Did George do it for the money?

i was suprised to learn that the prequels were made, in an interview with lucas, so he could make his 'arty' films for the next 20 years and not worry about them making money. do you think that was a good reason to make them?

 

George made the films because he wanted to.The man was loaded already before he made ep 1.

 

Probably no.

 

Actually, I think he did do it alittle for the money, but who can blame him. In an interview with Charlie Rose last September, he said he had to make a decision in the early 90's. In the 80's, he had gone through a divorce and it took him many years after that to break even as a company. He said he could do the prequels, and that would be the safe bet to make money and give him the freedom to do whatever he wants after that. By now making so much money off the prequels, no studio will ever have to dictate to him what to do.

I was suprised how candid he was about this subject. I believe in his mind he wanted to do the prequels, because he loves Star Wars, plus the financial gain from it would be astronomical. To me it was a no-brainer. I was suprised that Lucasfilm was not as profitable in the late 80's/early 90's as Lucas said it was. The prequels definitely have given the Lucas Empire the financial security for a long time.

You can never get into someones head, so I am just specualting, but I do think it was several factors other than money: Love of the series, Star Wars was his baby, and that the technology had evolved so much he was giddy about doing a trilogy that he could execute anything on screen. But there is no doubt money was definitely a factor.

 

Come on, now.

 

No.

 

No, a lot of SW fans wanted a PT, largely for what happened in ep 3

 

No, he did it all for the Wookiee.

 

No.

 

If he did it for the money, he wouldn't invest in new technology (something he did.) If he truly was in it for profits, then he would do it with models and puppets. Instead he chose to pioneer new technology which was a major risk. So he didn't do this for the money, you are taking his quote out of context.

-Seldon

 

^agreed completely. I'd like to add, judging from how many people watch Star Wars only for the action scenes, he could have made this money a lot more easily than spending an awful amount of time and effort in creating all those cross-references, forward- and backward-continuities, citations of classical movies, symbolisms and references to all kinds of religions and mythology. After all, it seems that at least 90 percent of the viewers don't even notice half of what he put into it.

 

no. he did it for the girls.

 

Did he do it for the money? Mais bien sur!

 

and if he did it for the money? so what.
Why do I go to work very day? To make people happy, of course.
If Lucas can make 3 films that will set him up for life, then I'm fine with it.

 

really seldon sid it pretty well. the real reason he made the pt was to present new tecnology. to reestablish his team as the frontrunners in this game of making movies. and he was able to showcase this new tecnology in a format that EVERYBODY would go and see. sure he wanted to make money. but don't we all. even buddist monks ask for money.

 

If he did it for the money, he probably would'nt have that enourmous chin. Because God knows, I woulda gotten rid of that thing years ago.

My guess is this: Poonani.

 

No, he didn't.

 

That isn't exactly what I said.
I said if he wanted to do it for the money, he wouldn't invest in new and risky technology. CGI costs a lot of money, he could do the films in a much cheaper, and older way. The fact that he didn't, is a support for why he wasn't only interested in money.

While he wanted to improve technology, I don't believe that was his only reason for making the prequels. Part of it is the need to tell the backstory. For love of the story and the fans.

-Seldon

 

Where did he say that?

As far as I know, he said that, now with the PT done, he can make arty films for the rest of his life and not worry about them making money.

 

Exactly!
mynameismyown has taken the quote out of context.

-Seldon

 

and I agree with you. but your point about the tecnology was dead on. keep in mind he did have other motivations in making these films. yeas he did it for the fans. but he really did it to continue the develpoment of new tecnologies. to prove that a movie can be made in your own home reletivly inexpensivly. sure the budgets are staggering on these films. but the tecnology he is employing is going to be less expensive then traditional filmmaking.

what the pt represents to me is a turning point in filmmaking. if you can imagine it you can put it on the screen. writers, producers, directors are no longer limited to what they can see and feel. look at what robert rodregriez did with sin city. he is taking lucas innovations to the next level. the invention of his digital camera. is far more signiffigent then most give him credit for. this is a camera that never runsout of film but aactually has the look of film. anybody that works with both will usually tell you they can see a difference. but with this camera the differences are that it is more detailed then film.

the pt changed the way a film can be shot. and edited. this will have profound effects on future filmmakers. I love the scene on mustafar anakin and obi wan are both facing the camera, mediem shot of anakin, obi wan stands furter away, behind anakin. both are in perfect focus. before this there would have been a line down the center of the film, where it was cut, look at a lot of scorsase films or oliver stone films, mostly ones shot by robert richardson. lots of duel focus. but in ROTS there are tons of shots like this where everything is in focus. it gives everything a lush background. feels more real. thats just one aspect.

 

Dude, Lucas was filthy rich after the originals. This is really a ridculous thread. He did it for the fans. He did for his own gratification. He had a story from the beginning so he wanted to finish it. In his view, it is all one movie, not six.

 

Yeah, he really was filthy rich. I mean he bought Skywalker Ranch just after his earnings for A New Hope. Multiply that by 3, and there really is no need for MORE money. He did it because he felt compelled to, for the fans and for himself. Simple as that.

MOD EDIT: Let's keep it clean.

 

and he lost a lot of that money in his divorce. hence all the stuff about non attachment. it applys to people, things, and money.



but I agree he did not do it for the money. but I don't fool my self into thinking he did it just for the fans.

 

I still think he should get a chin or three removed.