George Lucas / George Lucas / Biography and filmography

Biography

The world's richest director, George Lucas, is known to film fans for creating cult franchises. The science fiction saga “Star Wars” and the adventure films about Indiana Jones brought Lucas worldwide fame.

George Lucas in 2017

After the release of Star Wars, the director's name was associated with the characters of the saga - Jedi, Sith, Ewoks. George Lucas turned out to be the creator of an entire universe that lives according to its own laws. But the director, screenwriter and producer have a huge number of other projects in the genre of adventure fiction that are worthy of attention.

"Star Wars" and the further professional career of George Lucas

The success of the film "American Graffiti" created a good reputation for George Lucas in the film community and allowed him to take work seriously on a new large-scale project. In 1974, the long work on the script was completed. The new project was called “Star Wars”, but it was still far from being realized. The thing is that at that time films in the science fiction genre were still very rare for Hollywood. Prominent studios, one after another, refused to take on the implementation of the script, naively believing that “this” would not be of interest to anyone.

Cinema, which was going through hard times at that moment, became a kind of salvation for Lucas. Work on the film began in 1977. It is quite remarkable that George Lucas completely waived his salary in exchange for forty percent of future box office receipts (which, however, might not have happened).

However, the director was right. The first part of the world-famous saga “Star Wars: A New Hope” became a worldwide sensation, recouping the initial budget of $11 million more than 70 (!) times. The picture received six Oscar statuettes, and instantly made Lucas a Hollywood legend.

The film provided its author with a comfortable life and complete freedom of creativity. George Lucas about the new Star Wars. That is why it seems very strange that Lucas would return to the director’s path only after 22 years. From 1977 to 1999, he worked as a producer and screenwriter, creating such popular films as “Star Wars” (episodes 5 and 6), “Beverly Hills Cop”, “Indiana Jones”, “The Land Before Time” . In 1999, as a director, Lucas began working on new episodes of the legendary Star Wars. Between 1999 and 2005, three new episodes of the popular saga will be released, each of which will be personally directed by George Lucas.

In 2013, rumors about the filming of a new series of the epic began to circulate in the press.

Childhood and youth

The master of science fiction bestsellers was born in the city of Modesto, in the heart of California. The parents of the future star of the American film industry had nothing to do with the world of cinema or any other form of art. Mom is a housewife, father is the owner of a stationery store.

In childhood and early adolescence, George was interested in technology. The boy tirelessly soldered, twisted, and tinkered, trying to invent a new machine or installation. Looking ahead, let's say that Lucas embodied his young self in the “star” character Anakin Skywalker.

George Lucas in his youth

As a teenager, George Lucas did not dream of cinema at all. The guy was fascinated by motorsports and racing; Joe dreamed of devoting himself to the speedway. The teenager spent his free time driving around the underground circle of the trade fair center. But shortly before graduation, he got into an accident that almost took George’s life: the young racer’s car was rammed by another car. Multiple injuries and near death discouraged the desire to race at super speeds.

In search of himself, George Lucas went to a local college, where he studied anthropology, sociology and literature. There came a passion for cinema. In 1967, Lucas was awarded a diploma from the University of Southern California, where the future director studied filmmaking.

George Lucas's first steps in cinematography

In the mid-sixties, George Lucas entered the film school at the University of Southern California. It was during this period that he made his debut as a director and screenwriter, filming a number of short films. His most notable work of this period is the film “Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB”, created in the dystopian genre and telling about human civilization under the control of intelligent machines.

George Lucas in his youth The film was released in 1967 and brought the young director his first awards (win at the National Student Film Festival). However, this was not the main prize for Lucas. As a kind of reward, Warner Brothers gave the young author the opportunity to observe the process of creating one of his paintings. By a happy coincidence, this was the film “Finian’s Rainbow” by Francis Ford Coppola.

The two young directors quickly found a common language and became friends. In 1969, Coppola and Lucas jointly created their own film studio, American Zoetrope. It was here that a full-length version of the film “THX-1138” would be filmed a year later. The film was not a great commercial success, but among film connoisseurs it is still considered one of the classic works in the science fiction genre.

After this, the creative paths of the two directors diverged for a while. Coppola began filming The Godfather, and Lucas began filming a youth comedy called American Graffiti. It is very noteworthy that it was with this film that George was first nominated for an Oscar (in five nominations at once), and also received a Golden Globe.

George Lucas - creator of Star Wars

Movies

A cinematic biography of George Lucas started in his student days: the aspiring director shot a documentary short about race car driver Pete Brock, called “1:42:08: A Man and His Car.” The plot was inspired by Lucas' youthful passion for auto racing. Another documentary is “Freedom,” a short film about a student from the GDR.

Young director George Lucas

But the director felt his first success when he presented the 15-minute film “Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB,” which brought the creator a prize at a US student film competition and a scholarship from Warner Brothers. The company gave Lucas the opportunity to participate in the filming of the chosen project. George Lucas pointed to Francis Ford Coppola's Finian's Rainbow. This is how the aspiring director met the legend of the Hollywood film industry.

The collaboration with Coppola continued in 1971, when Lucas took on his debut feature project, THX 1138, which was based on the director's award-winning student short film. The master produced the dystopian drama of his young colleague, but the joint work was not crowned with commercial success: the film grossed $2 million, which is not much by Hollywood standards. But over time, THX 1138 became a cult film.

The following year, George Lucas became a co-director and assistant editor during Coppola's creation of the cult drama The Godfather, having the opportunity to improve his skills and learn from the master's experience.

George Lucas heeded the master's advice and made the next film with an eye to commercial success. The comedy "American Graffiti", the script of which George wrote in the company of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, is an easy and understandable film in which the director used the events of his own biography.

Directed by George Lucas

The director entrusted the main roles to Oscar-winners Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Charles Martin Smith. The supporting role went to newcomer Harrison Ford, for whom the project opened the door to a stellar career.

American Graffiti was produced by Francis Ford Coppola. This time, George Lucas got a taste of fame: the comedy received resounding success among viewers and film critics. With a budget of $775 thousand, it grossed $115 million. The brainchild of George Lucas was nominated for 5 Oscars, awarded 2 Golden Globes and a Bronze Leopard.

George Lucas on the set of the Star Wars saga

In 1977, George Lucas again found himself on the crest of success with the space opera Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope." Lucas directed, wrote and executive produced the project. The filmmaker also took care of the editing and musical arrangement. Lucas entrusted the main roles in the saga to Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

In 1981, George Lucas became the author of the story and producer of the adventure film Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford starred in the title role.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg

For the next 20 years, George Lucas, who became a Hollywood legend after Star Wars, did not direct. Towards the end of the 1970s, he wrote the script for the 5th episode of the “star” saga and acted as its producer. In the mid-1980s, Lucas produced 2 more Indiana Jones films and wrote the script for the 6th episode of the space saga.

At this time, George Lucas developed the Skywalker Ranch, which became a kind of Silicon Valley of Hollywood. The ranch housed the creative, technical and administrative resources of the film company founded by George, who worked on the projects of the founder and other directors.

"Skywalker Ranch" by George Lucas

In the 1980s, George Lucas became the producer of the cartoons Star Wars: Droids and Star Wars. Ewoks." At Coppola’s suggestion, Lucas acted as a producer for his musical-space film “Captain Io,” and 2 years later he wrote the script and became the producer of Francis Ford Coppola’s biographical drama called “Tucker: The Man and His Dream.”

In 1992, George Lucas released the Star Wars trilogy. The books have become bestsellers and are selling in record numbers. In the late 1990s, the master pleased fans with the announcement of the release of prequels to Star Wars. New episodes appeared in 1999, 2002 and 2005. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith grossed $50 million on its first day of release.

In 2008, Indiana Jones fans saw new adventures of the hero - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. George Lucas became the author of the story and producer of the project. In 2020, the 7th Star Wars franchise premiered, titled The Force Awakens, directed by J. J. Abrams. George Lucas acted as a consultant on the project.

George Lucas and Carrie Fisher

In December 2020, the bright star of the space saga, 60-year-old Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, passed away. George Lucas responded to the actress's death by saying that he had been friends with Carrie for most of his adult life.

“We will all miss her,” Lucas added.

Forbes magazine estimated George Lucas's wealth at $4.9 billion. The director took 295th place in the ranking of America's richest people. In 2014, according to the Forbes rating, he was one of the three most influential stars in the world.

George LucasGeorge Walton Lucas Jr

American film director. Screenwriter. Producer. Editor. Operator. Entrepreneur. Philanthropist. Founder of the film companies American Zoetrope, Lucasfilm Ltd and Pixar. He is best known as the creator of two cult franchises: the science fiction saga Star Wars and the Indiana Jones series of adventure films.

George Lucas was born on May 14, 1944 in Modesto, USA. In childhood and early youth I was interested in technology. The boy tirelessly soldered, twisted, and tinkered, trying to invent a new machine or installation. As a teenager, I became interested in motorsports and racing. He spent most of his student years in the underground circle at the trade fair center and in garages. In 1962 he had an accident, almost died as a result, after which he completely lost interest in his racing career. He attended Modesto Junior College, where he studied anthropology, sociology, and literature, among other subjects.

During his student years and some time after graduation, Lucas made his first short films, mainly in the visual poem and documentary genres. A total of 10 such films were released. The most famous work of that period was the fifteen-minute film “Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB”, which was a success at the student film festival. Subsequently, this film formed the basis of the first full-length film “THX 1138”, which was released in 1970. The film was created with the production participation of Francis Ford Coppola. However, after its release it did not become commercially successful and collected only 2 million at the box office. In 1971, he directed an eight-minute short film about the making of the film Bald: The Making of THX 1138.

After the commercial failure of THX 1138, Coppola convinced Lucas to make a light film aimed at commercial success and that would be understandable to a wide audience. As a result, together with Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, he wrote the script for the semi-autobiographical comedy film American Graffiti, which tells the story of the last night of several teenagers before the start of their adult lives. The film was a resounding critical and commercial success. Received two Golden Globes and was nominated for five Oscars.

George Lucas had long planned to film a heroic space fantasy in the style of science fiction comics, film series and pulp novels. In Cannes, he signed a contract with the United Artists studio to shoot the film “Star Wars”, and later the name “The Star Wars” was registered with the Motion Picture Association of America. In 1973 he began writing the script. The first film, originally released under the title simply "Star Wars", was a huge box office success. From the very beginning, a hallmark of the Star Wars franchise was the mass production of related products, such as plastic figurines of characters, technical equipment from the films and other toys, and T-shirts with the symbols of the film. Successful marketing efforts made it possible to maintain a high level of public interest in Star Wars between film releases.

After the release of the first Star Wars, Lucas worked extensively as a writer and producer on sequels and spin-offs of his space saga, as well as on a number of other projects. One of them was the Indiana Jones films. In parallel with the first Star Wars, in 1973 he wrote the script for The Adventures of Indiana Smith. At the end of May 1977, while vacationing in Hawaii, he met with his friend Steven Spielberg and demonstrated the work of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Spielberg was impressed and insisted that the character's last name be changed to "Jones". As a result, the script for the first film was written. Harrison Ford, who had already played the role of Han Solo in the space saga, was chosen to play the leading role.

In November, George Lucas began writing the second Star Wars film. It was during this period that he merged the characters of Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker into one person, and also began to vaguely develop prequels. The second film became known as Star Wars. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back." He entrusted the direction to his former teacher Irvin Kershner. The film was a commercial success but was poorly received critically at the time of its release. Only over time, the opinion of critics changed to the diametrically opposite and the film began to be considered perhaps the best in the Saga. A year after the release of Empire, the first Indiana Jones film was released. Unlike the Second Wars, at the time of its release it had critical acclaim and was an undoubted success with viewers. In the mid-1980s, he produced two more films about Indiana Jones and wrote the script for episode VI of the space saga.

George Lucas became the producer of the cartoons “Star Wars: Droids” and “Star Wars. Ewoks." At Coppola’s suggestion, he acted as a producer of his musical-space film “Captain Io,” and two years later he wrote the script and became a producer of the biographical drama by Francis Ford Coppola called “Tucker: The Man and His Dream.” In 1992 he released the Star Wars trilogy. The books have become bestsellers and are selling in record numbers. At the end of the 1990s, the master pleased fans with the announcement of the release of prequels to Star Wars. New episodes appeared in 1999, 2002 and 2005.

In 2008, Indiana Jones fans saw new adventures of the hero - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Lucas became the author of the story and producer of the project. In 2020, the seventh Star Wars franchise premiered, entitled The Force Awakens, where the famous director acted as a consultant on the project.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be released in 2020. Sunrise,” for which Lucas wrote the script. The fifth part of the film about the archaeologist Indiana Jones is planned for 2021, where the famous director will act as a producer and screenwriter.

George Lucas Awards

Evening Standard British Film Award - 1978 Two Saturn Awards - 1978 Hugo Award - 1980, 1983, 1990 Golden Raspberry - 2002 BAFTA - 2002 Empire Award - 2005 African-American Film Critics Association - 2011

Filmography of George Lucas

Director 2005- Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith Watch 2002 - Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones Watch 1999 - Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace Watch 1977 - Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope Watch

Actor 1995 - History of American Cinema from Martin Scorsese

Producer 2021 - Indiana Jones 5 2020 - Strange Charms 2012 - Red Tails 2008 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2008 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2008 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 2005 - Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith 2002 - Star Wars : Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones 1999 - Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace 1989 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1988 - Willow 1988 - The Land Before Time 1986 - Labyrinth Watch 1984 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1983 - Star Wars: Episode 6 - Return of the Jedi 1981 - Body Heat 1981 - Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark 1980 - Star Wars: Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back 1979 - American Graffiti Again (New American Graffiti) 1977 - Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope

Writer 2021 - Indiana Jones 5 2020 - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Sunrise 2020 - Han Solo: A Star Wars Story. Stories and Extras 2020 -Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2020 -Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Stories and Extras 2020 -Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Bonus Edition) 2015 -Strange Enchantment 2020 -Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2014 -Star Wars Rebels 2008 -Star Wars: The Clone Wars 2008 -Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 2005 -Star Wars wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith 2002 -Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones 1999 -Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace 1989 -Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1988 -Willow Watch online 1984 -Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1983 -Star Wars wars: Episode 6 - Return of the Jedi 1981 -Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark 1980 -Star Wars: Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back 1979 -American Graffiti Again (New American Graffiti) 1977 -Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope Solo film about Obi-Wan Kenobi

Editor 1984 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Editing 2002 - Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones 1989 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1983 - Star Wars: Episode 6 - Return of the Jedi 1981 - Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark Since 1980 - Star Wars: Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back Impact 1977 - Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope

George Lucas Family

In 1969, George Lucas married editor Marcia Louis Griffin, who later won the Academy Award for Best Editing for Star Wars. In 1981, a girl, Amanda, was adopted.

After the divorce in 1983, the girl remained with her father. Subsequently, already being a single father, Lucas adopted another girl, Katie, and adopted a boy, Jett.

In 2013, the producer announced his engagement to American businesswoman Mellody Hobson, whom he met 7 years ago. In the summer, George and Mellody got married, and 2 months later their daughter Everest was born.

17.05.2019

Personal life

The master's first wife was Marcia Louis Griffin. George Lucas met her during the filming of the debut episode of the space saga. The marriage of the director and Marcia lasted 14 years. In the early 1980s, the couple adopted baby Amanda, taking the girl from an orphanage. After 2 years, the couple separated; after the divorce, the daughter remained with her father.

Soon, the single father became a parent to two more children: Amanda had a sister, Katie, and a brother, Jett. Three of Lucas' children starred in the prequel trilogy of the space saga.

Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones Overlapping with his work on Star Wars, Lucas developed a new series of adventures featuring a tough but humorous archaeologist named Indiana Jones. He starred in Star Wars as Harrison Ford's hero, and Steven Spielberg directed Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Instead of deep space, Lucas mined the past for this box office hit, in which Indiana Jones battles the Nazis for the Ark of the Covenant.

Lucas helped craft the stories and worked as a producer on the two sequels that followed. Ford co-starred with Kate Capshaw (Spielberg's future wife) in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). viewers met the father of the hero, played by Sean Connery. However, after the third Indiana Jones film, Lucas prepared to return to the film franchise that made him world famous— Star Wars.

"Star Wars". Prequels

Finally, technology has caught up with Lucas' creative vision for his famous sci-fi saga. He saw ILM's opportunity when he was tasked with bringing the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (1993) to terrifying life. Advances in technology convinced Lucas that it was time to return to Star Wars.

Lucas began developing three new prequels, starting with the menacing Darth Vader as an innocent, gifted boy. The first in the series, Star Wars: Episode I. The Phantom Menace was released in the spring of 1999 to high expectations and unprecedented hype and fanfare. Reaction to the film was mixed. Some critics and Star Wars fans find the characters childish and racially stereotypical. Others complained that the story lacked dramatic depth. No one, however, could argue about Lucas' magical quality. technologically masterful creatures.

Defending his latest creation, Lucas argued that “Star Wars. Episode I: The Phantom Menace was a children's film, as all the Star Wars films had to be before their iconic magnetism took hold of American society. However, the behind-the-scenes feature that accompanied the film's 2001 DVD release told a different story, showing a director who was not entirely satisfied with his product. "It's a little disjointed," Lucas says at one point after watching a rough cut of the film. “It’s bold in terms of pulling people’s leg. I may have gone too far in a few places."

Second issue, Star Wars. Episode II: Attack of the Clones premiered on May 12, 2002 at the Tribeca Film Festival. The third and final episode, Star Wars. Episode III: Revenge of the Sith debuted in May 2005.

Life after Star Wars

In 2008, Lucas released the final installment of his Indiana Jones series. He served as one of its writers and producers, with Steven Spielberg again serving as director. Harrison Ford is back as the famous adventurous archaeologist in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and he's joined by Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf in this new challenge. The film turned out to be one of the biggest hits of the summer.

"Red Tails"

Lucas produced another action film in early 2012. Worked for years. he was able to help bring the story of the famous African-American pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen to the big screen in Red Tails. This World War II drama stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrace Howard, Nate Parker and David Oyelo.

Red Tails could be one of Lucas' final epics, barring a possible new Indiana Jones film. He announced that he was stepping away from big blockbusters at this time to explore smaller, more personal stories on screen. To this end, Lucas decided to sell his company Lucasfilm to Walt Disney in October 2012. He received approximately 40 million Disney shares as part of the deal. In return, Disney received the rights to the highly profitable Star Wars franchise, which the company continued with the record-breaking release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December 2020.

The following year, Lucasfilm produced the first in the anthology series: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which starred Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn and Diego Luna. In 2020 Lucas & apos; friend and old collaborator, Ron Howard, was tapped to direct the follow-up film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, which premiered in May 2020.