May the Force be with you, George.

Once upon a time, George Lucas was considered a gifted filmmaker whose film-school final exam became THX 1183, a really interesting visual, experimental film.  Since then, George Lucas has primarily been known as the kind of guy that, if you give him $200 million, he can turn it into $200 billion due to his massively successful Star Wars empire.  Well, no more.  George Lucas is retiring from blockbuster film-making to concentrate on experimental, weird stuff more like what he wanted to do while at USC.

“I’m retiring.  I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff,” said Lucas, one of the most gifted technical filmmakers of all time and a pioneer in special effects both practical and digital.  ”On the internet, all those same guys that are complaining I made a change are completely changing the movie.  I’m saying:  ’Fine. But my movie, with my name on it, that says I did it, needs to be the way I want it.’  Why would I make any more when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?”

If you’re going to miss the Lucas touch on blockbusters, don’t worry; the 3-D re-release of the six Star Wars films is still happening.  As for Red Tails, the $58-million-dollar all-black WWII movie he funded with his own money, that may very well be Lucas’s last gasp (barring a fifth Indiana Jones film).

With hundreds of millions of dollars to his name, at age 67, George Lucas has the right to do whatever he wants with his time, and in spite of our disagreements about Star Wars, I wish him nothing but the best and look forward to seeing what fun, experimental movies he comes up with.  Follow your art, George.

Tags: Star Wars, George Lucas, Lucasfilms, George Lucas to retire from blockbuster films, Hollywood, George Lucas to retire, blockbuster films, big-budget movies, George Lucas to return to experimental roots, Star Wars filmmaker to quit making big-budget movies, Red Tails, Indiana Jones, George Lucas to retire

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