Director Steven Spielberg has delivered many blockbusters, and has touched many lives with his art. The filmmaker is known for extremely personal films on a blockbuster scale, with films such as Jaws, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park being some of his most acclaimed films. He has also won the Oscar twice for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.
While Spielberg has been known for his blockbusters, he was also reportedly clairvoyant in predicting the cultural phenomenon that George Lucas’ Star Wars was going to be. The Indiana Jones filmmaker reportedly believed in the legendary space opera’s success even more than Lucas himself, who only believed that it was a hit after the first weekend.
Steven Spielberg Was The Only One Who Believed In Star Wars
George Lucas’ Star Wars became a pop cultural phenomenon upon its release in 1977. The beginning of a multi-billion dollar franchise, the film starred Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher in lead roles, and was a space opera chronicling the journey of a group of rebel heroes against the dictatorial intergalactic empire, with its chief enforcer being the villainous Darth Vader.
While the film became a worldwide success and is still a franchise that churns out films and TV series, creator George Lucas reportedly did not believe the film would be a huge blockbuster hit. When he showed a rough cut of the film to his filmmaker friends, Lucas recalled that many of them sympathized with him and felt that the film would flop (via Insider).
George Lucas mentioned in a panel discussion at the 2015 Tribeca Festival (via Insider) that he himself did not expect the film to do so well, and that the only person who believed in the film was his friend and fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg. Lucas recalled that Spielberg was ecstatic when he saw the first cut Lucas showed and called it a blockbuster.
“I didn’t think the film was going to be successful…I showed it to all of my friends early on, but it was mostly [filled with] stock footage of old war movies, and all kinds of stuff. They saw it and [said] ‘Poor George.’ ‘What were you thinking?’. Steven had jumped up, and said, ‘This is going to be the biggest movie of all time’. Everybody in the room looked up at Steven and [said], ‘Poor Steven.'”
Star Wars had a dream run at the cinemas, earning an unprecedented $1.5 million in its opening weekend (via Box Office Mojo). The film ended up earning over $500 million and surpassed Spielberg’s own Jaws as the highest-grossing film at the time.
Steven Spielberg Won A Bet Against George Lucas That Gives Him Profits From Star Wars
Steven Spielberg’s belief in Star Wars seemed to have not only earned him brownie points for being a great friend but also earned him profits from the film. Spielberg recalled in an interview that George Lucas visited him on the sets of Close Encounters of the Third Kind after filming Star Wars, and was reportedly disappointed with what he had shot.
Spielberg mentioned that George Lucas was extremely impressed by the sets and production of the former’s film and felt that it would be a huge blockbuster. He reportedly even went as far as making a deal with Spielberg saying that they would get 2.5% trade points on each others’ films. According to Insider,
“[George Lucas] said, ‘Oh my God, your movie is going to be so much more successful than ‘Star Wars’! This is gonna be the biggest hit of all time. I can’t believe this set. I can’t believe what you’re getting, and oh my goodness.’ He said, ‘All right, I’ll tell you what. I’ll trade some points with you. You want to trade some points? I’ll give you 2.5% of ‘Star Wars’ if you give me 2.5% of ‘Close Encounters.’ So I said, ‘Sure, I’ll gamble with that. Great.'”
While Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a box-office success, earning over $306 million worldwide, it was nowhere near the cultural phenomenon that Star Wars ended up being. Hence, the trade seemed to have worked in the West Side Story filmmaker’s favor.
All films and shows in the Star Wars franchise are available to stream on Disney+.
