George Lucas has been talking retirement since 1977. Weary of the mainstream cinema he helped to create, he began saying in interviews that he was planning on getting back to the cinema of his college days, the avant-garde “tone poems” of his U.S.C. short films, or his of his first feature, THX-1138 — even before he returned to feature directing in the 2000s, with the Star Wars prequels. Now, that Lucas has all but officially retired — not having directed a feature in 17 years — I’m joined on this episode by Dale Pollock, Lucas’s first biographer, to discuss whatever happened to these post-retirement promises. We discuss:
Steve Silberman’s 2005 Wired article, “Life After Darth,” which voiced all these questions, the year of Lucas’s retirement;
what were the exact circumstances of Lucas opening up his life to Pollock as a biographer during the filming of Return of the Jedi;
does Lucas deserve his reputation as a tin-eared regurgitator of poppy pulp tropes;
is he not only one of the greatest editors of all-time, or — easily — one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time?
Also:
the abbreviated career of his first wife and early collaborator, Marcia Lucas;
why the critical reception of the Star Wars prequels guaranteed Lucas would never return to film directing;
is Lucas making — maybe even stockpiling, these movies, unseen;
and is he setting up these experiments to be released after his death?
Dale Pollock is a journalist, film producer, professor, and festival programmer. Along with writing the biography Skywalking: The Life and Times of George Lucas, he’s also written for Daily Variety, the Los Angeles Times, Life, People, and Esquire. He’s executive producer 13 films, including A Midnight Clear and Blaze, taught at both USC and the University of North Carolina School of Arts in Winston-Salem, and ran the RiverRun International Film Festival. More can be found at his website.