Well, it was always going to happen. Rather than stand up and try to save his company, George Lucas publicly backed the man who ran Star Wars into the ground.
I think he's more like Darth Vader. Minus the redemption. A husk of a once powerful Jedi at the whim and command of master he secretly hates, but without the guts to stand up to him.
I would say the day Phantom Menace opened and The Crystal Skull George lost his way long before Disney. Star Wars is for kids you know according to George. All the money in the world to hire the best screenwriters in the business. Nope. Disney does what Disney does milk the cow until there is nothing left but B grade straight to video release.
@@benjamintanderson5735 i think he had two films under his belt and did a little bit for 'the godfather.' not sure if he was a millionaire at that point.
For a guy who said "To me it's six films and it is what it is" and made it clear that he's done because he wanted to focus on his family and work on experimental films that no one will ever see, he keeps shuffling back around to Star Wars to shill for Filoni, Kennedy, and Iger. Either ride off into the sunset or just stay, don't leave and keep coming back.
Yeah, but these people have been loosing money like it was their job. A good billionaire fires the trash, and gets the stock back up from 50% of just a few years ago. 80 dollars is still NOT a win, when they were at 200 dollars just 4- 5 years ago. They even managed to downturn during covid....when EVERYONE made money.
People were naively hoping - and I don't blame them - that George Lucas may have a spine and be willing to stand up for his life's work. Reality sucks at times
Colonel Sanders tried telling us how much worse KFC is now. Where did that get him? Take the billions and be happy, screw the fans that won't be satisfied anyway.
They at least honor the career they have had and the legacy that they lead and they will be remembered while Lucas will fade away all because he bent the knee.
I can believe that Shatner is a bit self-absorbed and loves the sound of his own voice ... but he isn't two-faced about it, what you see is what you get. I respect people like that much more.
@@givmi_more_w9251 Henceforth why it is called respect and Shatner is 90 years old and you would think that he would tell everyone to f*ck off I'm old. But no he is Captain James T. Kirk and that character made him the celebrity that he is and he respects that fact and that is why we respect him for he told those who wanted to erase him from the Star Trek history to go f*ck themselves and that he is staying.
luke never faded into obscurity he was literally the most famous dude in the galaxy for 30 years with everything hellbent on finding him, the entire plot of 7 was about this. Have you even seen that movie?
@@bocogaming Lucas's treatments have Luke as a moody hermit too. You will then the say the execution could have been incredible, well yeah but I bet if it had been produced it would still have been as maligned and seen as weird as the prequels but in an entire different way. You thought explaining the force was bad, wait until you hear about the whills!
The story didn't even align well with the original movies. It was bad. Not terrible though. I can still watch and enjoy them but they could have been much better.
George Lucas's current wife is on the board of directors for JPMorgan and JPMorgan is in favor of Bob Iger. I think he wanted to look out for his wife and her career.
As I've been saying for a long time, don't be fooled, George was the best accomplice Disney could have, do you guys really believe he didn't know Kathleen Kennedy's agenda? He knew very well about her intentions, they have known each other for decades! George is not a victim as many have tried to portray him.
"Creating magic is not for amateurs"... George you can't seriously think that. So many of our great story tellers had no idea what the fuck they were doing most of the time. Hell I imagine most of them barely had a formal education yet alone understood how to format a story. All of the stories that we watch, read or listen to are built on from stories told by our previous generations. They weren't story tellers of any kind. They were builders, bakers, priests and so on. It was someone's granny telling their grandkids a story. Fairy tales lasted the test of time through word of mouth before someone bothered to write them down. An amateur if determined enough can easily create magic. Story telling doesn't require much just someone with a vision they believe in and are willing to pour their soul in to every word. Shakespeare was once a nobody, who knows who the next Shakespeare will be.
It's such a devastatingly ignorant statement. Or elitist. Or just plain stupid. We all know that amateurs throughout history have created countless great works of art. What a silly billy. He needs to take a long good look in the mirror...and realise he looks like Rolf Harris spliced with a gerbil.
Well said mate. Conversely if he thinks Disney are an example of how professionals make 'magic' then he is seriously lost. They just churn out activist shite that are barely good enough for straight to dvd status.
South Park already nailed Lucas 20 years ago with their episode Free Hat. The man is undeniably creative, but he's also a complete pushover who is more than happy to kiss the butt of the man who destroyed his life's work
No. The originals will always be special to me. More than ever now because it shows what could be when someone has passion. Same with all the content the prequels inspired, they're all still fun. I don't need to look for a lot new entertainment when there is so much great stuff from the past.
yeah because backing a guy who's completly ruining disney and losing money on every movie they make and screwing up star wars makes perfect sense if he doesn't want to lose money. he's backing a losing horse in the race.
@@eriknewton4656How? The new movies get way too much hate. You guys went in there expecting the old trilogy and you were never going to get that (plus you would complain it was just a rehash.) George had flipped with both sides.
@@kylethedalekactually i enjoyed the force awakens but it was the last jedi and rise of skywalker i had problems with. last jedi and rise of skywalker get the hate they deserve. and no i wouldn't complain they were just rehashes if they were well written but last jedi and rise of skywalker did a horrible job of following up with questions from the force awakens. they completely ruined the character of luke skywalker and the other characters were not well written. i liked the actors but they were given bad scripts and dialogue to work with. i don't enjoy hating on them but the last jedi and rise of skywalker were terrible films.
Disney has done well with it. You guys just are closed minded and don’t want progress. To dislike a character because of sex is sexist. Or their Race is racist. And so on. Why don’t you want to more under represented groups portrayed ? I would be happy with a new lead with a disability. Because I’m not a discriminatory piece of garbage. I don’t want one type of person to hog the leads. You guys expected the the old trilogy and should ah be known you were never going to get that. Plus you would have complained it was a rehash. Then you push conspiracies about no one in the cinemas watching it they were all empty… with no proof…
@@kylethedalekYour entire comment reads like the same damned playbook of how to respond to every argument... Opposition? Inject bullshit about ism or phobia to win argument, rinse and repeat. LIfe is more nuanced and complicated to use the same fucking trick every time, piss off... this franchise was never some closed off one sided story and was open to everyone... DEI and wokeism divides, not bring people together.
"Making magic is not for amateurs." Said the guy who was a complete amateur when he made "Star Wars" in 1977. Before that, Lucas had only directed two movies: "THX-1138" and "American Graffiti."
I believe that Disney Corp, quite possibly Bob Iger, wrote out the statement, and had George Lucas endorse it and sign it. George Lucas no longer cares.
George: A couple hundred million will do. Disney: A couple hundred million will not do. George: A couple hundred million will do. Disney: A couple hundred million will not do.
He's 79, he doesn't even need money anymore. He just could've done nothing, sell stock and be well off. Instead of that he chose to interfere in the fights around Disney. He chose to make things even worse.
People need to stop looking up to people that are part of the big club. It will only lead to dissapointment. No one up there is on your side. No Lucas, no Keanu, and so on.
George is 79 years old, he's not the same as 50 years ago or 20 or 10 "You Either Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain" Time to say goodbye and RIP Star Wars
Why would a 80 year old George have to care anymore he's a billionaire he has made enough money for generations of his family. His fans shit on him hard for over a decade and celebrated when he sold Lucas Films over to Disney. Just like Lucas it might be time to move on. There can be more the one 'Star Wars'.
When it comes to George Lucas handing the "keys to the castle" to Kathleen Kennedy, I can't help but to think about Obi-Wan Kenobi saying, "who's the foolish, the fool, or the fool who follows him?"
People will gladly tell you what you want to hear when you have money. This, on top of a life removed from consequences, will reshape an entire worldview.
@@deerinheadlights100 The old guys (at least GL) have been normal at one point in time. The younger ones on the other hand... The question is, why? What happend that made the old guys go mad? Is it just because of the money? And of course there are old nutjobs that have always been idiots... but that's not the point of my question.
Because they stopped living there years and years ago- they live in a rich bubble... and unlike previous generations these men have no sense of duty nor honor, they sold their very souls for the money
The fact is people don't know how to gracefully exit a community, I think part of it is also artistic pride on Luca's part cause Star Wars is his legacy. I know people in the cosplay community that are pushing 40 years old and they refuse to completely exit the scene when they were never really popular or e-famous outside of their local area, if these people can't leave a simple hobby imagine how much Lucas thinks about Star Wars.
I would just like to say the "Fans" are the reason George Lucas gave up the rights in the first place. I think he said in an interview at some point, "Why would I want to make any more, if everyone just hates you for doing what you want." So many people hated him just for making movies! I can see why he wanted to stop making them after all that.
George failed himself. He thought he could just ride on the coattails the OT when he made the prequels. George screwed up and people called him out on it as they are right to do. George was butthurt because many people whom he thought would kiss his fat ass, didn't. So in revenge George hands the keys to SW over to the demolition crews. George is a fat petty old failure.
@@tr4480People bullied Lucas too much over the prequels. Of course he gave up on the franchise because fans treated like trash for the prequels instead of giving him constructive criticism.
I don't get why people thinks he cares so much about star wars. He made what he wanted with it and sold it when he was done. He had a bit of regrets for a while but he knows he is done with it.
@@chasehedges6775 Revenge of the Sith seems much better than it is because it followed two films that were much worse. It's still incompetently written, directed, acted, and edited.
@derkeheath5172 apart from the Vader looks a pissed up guy in costume on a stag do when he realises Padmé is dead. It's okay but underwhelming. It should've been seismic that scene.
I think people forget George sold Pixar to them first. Star Wars is just a part, a big part but a part. He sold Lucasfilm, Lucasarts, THX, Sywalker sound, Skywalker arts, Industrial Light & Magic. Now all Disney have done is destroyed all of that. Then add Marvel, Twenyth Century Fox, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Hulu, Disney plus, Buena Vista, Disney Parks, Disney Cruises and counting. They have tanked all of that. It's a steady decline in all those areas. The word desaster doesn't come close to discribing it. Now shares are worth less than half and a just bouncing a step up and a step down at any given time. He thinks that is success? George has dementia. Or a guaranteed return on his own shares.
Shares are less than half in reference to when exactly? Lucas sold in 2012, and as far as I can tell, shares were about $50 each, and as of now they are about $114 each. So that’s twice as much. However, they have really tanked since 2021, when they were all the way at $200 each. So im assuming you are referring to 2021, which it did go down by half. But it’s still technically 2x more than when he sold. The trend is down from 2021, but up from 2012.
@@GrechStudios So by what you've written here, you knew exactly what I ment in my rant and from what era shares fell. But you then took the time to write this unessasary reply??
@@colinwest3301 I apologize if my response came across as a pointless “rebuttal.” That was not my intent. I was just trying to add some context to the discussion, and participate in the dialogue. I guess it was just a wordy way to agree that shares have fallen recently like you said, but it’s not entirely doom-and-gloom since they have actually increased from the time of the sale.
If it was me I'd say it as it is and be honest. Disney fucked and shit everything up. Disney single handedly destroyed a lot of franchises. Lucas has more than enough money he doesn't have to take sides.
He's old, he's got money, and he doesn't care about his old project anymore. It's become nothing to him. Honestly the PR reminds me of when Amazon paid hobbits to support Amazon's fanfiction.
George Lucas was really involved in the writing and production of "The Clone Wars" show, so it wasn't like he just spoke with Filoni a few times and let him go unsupervised. Filoni has basically taken over in that regard, along with Jon Favreau, since the Disney sale. Lucas doesn't obsess over the franchise like people think he does. He decided to distance himself from the operations and the writing and did so. He can make some kind of zen-like statement on how he could sell and let it go. We have seen him visiting the sets of "The Mandalorian," so he isn't bothered by where they take the story.
Let's not pretend here that Lucas was absolutely betrayed by the fans who turned on him with the prequels. The fans treated him like crap and it was our fault he sold Star Wars. He had plans for episodes 7 8 and 9 before the total fallout. But yeah. I agree. He doesn't give a damn anymore.
Lucas betrayed the fans, first with The Phantom Menace, then by burying the OT in his shitty narcisstic obsession with his 'SPECHIAL EDHUTIONS', refusing to just release the fucking trilogy as it was before he turned it to shit. He has despised his fanbase for decades, even the people that suck up to him no matter how much he fucks everything up. He treats you like shit and you let him. Man up and ditch the relationship, you cant fix him. If you make dogshit and people refuse to eat it, its on you. Calling it a 'betrayal' is pure insanity
I genuinely don't care that much for the corporate part of it. It's the opening sentence -" making magic isn't for amateurs". Like he didn't inspire so many little guys. This is the first time I've seen drinker genuinely disappointed and baffled rather than angry or amused.
No, I'm pushing back against the whole "George judged KK poorly," thing. Kathleen Kennedy and her team's biggest problems were the story. When George Lucas recruited Kathleen Kennedy, he did not say, "Hey Kathy, make up a new story from scratch. Do whatever you want. Kill off whomever you want. Knock yourself out." Instead, Lucas wrote three stories he approved of and told Kathy to make HIS stories. He didn't know she & Iger were going to throw them out. So the idea that it's Lucas's fault we got Force Awakens, Last Jedi, Rise of Skywalker -- no. Disney's decision to throw out his stories, he didn't know they were going to do that. He thought they were going to make his stuff.
Kathleen Kennedy was nothing but a production assistant for very powerful men. Leslye Headland was a personal assistant for a very powerful man. I truly believe that the positions that they have are payment - both for silence and in gratitude - for all the crap that they know about and covered up. It really doesn't matter how they "perform." These are vanity projects to those women. And it's hush money from the system.
I have said this before. I think Drinker is controlling the narrative and ofc people in the conversation would feel uncomfortable to try to say against him. Edit: I like Drinker but there’s just so much of him controlling the narrative which I don’t think is good
In George’s defense, in that on camera interview where George was passing the baton, Kathleen Kennedy said “the most important thing is to protect the characters you(George) created”. So, it would appear that George was lied to, because the 1st thing KK did was destroy then kill off the characters George created.
To be fair to George, he lived through an entire decade of his own fans calling him Satan for the Prequels. It was unrealistic to expect he'd jump to their defense now that he's a billionaire and the fans got exactly what they deserved.
Someone should sing the first half of “Congratulations” from Hamilton to George Lucas, especially the part “Congratulations, you redefined your legacy!”
I've said this for a long time, Kathleen Kennedy has something on Lucas it's why she has got so far and why he cannot say anything about her utter destruction of his IP.
It's 'the club'. You can't have success without 'the club'. And of course, when 'the club' tells them to do something - they do it. lol I don't understand how anything is shocking still.
It's so infuriating that people say Lucas never crapped all over the Originals when the Special Editions exist. People willingly choose to be ignorant of it just to make it easier to crap on Disney by comparison.
@@ShakerSilver George Lucas surrounded by Yes Men was the downfall of Star wars. Same problem today with corporations being the yes men, but it started from Big George. And not the game of thrones Big George.
I think George just wants to see it burn maybe he likes seeing that people Love his movies and shows and sees people hating Disney stuff and it makes him happy and he does not want them to succeed he might want it to die
I'm neither for nor against his decision, but I think I understand it. He sold his creation to someone he trusted and thought he knew and watched it get warped and torn to shreds. Imagine what horrors might happen if it goes to someone he DOESN'T know?
if it still remotely mattered anymore, if there was a single breath left in star wars, if i believed ay of these people had any actual integrity or genuine honesty etc... this would be disappointing and surprising and might mean anything.
George Lucas owes the fandom absolutely nothing. The way he got treated by the greater fandom in the 2000s was absolutely disgusting and I don't blame him in the slightest for caring about his bottom line at this point.
You mean the fans that bought the merchandise, watched the movies, advocated for him, and gave him the money? The people who, without their money, without their investment, his little foray into movie making, would have had as much buoyancy as a rust riddled cast iron colander in a typhoon? George stopped making movies that people wanted to buy to watch. That's George's fault, sweetheart. Thats basic economics. When you cease to provide a product, people cease purchasing from you.
