George Lucas has a message for studios that are cutting their slates and shifting toward big-budget tentpoles and franchises: You’ve got it all wrong.
The creator of “Star Wars,” which stamped the template for the franchise-tentpole film, says many small films and Web distribution are the future.
And in case anyone doubts he means it, Lucasfilm is getting out of the movie biz.
“We don’t want to make movies. We’re about to get into television. As far as Lucasfilm is concerned, we’ve moved away from the feature film thing because it’s too expensive and it’s too risky.
“I think the secret to the future is quantity,” Lucas said.
He spoke to Daily Variety after the groundbreaking ceremony for the renamed School of Cinematic Arts at USC.
He gave $175 million — $100 million toward the endowment, $75 million for buildings — to his alma mater. But he said that kind of money is too much to put into a film.
Spending $100 million on production costs and another $100 million on P&A makes no sense, he said.
“For that same $200 million, I can make 50-60 two-hour movies. That’s 120 hours as opposed to two hours. In the future market, that’s where it’s going to land, because it’s going to be all pay-per-view and downloadable.
