In an interview with our own Zachary Sotolongo, STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES writer/director George Lucas talked about the pressure of fan attention he toils under while creating the STAR WARS prequel trilogy, as well as what will happen when EPISOD III is over.
"I gave [the fans] as much as I could I gave them a 110 percent," Lucas told us in the July issue of CINESCAPE. "And, you know, the media perception which is created totally without any basis in fact is that the film was disappointing and that sort of thing. [But] for four weeks, I did exit polls and 80 percent of the people coming out [of theaters] thought that it was fantastic and only 20 percent thought that it was good or less than good or fair. So it was some overwhelmingly positive exit polls. Sixty percent of the reviews were positive, 40 percent were negative and it went on, at the time, to be the second-highest-grossing film of all time and will probably always be the highest-grossing STAR WARS film of all time."
He also talked about the hardcore fans which weren't all that thrilled with EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.
"I think that in anything, you're going to find fans," Lucas said. "There are fans of BARB WIRE and they have conferences. STAR WARS fans are nearly as obsessive and out there as, say, [European] soccer fans. Rock 'n' roll fans do the same thing. This is unique for film, but what it is in the end is a kind of mini Woodstock. Why do they sit out there in the street? Why not? They're all college students and they don't have anything else to do." Laughing, the filmmaker continued: "They're allowed to cut classes, hang out, chase girls and camp on Hollywood Boulevard. Who wouldn't? It's fun. It's just that it happened to come around STAR WARS, [but] who knows? Maybe for the next SPIDER-MAN they'll start the same thing. So, it happens [with] every [STAR WARS film] and there is a group that has turned into an institution now."
He also reiterated that there would be no third trilogy, despite what he said years ago about the whole story being a trilogy of trilogies. He said it was a joke, and THE ROLLING STONE printed the idea as fact. After EPISODE III, there will be only printed STAR WARS stories from now on.
"There are two worlds here," explained Lucas. "There's my world, which is the movies, and there's this other world that has been created, which I say is the parallel universe the licensing world of the books, games and comic books. They don't intrude on my world, which is a select period of time, [but] they do intrude in between the movies. I don't get too involved in the parallel universe."
For the full story, including hints about EPISODE III, pick up the July issue of CINESCAPE magazine.
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