George Lucas Screwed Movie-Moron

[Sheridan Passell]

I was talking to new member Frank over e-mail about this, but I thought I'd continue this here.

Yeah, so Movie-Moron's silent sub-editor recently worked with Skywalker Ranch, but far from it being a dream, the project turned into a complete disaster when LucasArts pulled out at the 11th hour of development over money and caused the sub-editor's company (Free Radical) to go into administration.

The general problem at Skywalker Ranch is that they have lost sight of what made their own brand (Star Wars) appealing. There are too many people there in positions of power who have got there because of force of fearsome personality rather than actual talent.

Here's the game Free Radical had almost completed -

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/15/rumor-leaked-footage-shows-star-wars-battlefront-3-in-action/

[Frank Perrotto]

Hey Sheridan!

I think it's funny (maybe not funny, but at least ironic) that, like all companies founded by a former maverick, it's once again been taken over by MBA's and marketing people. It sounds like a situation not much different than the studios. Lucas even said in that Empire of Dreams doc that he has become the thing he once rebelled against, 'the head of a large corporation.'

It just seems like the people who are in charge of the 'story' aspect of the star wars universe, such as what appears in the games, don't really know much about telling a compelling story. I think the extended universe has suffered from poor writing, as have the games. There's a certain generic quality to stuff like Force Unleashed that just doesn't interest me. Like most fans, if it's got Darth Vader and the story isn't a rehash of where we've been before, I'm there, but I still do not like the look and feel of most of the newer characters. It's storytelling by committee. There's a lot of raw talent out there that doesn't get a crack at Star Wars, just because they probably wouldn't tow the company line. It seems like the last two people to really have any freedom in that universe besides Lucas were Lawrence Kasdan and Irvin Kershner and look what they created.

And I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. I don't care much for the prequels, but Empire remains one of my top five films of all time, up there with Barry Lyndon, Raging Bull, Lawrence of Arabia, and Blade Runner. In that way, I actually think it receives even less praise than it deserves.

I must say, though, that I think people in positions of power due to sheer force of personality happens pretty much across the board in all forms of art and business. Whether or not their actual talent warrants being there is another story. It does seem especially true of the film and television industry, though.

[Sheridan Passell]

The thing that makes writing a new Star Wars product so difficult is not only heavy (and misguided) interference from those above you, but the Star Wars book of canon. If totally restricts what a character can do, say, where he can go to a point of insanity. And it's full of contradictions. And, like the Bible, it's open to interpretation, so when you think something's clear, you get over-ruled anyway by a boss who sees it differently.

[David Hawk]

You would also have thought that there would've been more thought involved if they knew that Free Radical wold go under if they pulled out

[Sheridan Passell]

They cared 0% about Free Radical going under.

[David Hawk]

Its obviously not uncommon for this to happen when a giant plays with the mouse but, and i have no idea how much Lucas himself was personally involved, you would have thought that LucasArts would remember what it was funded on and help the little guy out, i mean was there any reason given for canceling the project?, it cant be revenue surely as both BF1 and 2 did excellent figures here and the rest of the world

[Sheridan Passell]

I have no idea how much involvement George Lucas had, it's likely not very much at all, but he chose his minions. They took the project back even though it was basically finished then gave it to another company, it's always about money, the game sells huge but it's a question of who gets what percentage, the developer or the publisher.

[David Hawk]

Thats such a shit way to run things, i cant believe they got the almost complete game then took it from Free Radical and gave it to another company, what a shark thing to do

[Frank Perrotto]

Did Free Radical get paid for the work that they did? If so, I'm assuming that it was depending upon some kind of percentage from the game sales and the reputation of the game itself and their Lucasarts relationship to secure other deals. I have no idea how that stuff works with regards to games, but it seems like that move must have had some kind of a financial ripple effect that destroyed the little guy.

Speaking of Star Wars, did anyone actually watch The Clone Wars movie? I didn't, just curious the degree to which it was bad... since we have to assume that it was bad.

[Sheridan Passell]

Basically Free Radical did the work, asked to be paid. LucasArts refused to pay because they are in financial difficulty, making up some weak-ass excuse based on ridiculous technicalities. In the end the only choice was for Free Radical to give up the whole project because they longer they held onto it, the more it was costing them.

Clone Wars looks like shit, end of story.

[dalmatianjaws]

That's horrible.

The original run of Clone Wars tv show is amazing. I was SO dubious, but the style and story and editing and imagination were absolutely awesome.

Then Lucas got rid of that creative director and stole the style for the movie ... ... ... ... and added a gay "Hutt" character. His express direction when he saw the preliminary animation was, "pretty good, but let's make him speak English and sound like Truman Capote."

The man is insane. He's fucking Pol Pot of the movie industry. He needs to be artistically assassinated, I'm not sure how to do that legally.

[Sheridan Passell]

Code:

"pretty good, but let's make him speak English and sound like Truman Capote."

That was the same advice given to Philip Seymour Hoffman and it won him an Oscar.