Whatever anyone thinks of the Star Wars prequels, the fact remains that George Lucas revolutionised cinema several times over, both in the realms of VFX and sound. He was a technology pioneer. Now, at 82 years old and a billionaire after selling the company he founded from scratch, he has given a very rare interview.
Speaking to A Rabbit’s Foot, he leaned directly into a controversial technology.
Lucas was absolutely clear where he stands on it:
“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.”
Following up one opinion that is likely to be hugely unpopular in Hollywood with another, he then said that a bias towards fan feedback and focus groups by the big studios is really not a good thing for the filmmaking process:
“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 knows all about harsh fan feedback after those Star Wars prequels. Speaking of them, he says:
“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.”
He finished by saying:
“Well, it’s a kid’s movie. It’s always been a kids’ movie.”
I love it when people get so old they simply don’t give a f*ck and say exactly what they are thinking. Like when my Grandad talked about the Japanese.
