CBC Arts: New 'Star Wars' will bomb, Lucas predicts

CBC Arts: New 'Star Wars' will bomb, Lucas predicts: "New 'Star Wars' will bomb, Lucas predicts
Last Updated Tue, 03 May 2005 16:21:16 EDT
CBC Arts
LOS ANGELES - Star Wars creator George Lucas says he believes Revenge of the Sith will be a box-office failure.
In an interview with Time magazine, the director says 'like everyone who makes movies, I'm always convinced the next one will be a flop.'


New 'Star Wars' will bomb, Lucas predicts
Last Updated Tue, 03 May 2005 16:21:16 EDT
CBC Arts
LOS ANGELES - Star Wars creator George Lucas says he believes Revenge of the Sith will be a box-office failure.

In an interview with Time magazine, the director says "like everyone who makes movies, I'm always convinced the next one will be a flop."


Hayden Christensen stars in 'Revenge of the Sith.' (AP file photo)
"So right now I'm thinking [Revenge of the Sith] probably won't make any money and will be considered a failure," he added.

Lucas does not elaborate on the reasons why he thinks the movie will be poorly received.

Debuting May 19, Revenge of the Sith completes the six-part saga. It stars Canada's Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight who becomes Darth Vader.

Judging from the performance of past Star Wars films, there seems to be little reason for Lucas to fret.

Released in 1977, the original Star Wars is still considered one of the most successful films ever.

With a North American gross of nearly $461 million US, it ranks second on Box Office Mojo's list of all-time North American box-office champions. It is surpassed only by Titanic.

Even 1999's The Phantom Menace, which is considered by many to be the low point in the Star Wars cycle, ranks fifth in terms of all-time domestic gross.

Regardless, Lucas thinks that moviegoers will be divided on the merits of the new prequel.

"I can put it together in a six-part DVD and be very proud of the way the story gets told. On the other hand, I have a feeling this one is going to be sort of like the last one in terms of some people like it, some people hate it," he said.

The last Star Wars release was 2002's Attack of the Clones.

In the interview, Lucas also hints that he won't do any further tinkering with the original trilogy.

"I've cleaned up the first three to the point where I am happy with them now. They may not be perfect, but they are as perfect as I can make them," he said.


George Lucas (AP file photo)
Lucas added new digital effects to the first three films when they were re-released in 1997. He also made an additional round of changes when they were released on DVD last year, disappointing fans who felt the alterations did not improve the story.

The Time interview also contains glimpses of what shape the filmmaker's post-Star Wars career might take.

He says he is producing a film about the Tuskegee Airmen, the black fighter pilots of the Second World War.

He also vows to make good on his long-standing promise to return to the abstract filmmaking of his film-student days.

These efforts will be "films that are a little more abstract in nature. It's vaguely in the land of music videos, I guess, but I don't even know how to describe them. I'm going to deal with the themes that have always interested me and are vaguely esoteric in nature. But I'm going to try to make them dramatic. I'm going to try to make them emotional. How they're going to turn out, I don't know. I know they won't be mainstream movies."

Another Raiders of the Lost Ark sequel is also in the works. He had initially decided to leave the series at three movies, he explains.

"And then I came up with an idea I thought was brilliant, so I told the other guys [director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford] and they kind of flipped out. It's vaguely in the realm of the supernatural."






Hayden Christensen stars in 'Revenge of the Sith.' (AP file photo)
'So right now I'm thinking [Revenge of the Sith] probably won't make any money and will be considered a failure,' he added.
Lucas does not elaborate on the reasons why he thinks the movie will be poorly received.
Debuting May 19, Revenge of the Sith completes the six-part saga. It stars Canada's Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Knight who becomes Darth Vader.
Judging from the performance of past Star Wars films, there seems to be little reason for Lucas to fret.
Released in 1977, the original Star Wars is still considered one of the most successful films ever.
With a North American gross of nearly $461 million US, it ranks second on Box Office Mojo's list of all-time North American box-office champions. It is surpassed only by Titanic.
Even 1999's The Phantom Menace, which is considered by many to be the low point in the Star Wars cycle, ranks fifth in terms of all-time domestic gross.
Regardless, Lucas thinks that moviegoers will be divided on the merits of the new prequel.
'I can put it together in a six-part DVD and be very proud of the way the story gets told. On the other hand, I have a feeling this one is going to be sort of like the last one in terms of some people like it, some people hate it,' he said.
The last Star Wars"