One of the pioneers of modern filmmaker, celebrated 82-year-old “Star Wars” director George Lucas, has shared his blunt takes on where movies are headed – takes bound to draw some controversy.
Speaking with the A Rabbit’s Foot publication in a rare interview, Lucas has given an extensive interview in which he touched upon a number of topics, including the use of A.I. in filmmaking.
Whereas much of the industry is pushing back against it, Lucas is very much embracing the technology:
“Artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies. It’s very much like sitting here saying, ‘Well, I believe the horse and the buggy is really where it’s at. These cars, they break down, they need gas, there’s all kinds of problems with them, and pretty soon they’ll be making them into tanks, and then they’ll be killing people. It’s terrible.’ There’s nothing you can do about it. That’s progress, it’s the future.
If you want AI that tells you when something is fake and where it came from, AI can do that. Humans can’t; we’re not that smart. The whole idea is you’re a human being, you’re responsible for what you say and what you do, and if you’re doing something that’s illegal, you should be punished for that. Whatever you do, you should be recognized. It’s just like real life.”
That’s not all though, as Lucas has also blasted studios for their overreliance on fan feedback and focus groups, indicating they are detrimental to the filmmaking process. He does, however, trust the opinions of his fellow filmmaker friends because he’s aware of their perspectives and biases:
“I had a group of friends I went to school with: [Martin] Scorsese, Francis [Ford Coppola], Steven [Spielberg]. We were all students at the same time, and we all know each other really well. I know what their prejudices are. When I show them a movie and they make comments, I know where they’re coming from.
I don’t like focus groups. The audience doesn’t know what they want to see. If they don’t like a character, that’s interesting, and as a filmmaker I want to find out why. But when the studios hear that, they take the wrong message. They let the audience actually make the movie.
Of course, now they go crazy with that. Now, it’s all about what the fans think. That isn’t how you make the movie. You make a movie by finding someone that knows how to make movies, that has a story to tell, and is passionate about it.”
Lucas himself has been on the receiving end of some brutal fan feedback for his “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, even as wider audience sentiment towards the prequels has gotten kinder over time. He touched upon that again here:
The critics and the fans who were 10 years old when they saw the first one and 13 when they saw the second one complained that they didn’t want to see a children’s film…’Oh, that’s terrible. Jar Jar Binks is terrible!’…Everyone said the same thing about R2-D2 and C-3PO.
At the beginning, there was a huge push for me to get rid of C-3PO, and then in the third one [“Return of the Jedi“] people said the same thing about Ewoks. ‘What are you thinking? Get rid of these teddy bears, we want to see an adult movie!’… Well, it’s a kid’s movie. It’s always been a kids’ movie.”
Lucas’ most recent screen effort was as an executive producer on “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” back in 2023. His last directorial effort was “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” back in 2005.
The comments come as the most recent “Star Wars” film, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” has finally set a digital release date with the title arriving on July 21st on PVOD platforms, followed by a 4K UHD disc release on August 25th.
