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[ManaByte]

‘Star Wars’ Editor Marcia Lucas Slams Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams: ‘They Don’t Have a Clue’

Marcia Lucas was "furious" when she saw Han Solo and Luke Skywalker killed in Disney's "Star Wars" trilogy.

www.indiewire.com

“I Like Kathleen. I always liked her,” Marcia Lucas says in Rinzler’s book, “Howard Kazanjian: A Producer’s Life.” “She was full of beans. She was really smart and really bright. Really wonderful woman. And I liked her husband, Frank. I liked them a lot. Now that she’s running Lucasfilm and making movies, it seems to me that Kathy Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don’t have a clue about ‘Star Wars.’ They don’t get it. And JJ Abrams is writing these stories — when I saw that movie where they kill Han Solo, I was furious. I was furious when they killed Han Solo. Absolutely, positively there was no rhyme or reason to it. I thought, You don’t get the Jedi story. You don’t get the magic of ‘Star Wars.’ You’re getting rid of Han Solo?”

“They have Luke disintegrate,” Lucas says. “They killed Han Solo. They killed Luke Skywalker. And they don’t have Princess Leia anymore. And they’re spitting out movies every year. And they think it’s important to appeal to a woman’s audience, so now their main character is this female, who’s supposed to have Jedi powers, but we don’t know how she got Jedi powers, or who she is. It sucks. The storylines are terrible. Just terrible. Awful. You can quote me…JJ Abrams, Kathy Kennedy — talk to me.'”

This is as good a place as any to also bring up the long-running theory that the 1997 Star Wars Special Editions exist due to Marcia Lucas. The theory goes that as long as the original theatrical cuts of Star Wars existed, George would have to pay out royalties to his ex-wife (who edited the first movie). So in 1997 he re-edited the movies with a bunch of new visual effects; meaning the 1997 versions are *NEW* versions of Star Wars and not the original work Marcia Lucas edited and she'd never see a royalty from the 1997 versions. That's also one of the reasons why when they put the non-anamorphic Laserdisc rips on the 2005 DVDs they were labeled as "special features".

Also, Harrison Ford has wanted Han Solo to die since 1983. She didn't get that memo.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

George Lucas' wife edited star wars?

 

[triplestation]

i will say it many more times

if george lucas didn't craft it, it's not star wars

 

[TrueLegend]

Well, she is right. The water is wet.

 

[ManaByte]

George Lucas' wife edited star wars?

And she won an Oscar for it.

 

[Kilau]

I know Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo dead a long time ago but at least George had the sense to tell him no.

 

[ManaByte]

I know Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo dead a long time ago but at least George had the sense to tell him no.

George only told him no because dead Han Solo action figures wouldn't sell well.

 

[*Nightwing]

George only told him no because dead Han Solo action figures wouldn't sell well.

That plus he had a sequel trilogy in mind he needed to keep the character alive for?

 

[dave_d]

And she won an Oscar for it.

I'm trying to remember if she's the one that had the idea of the Death Star run being done at the same time as the Death Star is trying to blow up a planet. (Because originally George didn't have that and it was just the rebellion attacking the death star with none of the tension of them trying to stop it before another mass murder.)

 

[ManaByte]

That plus he had a sequel trilogy in mind he needed to keep the character alive for?

No, that changed with the divorce.

George was planning a 7-9 where originally Leia WASN'T the Skywalker sister, and ROTJ would end with Leia and Han's marriage. Luke would find the lost sister (named Nellith) in 7, Vader turns back in 8, and Luke and Vader teamed up to defeat the Emperor in 9. When Marcia divorced him when he was developing ROTJ he threw all that out and decided to end his movies with the sixth instead. All of that comes from Gary Kurtz, who was the producer on the OT.

 

[T8SC]

She's clearly got no idea what she's talking about, the sequels were masterpieces.

 

[Kilau]

George only told him no because dead Han Solo action figures wouldn't sell well.

Yes the merchandising was part of it, thankfully so. Also made for a better story and character arc. Sadly it allowed JJ to use it as a cheap way to garner some emotion other than nostalgia in his farce awakens.

 

[Rentahamster]

"What if George Lucas and Marcia Lucas stayed together in a happy marriage and professional relationship?"

(Eh, I don't have time to photoshop in a funny visual joke, so I'll half ass it and leave it as is)

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Read up on what A New Hope looked like before she fixed it. The world we live in would be a different place

 

[Hammerite Zealot]

So Marcia is a strong female, great editor that worked on movies like Taxi Driver and also a person that fixed a lot problems with of OT Star Wars. And now she said something that we all know for years - disney trilogy sucks hard. I wonder how media on disney payroll can spin it?

 

[DKehoe]

Read up on what A New Hope looked like before she fixed it. The world we live in would be a different place

Yeh it’s fascinating how much was changed in the edit and how much of a difference it made for the version we saw.

For those who aren’t aware, check out this video:


If Lucas did the Special Editions just to ensure she didn’t get royalties then that’s a pity considering the impact she had. I doubt she’s hurting for money. But still, she played an important role in shaping it.

 

[Slicker than your average]

I'm trying to remember if she's the one that had the idea of the Death Star run being done at the same time as the Death Star is trying to blow up a planet. (Because originally George didn't have that and it was just the rebellion attacking the death star with none of the tension of them trying to stop it before another mass murder.)

I've always wondered how the death Star got close to the planet in the first place. Doesn't look like it has light speed engines.. assuming it does, funny how it then takes hours to get to the rebel base once at the planet.

 

[ManaByte]

Doesn't look like it has light speed engines..

Back in the day it was said the Death Star travelled by hooking into the gravitational pull of planetary systems.

Rogue One established that it does have a hyperdrive.

 

[TGO]

And she won an Oscar for it.

A woman won an Oscar pre-2016?

 

[AJUMP23]

Gary Kurtz who was Lucas best executive producer also wanted Solo to die in Jedi. He also hated the second Death Star. He hated it so much he quit.

 

[Batiman]

George Lucas' wife edited star wars?

It probably would’ve been shit without her editing tbh. From what I’ve read

 

[Batiman]

I've always wondered how the death Star got close to the planet in the first place. Doesn't look like it has light speed engines.. assuming it does, funny how it then takes hours to get to the rebel base once at the planet.

This movie came out when the internet didn’t break down every inconsistency within the universe. Only in next group discussions. And they probably used their imagination to make t all make sense. Now people need everything in Star Wars to make sense.

 

[Kenpachii]

This movie came out when the internet didn’t break down every inconsistency within the universe. Only in next group discussions. And they probably used their imagination to make t all make sense. Now people need everything in Star Wars to make sense.

i hate this so much.

See this pencil in the corner behind 2 actors and behind a wall. U can see it through the glass. Now lets go to the next frame ITS GONE. omg the movie isn't real look its just gone omg.

Meanwhile space wizards fighting eachother with death rays.

 

[sol_bad]

Hold on

i hate this so much.

See this pencil in the corner behind 2 actors and behind a wall. U can see it through the glass. Now lets go to the next frame ITS GONE. omg the movie isn't real look its just gone omg.

Meanwhile space wizards fighting eachother with death rays.

I think it's more like people complaining about various force powers being used in the sequel trilogy that weren't seen in the last 6 movies.
"Why can that character do that?"
"How is that power possible?"

But in the original 6 films we see all sorts of powers used and no one cares.

 

[j0hnnix]

A woman won an Oscar pre-2016?

 

[Amiga]

FYI Harrison Ford is not Han Solo. he is just an actor that plays the character. doesn't matter what he thinks should happen. I think he was just trolling fanboys who never leave him alone.

 

[ManaByte]

This movie came out when the internet didn’t break down every inconsistency within the universe. Only in next group discussions. And they probably used their imagination to make t all make sense. Now people need everything in Star Wars to make sense.

Don't ever go down the Empire Strikes Back timeline rabbit hole.

That's been going on for over 40 years.

The Falcon's hyperdrive was broken. So it had to travel to Bespin at sub-light speeds. Realistically it'd take them a hundred years or so, but by fudging the location of Bespin to where they are; it's generally believed that Empire (from Hoth, through Luke's training, to Bespin) spans about 8 months due to the Falcon's travel time.

 

[dan76]

She right, and she's also right about the prequels. I don't think Harrison Ford would've done another Star Wars film after TFA, but it was such a crap way to go. You have one movie with Han Solo, have him and Chewey go out in a blaze of glory... something, anything other than what happened.

 

[Punished Miku]

George Lucas' wife edited star wars?

Saved the movie actually.

 

[nush]

This is as good a place as any to also bring up the long-running theory that the 1997 Star Wars Special Editions exist due to Marcia Lucas. The theory goes that as long as the original theatrical cuts of Star Wars existed, George would have to pay out royalties to his ex-wife (who edited the first movie). So in 1997 he re-edited the movies with a bunch of new visual effects; meaning the 1997 versions are *NEW* versions of Star Wars and not the original work Marcia Lucas edited and she'd never see a royalty from the 1997 versions.

Except, she's credited as an editor of ANH SE.



That theory seems flawed.

 

[gatti-man]

‘Star Wars’ Editor Marcia Lucas Slams Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams: ‘They Don’t Have a Clue’

Marcia Lucas was "furious" when she saw Han Solo and Luke Skywalker killed in Disney's "Star Wars" trilogy.

www.indiewire.com

This is as good a place as any to also bring up the long-running theory that the 1997 Star Wars Special Editions exist due to Marcia Lucas. The theory goes that as long as the original theatrical cuts of Star Wars existed, George would have to pay out royalties to his ex-wife (who edited the first movie). So in 1997 he re-edited the movies with a bunch of new visual effects; meaning the 1997 versions are *NEW* versions of Star Wars and not the original work Marcia Lucas edited and she'd never see a royalty from the 1997 versions. That's also one of the reasons why when they put the non-anamorphic Laserdisc rips on the 2005 DVDs they were labeled as "special features".

Also, Harrison Ford has wanted Han Solo to die since 1983. She didn't get that memo.

She’s also widely credited with why the dialogue in the OT isn’t absolute shit like the prequels.

 

[Master Of Illusion]

i will say it many more times

if george lucas didn't craft it, it's not star wars

Marcia also shat on the prequels:

 

[ManaByte]

I think he was just trolling fanboys who never leave him alone.

No, he asked George to kill Han in Return of the Jedi because he felt there wasn't anything else for the character to do. That's one reason they froze him in ESB so if they couldn't get Harrison back, he would've died when Leia tried to thaw him out.

He never liked Han Solo much. He DID like Indy a lot though.

 

[gatti-man]

Marcia also shat on the prequels:

The prequels had offensively bad scripts. She and everyone shat on them for that. But Atleast they still felt like Star Wars and had Star Wars action.

 

[K' Dash]

George Lucas' wife edited star wars?

more like saved Star Wars, George had a fucking mess and Marcia fixed it.

 

[gatti-man]

People that think George Lucas crafted Star Wars are perfectly right. George’s broad strokes and world crafting are brilliant but his step to step story building is fucking TRASH and a lot of brilliant people took his raw form and polished it. That’s why I was so hopeful when Disney bought Star Wars but they fucked it worse than even the prequels.

 

[sol_bad]

People that think George Lucas crafted Star Wars are perfectly right. George’s broad strokes and world crafting are brilliant but his step to step story building is fucking TRASH and a lot of brilliant people took his raw form and polished it. That’s why I was so hopeful when Disney bought Star Wars but they fucked it worse than even the prequels.

Did he even build the world?
Why know he had tonnes of artists designing everything for the prequels.

 

[gatti-man]

Did he even build the world?
Why know he had tonnes of artists designing everything for the prequels.

I’d say so. You always hire concept artists but especially for the OT his vision of the world was ground breaking and unique.

 

[Master Of Illusion]

I’d say so. You always hire concept artists but especially for the OT his vision of the world was ground breaking and unique.

He took artists who did more groundbreaking work designing Jodorowsky's Dune.

 

[CGiRanger]

FYI Harrison Ford is not Han Solo. he is just an actor that plays the character. doesn't matter what he thinks should happen. I think he was just trolling fanboys who never leave him alone.

It's the same thing for me with Patrick Stewart and Jean Luc Picard. Stewart thinks he knows what's best for the character when he clearly doesn't. Every time he's been given more control over the story-writing (Nemesis, Picard) it goes straight to shit.

Actors do not necessarily know what is best for their own characters.

 

[tsumake]

People that think George Lucas crafted Star Wars are perfectly right. George’s broad strokes and world crafting are brilliant but his step to step story building is fucking TRASH and a lot of brilliant people took his raw form and polished it. That’s why I was so hopeful when Disney bought Star Wars but they fucked it worse than even the prequels.

Same here. Who would have thought a huge corporation taking over a beloved franchise would result in yearly soulless cinematic husks?

 

[Melon Husk]

Finally, someone who can't be put down and with clout says these things out loud.

#BringBackLucas (Marcia, not George)

 

[bender]

Marcia might be the only good thing about Star Wars.

 

[GymWolf]

No shit.

 

[sinnergy]

George Lucas' wife edited star wars?

She basically saved the first movie … as it was a mess .. George could film it all but could make a coherent story apparently.. it is out there on the internet, she and another completely composed new in between shots, out of stills to fill the blanks ..

 

[DKehoe]

People that think George Lucas crafted Star Wars are perfectly right. George’s broad strokes and world crafting are brilliant but his step to step story building is fucking TRASH and a lot of brilliant people took his raw form and polished it. That’s why I was so hopeful when Disney bought Star Wars but they fucked it worse than even the prequels.

Lucas is a great ideas guy but works best when he has a filter to figure out which of his ideas are good and what needs to be thrown away. With Star Wars his film school buddies and wife were there to reign him in and help tweak his ideas (like Brian DePalma helping to write the opening crawl). Then by the time he got to the prequels he was seen as the visionary behind Star Wars so was surrounded by yes men rather than peers and we just got pure Lucas. So the prequels have some cool ideas but overall are kind of a mess.

He initially had some weird ideas for Indiana Jones too.

 

[INC]

Marcia might be the only good thing about Star Wars.

 

[Ionian]

He initially had some weird ideas for Indiana Jones too.

Like him banging a child

 

[DKehoe]

Like him banging a child

Yeh, that's the weirdest one for sure. I really don't get how he expected people to like or relate to his hero once that was revealed.

 

[Kev Kev]

Eh, they could of been better, but I thought the prequels and sequels were fine. Some weird decisions made in the sequels for sure, tho.

I’m just ready to move on from the Skywalkers and all that. Come up with new stories and new characters and try to make it feel like the vibe Mandolorian was giving out, and I think you’ll start to reign people back in.