[Hannibal]

Lucas Fears Next Star Wars' Box Office Performance
By WENN
............................................
Legendary director George Lucas fears the dark nature of his final Star Wars prequel, Revenge of the Sith, will threaten its box office performance when it's released later this year.

The third episode in the series focuses on Anakin Skywalker's transformation from a promising Jedi Knight into notorious arch-villain Darth Vader.

But producer Rick McCallum has reassured Lucas, by reminding him he's appalling at predicting how his movies will perform.

McCallum tells British movie magazine Empire, "When it comes to predicting grosses, George is absolutely mad. That's probably his way of dealing with the anticipation that any film can fail. But I think, really, truly, this film won't."

Articles Copyright World Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.



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I think its hardly going to be the "DARK NATURE" but the flatulent nature of his Menace.

[Despondent]

Rrright. And he's threatening not to do the 7-9 Episodes at all unless Sith is tops at box for the year some are led to believe.

He's sensing his mortality yet clutching to his power. Maybe the "pull a vader," stab would be just that. A last-minute request that the OT be released to DVD.

"Tell my detractors,
(cue strings.)
'they were right'"

[Chefelf]

I'm tired of hearing Lucas ramble on about how "dark" his films are. He was constantly talking about how dark Attack of the Clones was going to be. After seeing it I found it to be about as dark as The Brave Little Toaster.

[Lord Aquaman]

I'm tired of hearing Lucas ramble on about how "dark" his films are.  He was constantly talking about how dark Attack of the Clones was going to be.  After seeing it I found it to be about as dark as The Brave Little Toaster.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Too true... George wouldn't know "dark" if it came up and bit him in the [BLEEP].

[DBrennan3333]

Of course, this is really a marketing ploy, a come-on to audiences masked as a parental advisory.

They said the same damn thing about that crappy AOTC and, like ChefElf said, that turned out to be PG-rated corn puff.

But you know what? Defenders of the Prequel Trilogy should hold onto this story because after ROTS gets embarassed at the box office the way that AOTC did, they can use this as their excuse.

(Note: AOTC was the first Star Wars movie to not be the number one movie the year it was released - it was a distant third - and it was also, by far, the lowest earner of the five Star Wars movies after adjusting for inflation (BoxOfficeMojo.com).

[J m HofMarN]

I think the problem some of us are making is that we assume that darkness=depth. EP2 had its dark moments but they only got into twilight at best. ESB would be considered to have been midnight because you actually felt the darkness of it all. To me thats what darkness should be, it should be depressing, worrying, things like that. Violence and bad attitudes do not make a film dark. It's character depth and viewer empathy that make a film dark.

[Supes]

Note: AOTC was the first Star Wars movie to not be the number one movie the year it was released - it was a distant third - and it was also, by far, the lowest earner of the five Star Wars movies after adjusting for inflation (BoxOfficeMojo.com).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Worldwide it did even worse. It finished 4th on the total earnings chart. The adjusted earning detail is really interesting reading also. Not to many surprises, but still very interesting.

[Despondent]

Oh man, those are Great statistics.


Trying to save the franchise he is. And nobody knows it like he.

[Jordan]

This just backs up my theory that Lucas grew up in a Mormon household. Clearly he's never seen a 'dark' film or even drank normal coke, but rather that diet, low caffiene coke that comes in a gold can.

I wish SW was dark. It sounds sick, but there is beauty in misery. If they're wasn't, then Van Gogh and Radiohead would not be famous.

KOTOR is very dark, that's what gives the story line depth. We have honest symapthy and distain for the characters.

[Sagacity]

I'm tired of hearing Lucas ramble on about how "dark" his films are.  He was constantly talking about how dark Attack of the Clones was going to be.  After seeing it I found it to be about as dark as The Brave Little Toaster.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Really. I don't think his supporters know what "dark" means, either. At TF.N I stumbled upon a thread where somebody listed why ROTS will be darker than ESB, and in nearly every reason was the word "fight" or "kill". Are people's imaginations that limited?

Almost all the spoilers and pic slipping out of LFL are taken out of context, to be sure, but in none of them do I get the sense of impending doom for the galaxy. In ESB, you always had the feeling of the Empire bearing down, and everything flowed as a response to that. (That's where the "Menace" really was. ) There is jeopardy; we didn't want Luke, Han and Leia to get caught, we wanted the Rebels on Hoth to get away, we were concerned when Luke broke his training early to save his friends, and we were shocked to hear Vader's revelation. Know why? WE CARED. Gushers can pooh-pooh this all they want, but all this fight-kill stuff says some care only for the spectacle these characters will bring, not for the characters themselves. The weak plot weavings we suspect are in ROTS make it easy to do that. There's no conenction with anything bigger. There's no sense that the ramifications of the characters' actions are going to spread beyond them. We hear a lot about the will of the Force and the Chosen One etc., but the myth of this overarching, barely knowable, barely controllable, all-embracing Force was exploded two movies ago. It's all just lip service now.

So it won't be dark. It can only be dark if you're anxious and if you care about what happens, and it stirred more in you than excitement and glee.

This post has been edited by Sagacity: 23 January 2005 - 04:38 PM

[Madam Corvax]

Gee, how stupid some people can be. I just can't imagine anyone so stupid as Lucas.

It is like boiling a pot of water and then wondering why on earth it got hot.

First he targets 12-year-old as an audience for his first "film". He does it knowing all along, that in order to have any connection with OT there must be some violence, blood and atrocities in sequels, at least off-screen.

So it puts off all intelligent audience and fans of OT.

Then he tries to salvage something by giving us the second instalment, which he tries to make appealing to both 12-year-olds, now 15-year-olds N-Sync fans, and old fans. Of course he is unsuccesfull, because I suppose there is a limited pool of 15-year-old retarded N-Sync fans who still like the second installment, so he manages to alienate both old and new fans.

And now he worries that the film will be "dark". What an idiot. You either target children or adults, you just can't make a film appealing to both.

Perhaps he didn't know that even an extremely bloody and violent film, if targeted properly, properly marketed and about emotive subject can do well - he must know it now, after "Passion".

And of course ROTS will do badly, it is bound to do badly in box office. Save a few geeks from TFN, most people lost interest .

[Chefelf]

And now he worries that the film will be "dark". What an idiot. You either target children or adults, you just can't make a film appealing to both.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I disagree with that particular part of your statement. I think there are plenty of examples of films that can appeal to both groups. The film doesn't have to be violent to be dark, it just needs to end on a bad note (which, in Star Wars terms means that there is no celebration sequence).

The original SW films appeal to children and adults. My parents really enjoyed the movies when I was younger. The Princess Bride is another great example of a movie that is entertaining to adults and children alike.

Making a film that will enteretain kids is easy. Making a film that will entertain their parents as well is the real challenge.

[barend]

i think he likes to throw around the word dark, to attract people who love ESB.

it's such a cheap ploy... and an obvious one.

i'm sure they're just going to make anikans plight into an anti-drug parrallel...

he was strong with the force, he had a promising career,
he had more medichlorines than master yoda
but he turned to the dark side...


the light side...
my anti-drug.

[CowboyCurtis]

I was worried that Lucas would blame the "dark nature" of his film on the box office results, if they were lower than expected. And, that's just---so damn frustrating! It still could be "dark" but it needed to be consistent, and...good!!!

Lucas... I have no words for him anymore.