George Lucas
The visionary behind Star Wars and Indiana Jones, a pioneer of modern blockbusters.
He created the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises and founded Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and THX.[1] Lucas is considered a pioneer of the modern blockbuster and one of the most significant figures of the New Hollywood movement.[1] On May 14, 1944, in Modesto, California, George Walton Lucas Jr. was brought into the world.[2][3]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- George Walton Lucas Jr.
- Born
- 14 May 1944
- Birthplace
- Modesto, California, U.S.
- Occupation
- Film director
- screenwriter
- producer
- philanthropist
- entrepreneur
- Years active
- 1965–present
- Education
- Modesto Junior College, University of Southern California (BFA)
- Children
- 4, including Amanda and Katie
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Lucas co-founded American Zoetrope with Francis Ford Coppola after graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967.[4] His first feature film, THX 1138 (1971), was a critical success but a financial failure.[4] He wrote and directed Star Wars (1977), which became the highest-grossing film at the time and won six Academy Awards.[4] With Steven Spielberg, he created, produced, and co-wrote the Indiana Jones films.[4]
He sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company in 2012.[1] The 1973 film American Graffiti, which Lucas wrote and directed, earned five Academy Award nominations and performed well both with critics and at the box office.[4] To generate groundbreaking visual effects for Star Wars, Lucas established Industrial Light & Magic in 1975.[5] Lucas's initial foray into the musical genre was the 2015 CGI film Strange Magic, which he wrote.[6]
What the cited sources add
A 2019 New Statesman article reports that Lucas told composer Lalo Schifrin in 1970 he wanted to make a Flash Gordon picture.[7] The same source states Lucas began his outline for the space adventure in January 1973, after completing American Graffiti but before its release.[7] A 2013 Guardian article quotes Lucas's son Jett saying his father was "very torn" about selling the rights to the Star Wars franchise.[8] A 2015 Collider article reports Lucas stated that Disney discarded his story treatments for the new Star Wars films.[9]
A 2015 Cinema Blend article notes Lucas's plan to make Star Wars: Episode 7 was abandoned when he realized the time commitment was too great.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "George Lucas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Diamond, "Disney Acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 Billion – STAR WARS: Episode 7 in 2015!", broadwayworld.com, October 30, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "George Lucas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: White, "George Lucas", Lerner Publishing Group, 2000, p. 12 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "George Lucas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biography", www.historicmodesto.com; Roberts, "No. 83 Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources: A Third Set of Ten Hollywood Figures (or Groups Thereof), with a Coda on Two Directors", New England Historic Genealogical Society, April 18, 2008; Jones 2016, p. 26; Jones 2016, p. 26 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "George Lucas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mangold, "'Twitter", Twitter, October 10, 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "George Lucas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Industrial Light & Magic: History", StarWars.com, July 15, 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "George Lucas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "George Lucas producing a CGI musical! Featuring ... fairies?", The Hollywood Reporter, January 27, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Cooray Smith, "Starting Star Wars: How George Lucas came to create a galaxy", New Statesman, May 25, 2019. facts only, no text reused. newstatesman.com
- "Star Wars sequels: George Lucas 'constantly talking' to JJ Abrams", The Guardian, October 9, 2013. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
- Chitwood, "George Lucas Says His Treatments for the New STAR WARS Films Were Discarded", Collider, January 21, 2015. facts only, no text reused. collider.com
- "How George Lucas' Star Wars 7 Ideas Were Used By Disney", Cinema Blend, 2015. facts only, no text reused. cinemablend.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article George Lucas (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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