Marcia Lucas Rips Disney Star Wars in New Howard Kazanjian Book

[AndyDursin]

This from a book on Howard Kazanjian which just came out, by the recently departed author JJ Rintzler. Might well be worth a read from the looks of it.

As for Marcia -- clearly SHE gets it!

I like Kathleen. I always liked her. She was full of beans. She was really smart and really bright. Really wonderful woman. And I liked her husband, Frank. I like them a lot.

Now that she’s running Lucasfilm and making movies, it seems to me that Kathy Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don’t have a clue about Star Wars. They don’t get it.

And J.J. Abrams is writing these stories– when I saw that movie where they kill Han Solo, I was furious. I was furious when they killed Han Solo. Absolutely, positively there was no rhyme or reason to it.

I thought, ‘You don’t get the Jedi story. You don’t get the magic of Star Wars. You’re getting rid of Han Solo?’

And then at the end of this last one, The Last Jedi, they have Luke disintegrate. They killed Han Solo. They killed Luke Skywalker. And they don’t have Princess Leia anymore. And they’re spitting out movies every year.

And they think it’s important to appeal to a woman’s audience, so now their main character is this female, who’s supposed to have Jedi powers, but we don’t know how she got Jedi powers, or who she is. It sucks. The storylines are terrible. Just terrible. Awful.

You can quote me–’J.J. Abrams, Kathy Kennedy–talk to me.

She didn't like the prequels either:

“George is, in his heart and soul, a good guy and a talented filmmaker. I wish he would’ve kept directing [other kinds of] movies. But when I went to see Episode I–I had a friend who worked at ILM, who took me as a guest to a preview–I remember going out to the parking lot, sitting in my car and crying. I cried. I cried because I think it wasn’t very good.”

Book is now available:

[Eric Paddon]

Her comments make me think again about that theory that's been floated that the *real* reason for Lucas's refusal to let the original cuts be seen again is because she'd be entitled to royalties under the divorce settlement that don't apply for any special edition versions.

[AndyDursin]

That makes an awful lot of sense to me too. If Lucas was so stuck on his "vision" and updating special effects, why would he want his 1977 movie to remain with 1997 era special effects, that are now more dated than the '77 effects were when they were first re-done. You'd imagine there's more to it than "he doesn't want the originals out there", and $$ always is what it comes down to.

[Monterey Jack]

“George is, in his heart and soul, a good guy and a talented filmmaker. I wish he would’ve kept directing [other kinds of] movies. But when I went to see Episode I–I had a friend who worked at ILM, who took me as a guest to a preview–I remember going out to the parking lot, sitting in my car and crying. I cried. I cried because I think it wasn’t very good.”

A grown-assed adult crying because a movie was bad.

[AndyDursin]

Well, it's not like some fanboy going to their car and crying. She's someone who was personally invested in the series and its creation.

[Edmund Kattak]

“George is, in his heart and soul, a good guy and a talented filmmaker. I wish he would’ve kept directing [other kinds of] movies. But when I went to see Episode I–I had a friend who worked at ILM, who took me as a guest to a preview–I remember going out to the parking lot, sitting in my car and crying. I cried. I cried because I think it wasn’t very good.”

A grown-assed adult crying because a movie was bad.

Not just ANY grown-assed adult, mind you, but the person you were intimately married to, was your confidant and sounding board on the original three movies, SAVED the first movie in the editing room.

If you had THAT gravitas behind you and saw that first prequel movie edited by the guy who formerly strolled around banging on telephone pole guy wires and recording old movie projectors and TV tubes, wouldn't you be crying in the car after watching that movie?

I'd be setting the car on fire at that point.

[Edmund Kattak]

Her comments make me think again about that theory that's been floated that the *real* reason for Lucas's refusal to let the original cuts be seen again is because she'd be entitled to royalties under the divorce settlement that don't apply for any special edition versions.

That theory is starting to make more sense to me each time I think about it. And now, it's the Disney machine that owns it, so good luck with your lawsuit. I somehow believe that the original theatrical releases will make an appearance at some point because hey, its Disney. They've demonstrated that they can milk a property for every cent so that the fans will keep buying. They've also demonstrated their willingness to basically thumb their nose at George with respect to his baby. In some sadistic office over there, they're probably planning the release for when George passes on and the estate can no longer be in a position to challenge them.

Another thing to chew on. If those reports about the original negatives are true and that George cut those up to make his SE (what serious filmmaker would do that with original source - I have a hard time accepting that for practical IP film preservation purposes), then I believe that would add more credence to the Marcia Lucas royalty angle.

[AndyDursin]

Exactly Ed.

Much as Spielberg's work generally declined markedly after a certain point, what Marcia Lucas illustrates is how integral people like she, Gary Kurtz and Howard Kazanjian were to George's STAR WARS success. "The Empire" was built because of the collaborative nature of their work together, and Lucas' output was never the same after the stopped working with them. Coincidence? Probably not. I mean, I like the prequels, but there's still something missing there compared to the spark and feel of the original three films.

Of course, it goes one step further when all of these creatively driven artists are removed from the equation, and what's left is a franchise name without any of the people who established it -- that's precisely what you get with Disney's soulless, wholly misguided handling of the property. They don't "get it", period.

[Paul MacLean]

Exactly Ed.

Much as Spielberg's work generally declined markedly after a certain point, what Marcia Lucas illustrates is how integral people like she, Gary Kurtz and Howard Kazanjian were to George's STAR WARS success. "The Empire" was built because of the collaborative nature of their work together, and Lucas' output was never the same after the stopped working with them. Coincidence? Probably not. I mean, I like the prequels, but there's still something missing there compared to the spark and feel of the original three films.

A wise director will marshal the talent the people working for them and listen to their suggestions.

Alma Hitchcock -- who (much like Marsha Lucas) was en editor -- was of invaluable assistance to her husband and contributed many ideas to his films. It's generally acknowledged that Verna Fields was the one who really whipped Jaws into shape. And if you look at that enormous differences in the way Spielberg's various films are lit, it's clear all his cinematographers had a lot of latitude.

I don't think it is going out on a limb to suggest the reason Raiders of the Lost Ark was the best of the Indiana Jones films was due in part to Lawrence Kasdan.

Bernard Herrmann actually designed the title sequence for Obsession -- and even convinced Brian DePalma to jettison the entire final act of the film (which involved Cliff Robertson being tried for John Lithgow's murder).

[Eric W.]

Jeez, maybe she should have been in charge. Too late now. One of the biggest problems was always lack of checks and balances on George Lucas. Then it all went to Disney and somehow became even worse.