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"Jedi" A Box-Office Bonanza for 1983
By BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
HOLLYWOOD (AP) - With "Star Wars" earning more millions five years
after its original release, the nation's theater owners can look
forward to another bonanza next summer: "The Revenge of the Jedi."
It's the third of George Lucas's space trilogy, part of a saga that
may expand to a total of nine films. "Jedi" has completed principal
photography: 12 weeks in huge stages at EMI Elstree studios near
London, two months of locations in the desert of Yuma, Ariz., and the
redwood forests near Crescent City, Calif.
Now the film is in the hands of the wizards at the Lucas
subsidiaries, Industrial Light and Magic and Sprocket Systems, at San
Mateo in northern California. Howard Kasanjian gave a progress report
by telephone from production headquarters.
"We're in the post-production stage now, and the special effects
are a mammoth undertaking," reported the producer. "Everything is on
schedule, but we'll probably finish two hours before the final prints
have to be shipped, as with 'Star Wars' and 'The Empire Strikes
Back."'
Like Lucas, Kasanjian is a graduate of the University of Southern
California film school. He joined the Directors Guild training program
in l965 and worked as assistant director for Francis Coppola, Sam
Peckinpah, Elia Kazan, Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock.
Kasanjian hooked up with Lucas to produce "More American
Grafitti," was executive co-producer on "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
and producer of "The Revenge of the Jedi."
"The new film is as big if not bigger than the first two," said
Kasanjian, 40. "A lot of action, a lot of excitement. As the
conclusion of the trilogy, it answers a lot of questions: Is Vader
really Luke's father? Who gets the Princess? Does she live? Will the
robots stay together? Will they be melted down? Audiences will learn
more about the characters, where they came from, how they became what
they are.
"It's a super film - though I never want to get hyped up about any
picture. Even though I knew we had an excellent script with
'Raiders,' I didn't say anything about it. A week before it was
released, nobody knew what it was about."
"The Revenge of the Jedi" brings back the principals of the two
earlier films: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec
Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Frank Oz, etc. The director is Richard
Marquand of Great Britain. Cost of the new film reflects its expanded
scope, as well the the inroads of inflation. Kasanjian cited these
figures:
"Star Wars" - $10.5 million.
"The Empire Strikes Back" - $25 million.
"The Revenge of the Jedi" - $32.5 million.
"If we made 'Star Wars' today it would cost $22 million,"
Kasanjian remarked. Labor in Great Britain "has risen 33 per cent
since 'Empire' three years ago. The cost of living allowance for
Americans has risen 49 per cent."
The producer remarked that Lucas has a story outline for the next
three films of the saga. The scripts may be written at the same time,
with the first two being filmed simultaneously - "so we can release
one every two years instead of every three years," said Kasanjian,
adding cautiously: "Whether we go ahead depends on the reaction to
'Jedi'."
Meanwhile the money machine grinds on. Lucas and Steven Spielberg
have a finished script for the "Raiders" sequel, tentatively called
"Indy 2," and filming is scheduled to begin next spring.
From wookiees to ewoks, from venerable artist to reclusive businessman, from "Empire" to "Doom".
As far as movies as an art form is concerned, it all went downhill from here.
