One person who is positively grumpy about "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is George Lucas. Even though he’s $4 billion dollars richer having sold Lucasfilm to Disney, earlier this week he explained that he walked away from the franchise due to the constant outside criticism he received, and the inability to be experimental with the form. Now, in a new chat with CBS This Morning, the director shifts gears a bit, and says that once Disney decided not to use his treatments for the sequels, he decided to step away.
"The issue was ultimately that they looked at the stories and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans,’" Lucas said. "People don’t actually realize it’s actually a soap opera and it’s all about family problems – it’s not about spaceships. So they decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing so I decided, ‘fine…. I’ll go my way and I let them go their way.’"
It’s a bit amusing to hear Lucas describe the "Star Wars" saga as a soap opera — and certainly it has elements of melodrama and tragedy — when he’s the one who spent years adding even more spaceships to battle scenes in the original trilogy, and digitally enhancing the explosions. And if Lucas sounds like a spurned lover, it’s not a surprise.
The filmmaker describes his exit from "Star Wars" as a "break up," adding, "You just say ‘Nope, gone, history, I’m moving forward.’"
If there’s one empty seat on December 18th at your local multiplex, it might be the one someone was saving for George Lucas.
Well, he attended the premier.
George is an experimental filmmaker, narrative has never been his forte. Star Wars was made purely to make some money and experiment with visual storytelling, the narrative of the films (all the films) is that of soap opera.
It\’s easy for anyone to criticize the creator when you\’re not in the arena, and you\’re not the ONE who made it all a reality. When you grow older health problems become the reality and when you have arguably the most successful franchise in history, and no one that would be able to move it forward after you, his decision to sell it to Disney became his best decision. After calling all the shots, I can just imagine how he feels, now being distanced from it all. It\’s not about the money when you build an empire that strikes back and there\’s nowhere to go but empty space. One can only imagine how lonely that is.
I wish George all the best for giving the world his best, and now making it possible for us all to move forward from his vision to all the possibilities that can only come from out there.
Also, Lucas is right. From the comments above, the public turns on you on a dime.
And yet, people who like great drama along with their movie will pan Starwars if there isn\’t enough human conflict in it. If not, it\’s going to be another Mockingjay, PT. 1 and especially part 2. You might find that the ever homogenizing Disney might be another cowardly Lion\’s Gate. I wouldn\’t be surprised the way Hollywood is today.
Well, now \’the fans\’ have the director they deserve. Enjoy.
His comments are ridiculous. Ok buddy…. you\’re complaining that its a soap opera, when you billed it for the first 20 years of it\’s existence as a "space opera".
It always amuses me to hear people cheering because Lucas isn\’t involved with the sequels. It\’s like, "Yeah! We lost the rudder!"
The franchise is a soap opera, it\’s now about space ships. That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard him say. Yo George your soap opera had space ships in it, allot of space ships. and to call it a soap opera is a little offensive to me, I have seen a soap opera or two on day time television and they SUCK! Get a grip man and take some of that money you got from Disney and go on a long vacation.
Funny coming for the guy that is obsessed with adding for CGI in play of an actual story.
Poor George.. He is just super bitter that JJ is taking Star Wars and making it bigger than it has ever been before!
George Lucas is a visionary storyteller, and to his point I don\’t blame him for stepping away from it. Critics are like Paparazzi they can tarnish your image, get under your skin and can devour you emotionally. Its Georges creation and world, and what he made is what it is. Critics/Fans got to him, and he lost his will to keep trying to make everyone happy.
Lucas is also trying to defend bad storytelling by saying that it\’s "experimental" now that most people realize that the prequels failed on every level (characters, story, tone).
That\’s a lame excuse, a film isn\’t "experimental" just because it makes no sense.
YEah… and like most soap operas…. the dialogue got reeeeeally stupid, the acting was horrible, and the writing was just plain awful in a few episodes. Unfortunately… all 3 of the prequels fall into that category.
Soap opera= way to settle personal scores through public shaming. Nobody cares who you like or don\’t like Lucas. Take your money and leave.
He makes it sound like he just walked away from the franchise. It\’s hard to argue with the direction Disney wants to go in when they handed you $4billion, isn\’t it George?
The prequels have nearly 0 family problems and tons of cg stirmtroopers, chrome reflective ships, and weird battle sequences. I really really hate to say this, but sometimes people get old and dumb. 🙁
Can\’t wait for "SadGeorgeLucas" meme to replace "SadKeanu"
He also responded to criticism by saying that the prequels are films for children, which didn\’t make much sense because there was a lot of brutal violence and dull converstations. The man cleary doesn\’t have any idea of what kind of films he was making.