How 'Star Wars' made George Lucas worth billions
In 1973, George Lucas had just finished directing the beloved coming-of-age film "American Graffiti."
The high school comedy remains one of the most profitable movies of all time. Made on a budget of $777,000, it earned $140 million in revenue.
Source: Pajiba
The success of "Graffiti" gave Lucas some much-needed clout in Hollywood. Producers were excited to hear his next idea. Lucas wanted to direct a sci-fi Western called "Star Wars."
At the time, nobody took sci-fi movies seriously. The genre had seen too many flops, like the infamous "Plan 9 from Outer Space." While many studios turned Lucas down, he found support from Alan Ladd Jr. at 20th Century Fox.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Early buzz on "Star Wars" was good. Spielberg thought it would be huge even then.
"A New Hope" was released on May 25, 1977. It shattered all expectations with a gross of $775.4 million worldwide. But it wasn't this number that really made George Lucas rich...
Source: Box Office Mojo
Convinced the film would be a flop, Fox let Lucas pass up an additional $500,000 in directing fees in return for keeping licensing and merchandising rights for himself. This was great for Lucas, but terrible for Fox.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
In 1978, more than 40 million "Star Wars" figures flew off the shelves for gross sales of more than $100 million.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
In 2011, a year in which there was no new "Star Wars" movie, "Star Wars" toys brought in more than $3 billion.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Lucas' standing among "Star Wars" fans was damaged with the divisive prequels, which he directed. Still, Lucas remained 100 percent in control of Lucasfilm.
Source: USA Today
In 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. It was a match made in heaven. And Lucas was an incredibly rich man. He's now worth $5.3 billion.
Like Lucasfilm, Disney is masterful at merchandising and licensing.
For example, "Frozen" made $1.3 billion worldwide. The film's merchandising value was reportedly so strong that it lifted both Disney's earnings and total toy sales.
Source: Fortune
"Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" comes out December 18. Some predict that it will be one of the biggest movies of all time, with record-breaking advance-ticket sales. Action figures of new characters were already flying off the shelves long before the film's release.
While Lucas was given the opportunity to consult, he decided to hand over the reins to J.J. Abrams.
Source: Reuters
Lucas had no involvement in "The Force Awakens," but it's safe to say that the film's inevitable success will be in large part because of him.
Lucas has yet to see the movie, which he says "would be like a divorced man going to the wedding of a grown child."
“My ex will be there, my new wife will be there, but I’m going to have to take a very deep breath and be a good person and sit through it and just enjoy the moment, because it is what it is and it’s a conscious decision that I made,” Lucas told Reuters.
Source: Reuters
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