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Filmmaker cum philanthropist George Lucas has never once hesitated to leave fans fazed with his vision, bringing across pieces that were beyond everyone else’s wildest imaginations. Of course, this includes his Star Wars saga too, which was originally thought to be doomed before it became the ravaging success and multi-billionaire franchise that it is today.
George Lucas. | Credits: Joey Gannon/CC-BY-SA 2.0/Wikimedia Commons.But while SW was one of the projects he collaborated on with legendary actor Harrison Ford, the pair worked on one other movie before Lucas materialized his vision for the sci-fi saga: 1973’s comedy-musical, American Graffiti. And although this film was a raging critical triumph, it still managed to traumatize the director so badly that he lowkey disowned it.
George Lucas Lowkey Disowned American Graffiti
Back in the early 1970s, soon after he let his filmmaking career take off, Lucas embarked on a journey with Harrison Ford to bring to the screens his first-ever major project: American Graffiti. A comedy musical, it starred the actor as one of the leads in a group of high-school graduates who cruise the lanes of a small town in California before their college life starts.
This piece was a raving success, earning a 93% score on the Tomatometer coupled with a star-studded 84% audience rating. But when it comes to George Lucas‘ own opinion of the movie, the director has pretty much lowkey disowned the piece. The reason why? Well, the studios decided to meddle with his final cut, and that simply wasn’t something he could be okay with.
Harrison Ford in American Graffiti. | Credits: Universal Pictures.In fact, Lucas’ disappointment with Universal cutting five minutes from his final cut of the film was so severe that he even vowed to never let it happen again. As he candidly came clean to Time about the 1973 masterpiece:
It wasn’t a film by Lucas. It was a film made by me with changes by the studio. That isn’t fair.
Well, in his defense, no filmmaker would ever appreciate his final beloved piece for a movie being interfered with by the studios, especially when they put all their blood, sweat, and tears into making it. That said, Lucas’ gritted reaction to not being able to exercise complete creative control over his projects is only valid and understandable.
At the same time, Lucas also revealed that he wasn’t one to sit behind and let the studios exercise such control over his pieces, revealing how he was “simply trying to become a free man” by accumulating enough wealth and power to be able to have full dominion over his artworks.
George Lucas on Wanting More Creative Freedom: “I’m simply trying to become a free man”
Lucas. | Credits: Star Wars/Youtube.To deal with this problem of filmmakers not having enough creative freedom in their pieces, Lucas shared during the 1978 interview that he would establish a cosmic conglomerate of four corporations that would help them make money “so that he and his friends can escape the tyranny of the studios and make good movies – or at least the kind of movies they like.”
Confiding in time enough to share his plans, Lucas revealed:
I’m simply trying to become a free man. I’m trying to set up an alternative film making that allows me more freedom to do what I want, within certain parameters.
Continuing, he further emphasized why taking this step felt so necessary to him, saying:
We’re trying to make a company that will respect the personality and individuality of film makers. Part of my good fortune is to be making progress in that direction. I feel it’s a destiny of sorts.
For what it’s worth, George Lucas most certainly seems to have achieved the part of his goal where he and his friends could make the kind of movies they like without hesitation, considering how nearly every project that came afterward from him was nothing short of what he had in mind.
American Graffiti is currently available to be streamed on Prime Video.
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