Counted among the most watched and streamed franchises in the world, with millions of fans and billions in worldwide grossing, Star Wars is what made George Lucas the richest director in the world. Thanks to the insane world-building, a fresh storyline, new characters, and exciting elements, the franchise has now expanded to numerous movies, series, and TV specials.
However, when Lucas had first shown an unedited, unfinished cut of the first even Star Wars movie to a group of his director friends, including Steven Spielberg, they had told him it would be a complete failure. But these pundits couldn’t have been more wrong about it!
When Steven Spielberg Told George Lucas Star Wars Would Be A Failure
George Lucas is now the richest director in the world thanks to his huge Star Wars franchise. However even before the first movie, Star Wars: A New Hope was released he was told that the movie was a failure and could only gross about 50 million dollar at best. Even his fellow director Steven Spielberg, who is known for his unique vision, was sure that the movie would be a failure.
In a still from behind-the-scenes documentary of the series (via YouTube), Lucas had invited fellow directors who were also his good friends, for an early screening of the first movie in 1977. It was just a rough-cut and the majority of the special effects were missing from it.
After the screening was finished, his friends stated,
“I showed it to a group of my friends. Some… you know, felt sorry for me and said ‘Oh Gee, that’s too bad George.’ Some said ‘This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen’. And some of who liked it.”
As for Spielberg he was sure the movie would be a failure, he he himself recalls,
“And then later on when George and I were together, you know, George said, ‘I think I just made a kids movie, I think this is not gonna fly.’ I said, ‘I think it’s going to be a big hit. I think it’ll make $50-$60 [million].”
Well, all of them couldn’t have been more wrong!
Star Wars Is Now Among The Highest Grossing Franchises In The World
George Lucas, after watching his friend’s reactions was sure the movie would only manage to make about $15 to $20 million. So obviously it must have been a shocker to see when the movie managed to gross a record-breaking $775 million worldwide. And now it is among the highest grossing movie franchises of all time, having generated more than $10 billion worldwide.
From its immersive storyline to catchy musical scores, numerous factors have made the franchise it is today. However, as the franchise fever seems to be slowly fading away, with studios like Marvel and DC facing unprecedented challenges to uphold their dominance, it would be interesting to see whether Star Wars would be able to navigate these challenges facing franchises.
Star Wars franchise can be streamed on Disney+.
