George Lucas Calls Hollywood Films “Circus Movies”

George Lucas has a lot to say about what he seems to consider the deterioration of Hollywood filmmaking. Insisting personally that he has never lost his generation’s weariness of authority and knowing to “not trust anyone over 30,” he also has long, long, long been a Hollywood authority. Hell, he just about wrote the modern blockbuster and merchandizing synergy playbook for studios when he made both the original Star Wars trilogy while retaining the merchandizing rights—which made him a billionaire. And that is before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney to the tune of $4 billion, which has led to a whole lot more Star Wars films to be announced in the pipeline, including at least five Jedi-related movies recently announced for the next five years.

All that said, he still has a certain disdain for the modern blockbuster system.

“I really have no interest in science fiction at all,” Lucas said at a Sundance Film Festival, which at first glance wouldn’t be that surprising as Star Wars is pure fantasy. But as quoted by Deadline, Lucas elaborated, “A lot of movies you see today are circus movies. Let’s see how much blood comes out when he splats…It’s really gotten to be more and more circus than substance.”

Obviously, this is eyebrow-raising since Star Wars (as well as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws) is credited with birthing the modern blockbuster.

“I get blamed for a lot of that,” Lucas said. “If you go into Star Wars and see what’s going on there, there’s a lot more substance than circus.”

I would honestly agree with George Lucas that all of the Star Wars movies, even the dreary prequel trilogy, aspire for more character based storytelling and a sense of awe, as opposed to only an overreliance on numbing special effects—albeit the prequel trilogy had that and then some too.

Still, the comments are mystifying given his recent actions. I agree that the studio system has become increasingly insulated with formulaic tent poles, but Lucas just ensured that Disney will be doing that forevermore with Star Wars, as we will probably see at least seven more films from that brand in the next decade.

And while Star Wars was most definitely a singular story under Lucas’ hand, mostly about a father and son when it was at its best, it is now going to become increasingly the kind of branded circus he is speaking about.

Is this just sour grapes over the revelation that Disney wants to recast Indiana Jones and (presumably) do it without Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford’s involvement? Because while I agree that such a prospect is worthy of the label (and article) Indiana Jones and the Danger of the Doomed Reboot…Lucas still made it a possibility when he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. Did he think the studio that is gearing up for three Marvel films a year was just going to curate his library? Or does he not think Disney is part of the circus mentality? Because if not, I would love to extend a ticket to him for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales…