George Lucas Says He's Retiring

[RZM]

8. He seems quite unhappy

I think he's tired of the constant criticism, which is understandable. But it's also true that he lost his touch when it comes to directing people and not just special effects. The dialogue in in all three Star Wars prequels elicited groans and laughter in the theaters.

And he also has egg on his face from the 'Red Tails' fiasco, where he unsuccessfully tried to show that he knows better than the big studio execs. He claims that they wouldn't finance the film because of its mostly black cast, but that's only party true. The execs knew that it was a losing proposition even though (or perhaps because) Lucas was at the helm. He decided to finance it himself and ended up taking a bath on it, in no small part because the film was poorly reviewed.

It reminds me of an argument that Chris Rock and Spike Lee had on Rock's old HBO show. Lee was chastising the black community for not coming out to support black films, while Rock reminded him that if you want the community to come out support a film, it first has to be good enough to be worth seeing. Apparently 'Red Tails' wasn't.

Maybe it's for the best. He still has an amazing body of work under his belt and I think his legacy as a legendary filmmaker will remain intact.