George Lucas Says He's Retiring from Making Blockbusters - East Idaho News
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George Lucas Says He’s Retiring from Making Blockbusters

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GETTY E 102711 StevenSpielbergGeorgeLucasJPG?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1326971011046George Lucas pictured on left. VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — George Lucas, the mastermind behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, says he’s done making blockbusters — with the exception of a possible fifth Indiana Jones film.

In a lengthy interview with The New York Times, Lucas says he’s “retiring” and, “moving away from the business” so he can work on smaller, personal projects.

Lucas, who’s 67, most certainly will not produce or direct any more Star Wars films.  He seems miffed that devoted fans of the series have complained whenever he’s made small revisions to the original releases of the flicks; for example, in the Blu-ray version of Return of the Jedi, he added Darth Vader yelling, “Nooo!” during his climactic scene with the evil Emperor Palpatine.

Lucas says, “Why would I make any more when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?”

Lucas does accept blame for a much-maligned scene in 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in which the title character survives a nuclear bomb inside a refrigerator.  Though director Steven Spielberg has said it was his idea, Lucas claims his friend is just trying to “protect” him.

He says he had to convince Spielberg to include the scene by presenting what the Times calls a “dossier” stating his case.  He tells the newspaper, “The odds of surviving that refrigerator — from a lot of scientists — are about 50-50.”

Lucas produced the World War II drama Red Tails, opening Friday.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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