23 PM

Do you think Jar Jar will be in the new Indiana Jones movie? We need more movies with Jar Jar

(Reply to this)

UselessRob writes:
on Mar 16 2006 05:29 PM

I wonder how much he'll charge people to buy the official Star Wars 3D glasses? He's an expert and sucking as much cash out of his fans as possible.

(Reply to this)

RDawg5555 writes:
on Mar 16 2006 09:44 PM

I and II (which II proves that Lucas has never been laid in his life if he thinks those corny love lines will work) were God aweful, but III was a true Star Wars film, not just a piece of crap to make money. But the TV series will be worse than the 1st 2 films, especially since Yoda and Obi Wan (the only 2 surviving Jedi) are in hiding.

(Reply to this)

Callpacas writes:
on Mar 17 2006 12:56 AM

i wan LEGO STAR WARS on tv.Dun deny how fun the game was.

(Reply to this)

Ashron writes:
on Mar 17 2006 05:55 AM

In reply to this comment (#832346)
But he's right. I mean, Phantom Menace sucked, but nothing he came out with would have compared favorably. And as much as we hate to admit it, there are some people out there who liked Phantom. As for Indiana Jones, it has two things going for it.

1. Lucas didn't write the script
2. Lucas isn''t directing

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CKCSWHFFAN writes:
on Mar 17 2006 06:59 AM

[b]3D not needed[/b]
I liked the 97 Special editions.
I did NOT care for the additional changes done to the original Star Wars trilogy for the 2004 DVD release.

I do NOT believe we need to do all 6 films in 3D

Remember, knowing George, HOW many more times will all 6 films be rereleased on DVD.

Indy 4 SHOULD have been done years ago.

These excuses for the delay I think all fans are sick & tired of.

(Reply to this)

General Patton writes:
on Mar 17 2006 08:59 AM

[b]Don't know about 3D[/b]
I'm one of those people - I thought 'Menace' was fun. Still, I can see the qualities that made others hate it. (I will offer no defense of II and it's love scenes) GL is right with that 'Menace' comment though, it wasn't going to be accepted universally no matter what. I mean look at 'Sith' - that was as good as it was going to get- and it still couldn't live up to some people's idea of the originals.

This whole 3D thing makes me skeptical. Uhh... I'm going to sit around in my living room:

"Honey, what do you mean the dog ate my 3D glasses? My show's about to come on!"

(Reply to this)

cabezone writes:
on Mar 17 2006 11:32 AM

In reply to this comment (#832353)
Saying that "Sith was as good as it was going to get" is pretty sad to me. George had the resources to hire any writer he wanted to write good lines and spned any amount of money to get a great Anakin. Unfortunatly he thinks of himself as a great writer and storyteller so he did it all himself for the most part. I didn't have a problem with the storyline as a whole, cept for the midichloriens and Jar Jar, he needed someone to come in and write the lines for him.

The only reason Sith seemed betetr than the first two was that the terrible writing was buiried by a ton of action scenes.

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puablo writes:
on Mar 17 2006 11:58 AM

[b]Indy could be good[/b]
The Star Wars TV show could be good if Lucas doesn't write it, but it probably won't be good... and the 3D concept is a joke.

But Indy? I'm as wary as the next guy but if you think about it, the big delay is that Ford, Spielberg, and Lucas never liked any of the scripts, and Lucas' involvement thus far has not been in writing the screenplay, just approving (or in most case, disapproving) it. The positive in all of this is, since when did any force in Hollywood have this much restraint? Better to make it right then to shove out crap.

Of course, if the movie sucks, it will just a a double letdown.

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General Patton writes:
on Mar 17 2006 02:41 PM

I agree that Lawrence Kasdan's services were much needed for the prequels, and few know how close it came to being a reality. From what Lucas has said in the past, LK agreed in principal to 'Episode I' but for some reason or another it didn't work out, I've only seen vague details as to why. (Arggh!!)

The good news is Kasdan is supposedly involved with 'Indy 4.'

I meant as 'good as it gets' as a compliment for SITH. I thought it was great. A few bad lines aside, much of the II dilemma was solved and HC was soooo much better. The script was partly ghost written by - ehh I forget his name, Tom something? - so Lucas had less involvement writing than with CLONES. I disagree that the writing was bad - the story flowed better than probably any SW film thus far. (Even if it doesn't touch EMPIRE overall)

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Ashron writes:
on Mar 17 2006 02:56 PM

In reply to this comment (#832353)
I think he meant the movies are going to be in 3D, not the TV show. I have to admit I'll be interested in seeing the films in 3D, if only because of the technology they'll use to pull it off. Shoot, I wish more movies were in 3D, because when it's done right it's really cool.

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lavatory love machine writes:
on Mar 17 2006 11:08 PM

I dont have much faith for lawrence kasdan after the disaster of dreamcatcher that he adapted and directed

if lucas had asked josh weddon to write a scrypt for the phantom menace, based on the same storyline, it would have been brilliant

ROTK had the same preassure to please fans that the phantom menace, but surpased all expectations and it was better than it's predecesors

and the same thing can be said about the empire strikes back, it was the sequel to the most succesful movie of all time, and turned out to be be on of the best movies of all time

your excuses are pathetic, george

(Reply to this)

General Patton writes:
on Mar 18 2006 11:25 PM

In reply to this comment (#832358)
lavatory,

One can easily appreciate your wonderful understanding of the concept of timing. Saying that ROTK had as much pressure after an 11-month layoff as Phantom Menace had after 16 years is ridiculous. There's no question ROTK is the better film, but that is just not a true statement.

'Empire' came along at a time when all sequels were endless piles of garbage. No one expected it to be anything more than 'Star Wars II' and be a gigantic pile of shitte.

That was WEAK.

(Reply to this)

Paulie-X writes:
on Mar 19 2006 06:19 PM

In reply to this comment (#832359)
[b]Stop it Patton.[/b]
Stop defending Lucas to high heaven everywhere Patton. It's quite tired now. The interview proves that Lucas is trying to get the jump on critical viewers with his " It's like phantom menace" comment. Now when the TV show comes out and the shite hits the fan.. He'll say "those people expected too much" or something similar.

He's just covering his butt.

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