Posts Tagged ‘George Lucas’



Executive Editor J.W. Rinzler Talks Star Wars Art: Comics

StarWars.com Team | October 4, 2011

Star Wars Art: Comics, the second in a series from Abrams exploring artwork inspired by the Star Wars saga, reveals the best original artwork from the past three decades of Star Wars comic-book publishing. Lucasfilm Executive Editor J.W. Rinzler, who has worked closely with George Lucas in developing the Star Wars Art book series, offered some insights into Lucas’ affinity for comic book artwork:

First, what inspired Star Wars Art: Comics?

Well, the Star Wars Art series is George’s idea. The first one was Star Wars Art: Visions, and this is the second. In this one, George wanted to highlight the best of Star Wars comic art, including a few new commissioned pieces from top comic book artists, old and new. His main objective was to present this comic book art as fine art.

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Drew Struzan Doc Panel at NYCC

Pete Vilmur | September 29, 2011

Drew Struzan, the artist responsible for many of the iconic poster images used throughout the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movie sagas, will soon be featured in an upcoming documentary which examines his life, craft and expansive portfolio of film posters.

To celebrate the near completion of Drew: The Man Behind The Poster, a portion of the documentary feature film will screen at the New York Comic Con on October 15, 2011. The presentation will be followed by a discussion with the film’s creators and special guests from the documentary itself, and audience members will be given a limited edition Drew Struzan poster (while supplies last)!

The NYCC screening will take place October 15th at 9pm at the Jacob Javitz Center, Room 1A24.

Drew: The Man Behind The Poster delves into some of Struzan’s most memorable works, including the Back To The Future, Indiana Jones and Star Wars film series, as well as The Thing, Harry Potter, E.T., along with much of the original artwork for the early Muppet films. Stories are told via an impressive lineup of Hollywood talents, including exclusive interviews with, among many others, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Guillermo del Toro, Frank Darabont, Michael J. Fox, Alice Cooper, Michael Uslan, Thomas Jane, Sam Witwer, Bob Gale, Leonard Maltin, Carroll Spinney, Greg Hildebrant, Steven Spielberg and, of course, Drew Struzan.

The full feature, which is expected to be completed next month, will premiere at a film festival this coming year.

Read more about Drew: The Man Behind The Poster at the official New York Comic Con website or visit the official movie website.

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Actress Daniela Ruah Gives Red Tails Update

StarWars.com Team | October 4, 2010

What’s new on the Red Tails front? Collider.com recently interviewed NCIS: Los Angeles actress Daniela Ruah about her role in the upcoming feature about the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II, and what it was like working with George Lucas, who recently took over directing duties to film some re-shoots.

What was it like to have the opportunity to work on Red Tails? How was that experience?

Daniela: That was a wonderful experience, mainly because it was my first big film. Just to be able to work on something that came out of George Lucas’ mind was quite an honor. Initially, it was directed by Anthony Hemingway, and then George Lucas wanted to change some of the tone of it and decided to direct it himself, so we had a few re-shoots and I got to work specifically with George Lucas on those re-shoots. That was really special, to see how he works and to see what the process is. They only had me for a weekend because I was shooting the show, so everything had to be on the ball, at all times.

Who do you play in the film?

Daniela: I play this Italian character. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, so it’s the Second World War in Italy. I play David Oyelowo’s love interest. He’s one of the main pilots in the film and he falls in love with me, and I’m his drive to survive. To play an Italian character was a big challenge. I don’t speak Italian. I’ve always wanted to do something which required as much character work as possible, so it was a wonderful opportunity for me. I can’t wait until it comes out, and I have no idea when it will.

Did you do a lot of green screen work?

Daniela: Yeah. We initially shot in Croatia and the Czech Republic, so during the re-shoots, I was doing the show and they only had a weekend, and they couldn’t fly me over to Eastern Europe because it was too far. So, we did a lot of green and blue screen stuff and that was unbelievable.

Was it daunting to be a part of something knowing that it was George Lucas’ first original project since Star Wars?

Daniela: No. If anything, that helps drive you to do as well as you can. It’s an honor that that is the case. He’s been planning this for 20 years or so, so for him to have wanted me to be a part of it is huge. It’s wonderful and it feels really good, and it gave me strength and energy to play the role as well as I could because he put that trust in me.

Read the full interview here:
Daniela Ruah Exclusive Interview NCIS: LOS ANGELES; Plus an Update on George Lucas’ RED TAILS (via Collider.com)

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Rare 1977 Harrison Ford Interview Emerges

Pete Vilmur | September 8, 2010

Yesterday, the New York Times posted a story about a rare 1977 Harrison Ford video interview conducted by a Dallas-Fort Worth news channel reporter just as Star Wars (A New Hope) was making waves across the country during its initial release:

Wearing lapels as wide as the Millennium Falcon itself, Mr. Ford actually seems gracious about the budding fantasy franchise and complimentary to its creator, George Lucas, telling his interviewer that though he doesn’t regard himself as the Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon type, the film works because “it’s finally about people and not finally about science, so the energy of the movie goes towards exploring these human relationships.”

The interview, which apparently had first been posted to the original reporter’s website bobbiewygant.com back in July (and contains scores of other filmed interviews), presents a rare peek at the actor on the brink of super-stardom in 1977. Check out the New York Times story and the video interview here.

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Artistic Fans Wish George Lucas Happy Birthday!

StarWars.com Team | May 14, 2010


(art by Leah Mangue)

In honor of the 66th birthday of The Maker AKA George Lucas, our Star Wars Twitter was jam-packed full of messages from fans wishing him a happy birthday, along with impressive art by some very creative fans!

Here’s some of our faves!


(art by Jedishua)


(art by Jeff Lassiter)

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The Ewoks Are Not What They Seem

StarWars.com Team | December 9, 2009

SciFiWire.com gives a heads-up to a video that recently surfaced showing David Lynch (director of Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, etc) explaining why he turned down the offer to direct Return of the Jedi. From scifiwire:

At a seminar last month at New York’s Russian Tea Room, sponsored by the Hudson Union Society, the director of Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive talked about the James Bond-like arrangements he had to make to meet with Lucas, how he reacted when he saw a Wookiee for the first time and why Lucas shouldn’t be driving a Ferrari.

Of course, the directing role ultimately went to Richard Marquand, but one has to wonder what might have been if Lynch had accepted — check out the story and video here .

(SciFiWire.com via JoBlo.com)

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California Hall of Fame Inducts George Lucas

StarWars.com Team | December 2, 2009



Filmmaker George Lucas, gay-rights advocate Harvey Milk, comedian Carol Burnett, football legend John Madden, best-selling romance author Danielle Steel and other icons were among 13 individuals inducted into the California Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Tweeting live from the event, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger snapped candid photos of the inductees — including the one above of him shaking hands with George Lucas.

All of the inductees were chosen for being “remarkable individuals who embody the innovative spirit of the Golden State and who have changed the world by pursuing their dreams.”

The California Museum, located in downtown Sacramento, will display 13 exhibits showcasing the accomplishments of the inductees through October. George Lucas’ exhibit includes models of R2-D2 and C-3PO, as well as Indiana Jones’ jacket, whip and hat from the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Read the full article here:
Milk, Lucas among 13 inducted in Hall of Fame
(via San Francisco Chronicle)

Read more about the California Hall of Fame Exhibits here:
California Hall of Fame official site

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George Lucas Honored at Siskel Center

StarWars.com Team | June 17, 2009


(Jon Favreau, George Lucas and Mellody Hobson — Photo courtesy Jimmy Mac.)

This weekend filmmaker George Lucas was honored in Chicago by The Gene Siskel Film Center with a gala event which included an interview by Iron Man director Jon Favreau.

Media were also in attendance including our friends at Force-Cast who covered the event and snagged an interview with The Maker himself.

Jon Favreau conducted an hour-long discussion with George that mostly focused on his technological and artistic contributions to cinema, including his advancements in digital film making, creation of his company, and his hobby of architecture. During the interview, Lucas claimed rules do not work and he stressed the need to think outside the box. George said he developed new film making technologies was because he was lazy and wanted the easiest way to concentrate his attention on the fun aspects of movie making. Lucas also informed attendees that he is working on literally 40 screenplays for television including the development of a second Star Wars animated series. The captive audience hung on every word and the evening ended with a standing ovation for the revolutionary director.

Check out their coverage here:

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Favreau and Lucas: Mutual Admiration Society

Bonnie Burton | June 8, 2009


(Director Jon Favreau proudly wears his Skywalker Sound shirt on location for Iron Man.)

Iron Man director Jon Favreau will be not only presenting filmmaker George Lucas with the Gene Siskel Film Center Visionary Award for Innovation in Filmmaking next weekend at a gala event, he’ll have the opportunity to interview him about his filmmaking process and influences. Even though Favreau is swamped working on the next Iron Man film, he couldn’t resist the rare request.

“It is hard to drop everything when you’re on a film this big,” he said when we spoke by phone the other day. “But the Art Institute asked me to fly to Chicago for George. Nothing short of the death of a close relative would stop me from boarding that plane.”

Favreau would never agree he is Lucas’ equal, but asked what he admires of the filmmaker, Favreau pointed to a parallel: “What I always loved is he lived through a period when films were nihilistic. The ’70s could be subversive, and I love those films, but he brought a sincere storytelling to what may seem like throwaway popcorn movies, and that hit the bull’s-eye for me.”

Lucas had equally nice things to say about Favreau:

“Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound have had the good fortune of working with Jon [on the 'Iron Man' films],” Lucas said. “I know firsthand that he is the type of filmmaker that crews here love to work with, because he always gives them the opportunity to break new ground.”

Read the full interview here:
Jon Favreau, just a regular guy (via Chicago Tribune)

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Happy Birthday, George Lucas!

StarWars.com Team | May 14, 2009

Today, marks the birth of our boss, George Lucas.

Now is the day to reflect on all the good stuff we’ve gotten thanks to the Maker.

Without George Lucas we would never appreciate cruising in classic cars and eating at Mel’s Diner. Without Lucas we would never have imagined a galaxy full of Jedi, Sith, stormtroopers, droids, Wookiees, Ewoks and AT-ATs. Without Lucas we would never have re-enacted outrunning a big boulder while trying to swipe a Golden Fertility Idol. Heck, without Lucas we’d never have known the power of the Force!

So take a moment today to play with your Star Wars action figures, wear your Indy fedora with pride, and try a Jedi Mind Trick on someone you love.

Happy Birthday, Boss!

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