After releasing his latest major motion picture, Red Tails, George Lucas will be retiring as a director or major budget blockbuster films. He will be taking a que from close friend Francis Ford Coppola, and will focus on smaller personal project films.
“I’m retiring… I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.” says Lucas.
His long time friend and producer Rick McCallum added “Once Red Tails is finished, he’s done everything he’s ever wanted to do… He will have completed his task as a man and a filmmaker.”
Lucas has been steadily decreasing his work load over the last few years. Most of his recent work has been in re-editing the Star Wars films once again. Many have criticized Lucas for his alterations to Star Wars and have called for him to leave the profession for a while and leave his work alone.
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It makes you think – he’s made other statements in the past, like “I’ll never do another Star Wars movie.” And then he goes ahead and does one anyway.
Mr. Lucas has been one the most inspirational figures in my life, and inspired me greatly. One of the things I find most inspiring about him is that he never gives up, and keeps moving forward and doesn’t turn his back on the value of his own imagination. I’m not a kid anymore, but thinking about the stuff Lucas has done makes me feel like one, and reminds me that it’s not over till you say it’s over. And, even then, you can change your mind and come back strong.
He says this new film is his last, and that he’s done everything he’s set out to do. But I don’t think he’s done. It’s not a job, it’s a journey. And I think he’s still on the path, and he’ll never leave it.