zombie84 said:
You know what's scary? George Lucas considered putting Young Han Solo in Episode III so seriously that he was featured in a draft of the script! And they did concept art!
WTF!! Somehow the retardedness of it all just dawned on me. What the hell went through his head? It says a lot about how Lucas thinks these days.
doesn't surprise me. the whole thing was a big joke to him anyways. Newsweek had it right when they said "fans felt Lucas was taking his money and laughing all the way back to skywalker ranch" when detailing all the lucrative merchandising deals lucas was able to sign before TPM came out.
the real story is not that lucas wanted Han Solo in ROTS, but why he was ultimately dropped. unless, he never had any intention and just wanted it in the scripts to zing everyone - that wouldn't be out of character either.
Hey Zombie,
I've been reading several articles that you wrote and they are all fascinating. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of Secret History of Star Wars. Had one question:
-what do you know about lucas' relationship to Martin Scorsese?
I know you mentioned marcia lucas edited his movies, so there's a connection there. and I know they crossed paths over the years being from the same generation. but that seems more like a 'friend of a friend' kind of thing. and you documented with great humor that lucas was quesy with scorsese given his crazy drug use at the time.
But at the Oscars when Scorsese finally won best director, lucas went out of his way to make it look like him and scorsese were life-long friends and soul-mates and I am dubious about this. I've followed many interviews with scorsese and read a biography of his that I can't remember the title - and there was never any real reference to Lucas. Coppola, yes; Spielberg, yes (he was supposed to direct cape fear :D) but not lucas.
are they really that close? if not, my suspicion is lucas was doing this for his own selfish reasons. We all know what a prestige-whore he is (doing interviews with bill moyers, loaning out star wars props to the Smithsonian). methinks he couldn't resist a chance being seen as king-maker to one of the best filmmakers alive.
Any knowledgeable film fan can tell you the only ability lucas shares with spielberg, coppola and scorsese is that he can pee standing up (to paraphrase charles barkley). But lucas knows the power of images. not long after the oscars, some apologist took a picture of lucas with spielberg, copolla and scorsese and titled it Cinema's Mt. Rushmore!!!
If im wrong, and they truly are very close friends then I'll stand corrected. As a huge fan of scorsese, I remember all those years watching in dismay as he was not recognized only to be overjoyed when he finally won. If lucas is a true fan and even greater friend, he must have felt the same way.
interested in hearing your thoughts