Lucas Forced Himself To Write 'Episode III'


Hollywood mogul George Lucas struggled so much with writing the screenplay for final Star Wars installment Episode Iii - Revenge Of The Sith, he had to force himself to stick to a rigid working day as he sought inspiration. The hugely successful movie-maker, 60, took on the persona of a normal office worker as he sat at his desk for nine hours a day, five days a week - and he still only managed to produce five pages everyday. He says, "I am very diligent about writing. I go to work at 8.30am and leave at 6pm. I sit there with that page in front of me but I still can't write it. I do get it done, I actually write five pages a day. But I force myself - otherwise I would probably write a page a day."


- Link on the main page of http://www.imdb.com


Now, from what I know about EIII, one simple quote is definitely not going to make me nervous, but still. 5 pages during a 10 hour day? What the fuck is he doing all day? It would be one thing if he was unprepared and didn't properly plan out and outline his scripts, then I could understand writing block. But we know GL puts in the proper prep work, so just how can it take that fucking long to write 5 pages.

I think he should probably always collabo on the script with someone. Have we got a confirmation of who the script helper was, by the way?

he is also a single parent of 3 so he can't 100% focus on the script

I have a friend who is a wannabe director, has had a role in an actual hollywood movie (yep he is on imdb etc) but now just sits on his ass saying how he is going to do this and that when he finally gets motivated. I will say he has extremely good taste in movies. He is also no fan of Lucas.

He actually thought that quote was cool, and pretty honest. Writing isn't easy. Especially when you don't like to do it! It should not be a cause for worry. I suggested the same thing to this friend of mine, "Why doesn't Lucas just hire someone to write the screenplay for him while he supplies the story?" His response would be that when you feel close to your characters it's tough to hand their "voice" over to someone else.

I guess my point would be to not worry.

Good point. Still think he should collabo. In fact, thats all the more reason.

I guess most of the day he just surfed the internet and found the best of the sheep wetdreams...then just wrote them into "they fight." Thus we have EpIII.

To me (and I probably have no right to say this) but it seems like this would be the easiest episode to write. The puzzle is near complete, things have to be inevitably filled in: Anakin turns, Republic ends, Empire begins, Jedi are wiped out. Seems like it would just be filling in the blanks.

I guess he had trouble coming up with the small details, which is understandable.

GL is an ideas man...and that's as good as he gets.

Yea, good call. He is one of the best ideas man there is. But his execution sometimes is not the hottest.

He is a shitty director, shitty writer, shitty editor...

I think you have to understand that these films are a culmination of the efforts from hundreds (if not thousands) of people... not solely Lucas.

I like the SW story, although I am not a big fan of how it ends up on film. The story concept is great, and as I mentioned, GL is a great ideas man. But there is no way in hell I would classify him as anything greater than that.

He's great with images and cinematography. Would've made a great DP or camera operator I'm sure.

Why the heck is anyone worried about this quote? Holy cow, we've already read the screenplay! If we liked it, we liked it. If not, then so be it. Regardless, that screenplay is already out there. Who cares how it came to be, if (as the common voice would seem) we're pleased with it?

Sheesh.

I totally agree. I love Star Wars but I really wish it were stronger in those three areas. You are the first site admin for a SW board that I have ever heard from who shares my point of view and it's refreshing. Usually I get jumped on for saying anything like that in a SW forum.

Plus he could have taken the time to make it the best he possibly could...and it seems like its payed off.

Writing is hard, period.

I've made three 20-30 minute films, and one feature length, and while the production part of movie-making SUCKS, the writing can really be the most difficult part. I can't make myself write at all--so I'll stare at a blank page for days if I'm just not in the zone.

When it happens, 5 or 10 pages may pop out of me at a time, but that's about it. Then the reshaping and fine tuning and endless obsessiveness kicks in, which in itself can drive a person mad.

George is a great idea maker, a great editor (in my opinion--he's learned the craft well, even if I don't agree with all of his creative choices) and above all else I think a master showman. Those are some pretty damn great strengths to have as a film maker. With SITH, it looks like he busted his balls trying to make the best movie he could make, and so 2 pages a day, 5 pages a day--whatever and however it happened, I applaud him.

Show the love guys. We're all here because of him.

Would you feel more comfortable if he said he wrote the script over a weekend?

Say the script is 150 pages. That's working on the script for 6 weeks. Editors can spend up to 10 weeks on a picture, so why not start off on the right foot and spend time with the script?

i forced myself to go to work today. Lets start a thread guys! Pointless debate on a message board that is so awesome

It's a useless article (that got all it's quotes from the Making of ROTS book, btw) and it's not even worth the time to mention. Just because Lucas is slow writing screenplays isn't an explanation for why many think them to be lackluster.

Hell, if you listen to most bashers, Lucas writes em over the weekend

This is one of the most retarded absent minded threads I've ever seen.


It seems anything George does gets him negative publicity.

To say that Star Wars is only a great idea is ludicrous in my opinion. These are good films, I believe... great even. They have delivered great visuals, music, and some great writing (you heard me). The themes they deal with are timeless.

I do kinda agree though, that the idea and mythology of it all does preceed the actual films... in a way.

Never-the-less I adore these films for many reasons... and I don't think that'll ever change.

As I said before, THE SCREENPLAY IS (Notice how I use caps to emphasize that I think this is important) ALREADY OUT. Who cares how it came to be in its present state? It's not made any better or worse by this article. If someone talked to Mario Puzo and asked how he got the idea for the Godfather and he said that he wrote the book and the screenplay while smoking the reefer, would that change anyone's critical opinion of the movie? I think not.

wait a second... are people bashing George because they don't think he spent enough time on the script!?!



George has said many a time before that these movies aren't about the dialogue, but the visuals and music...

You people are stupid.

I love the avatars in this forum!

I do think we are automatically too hard on George...especially if we haven't seen the film. Of course with the track record, its hard to not think the worst.

In your opinion.

Holy shit, i cant believe that this thread actually exists... so it took him a while to write the script... its good to know he agonizes over it, so its gonna be the best it can be...

If what we hear is true, than this movie will be unlike any of the others, which makes it easy to believe it would be (more) difficult to write. Its a dark film, and all the dialogue really has to be poignant, get straight to the point so that it moves. theres alot to do in this film, and the dialogue has to be top notch...

jesus guys, the movies right around the corner, cant we just relax before we tear everything we hear apart?

Okay thats it, I have lurked long enough.

I'm a tad miffed with all the blatant Lucas bashers, by blatant I mean the folks who are having a go at him for every little thing that is either written about him or what someone has said about him.

In 27 years from now when all the Lucas bashers have realised their vision and in the process revolutionised visual effects and cinema in general, I shall stand corrected, but until such times, Lucas is the reason we are all typing here, love it, hate it, it's all George's fault.

Now lets think, he forced self to write script, you don't think ... just for a minute ... that he meant, it was difficult to write? I mean, a saga going I, II, IV, V, VI isn't much use is it? Considering what is expected in the third part.

Plus it's *his* story, so he wants it to be just right for his own satisfaction as well as the fans.

No one in here is bashing Lucas. Not me, not Tern, nobody. Only reason I started this thread was to talk about the quote, b/c it's quite absurd that it takes him 10 hours to write 5 pages, if that is the case, his method of writing is pretty flawed. As soon as you have the outline for a script, the characters, and the scenes, an actual draft should only take a week to write if you are spending 10 hour days on it. You will likely spend months rewriting and rewriting [and its only in rewriting a script becomes good], and you've probably spent months preparing, but to spend a day on five pages of dialogue is not at all how you write. If thats the case, you didn't prep.

I don't think it means the writing is going to be bad. It just means Lucas isn't a natural screenwriter. I do think he should have someone help him with that part of the process. That's not bashing. I love Star Wars and I have loved both prequels, I'm just making a statement about Lucas'screenwriting and how I think it wouldn't hurt if he had a script doctor.

I have NOT read the screenplay yet, nor do I intend to. People shouldn't take the fact for granted that not everyone has read the script.

as a prospective film student, i think his efforts are admirable in that he commited so much of his time to the script

as long as he's satisfied with his work on it, the movie will be exactly the way it's supposed to be...in the end, that's all there has ever been to it

I want to replace that banana with my dick.

Well aye.

I mean ....

Off topic man!

wait, I'm confused... are people complaing because he took too long writing the script or didn't take long enough?



who the fuck cares anyway? as I said it aint about the script...

yay you are ecool now you've seen the screenplay we are plownd stfu

i think i get what you mean....the idea of Good vs. Evil in a pure, well-defined sense, the heroic journey as in Luke in ANH to ROTJ, and the tragedy of Anakin's fall - how a good person goes bad thinking he is doing good then forgetting who he really is principle-wise....yeah, those are interesting story elements to explore....

but as any writer knows, you can have the arc, but not the fine points forming them....

but hey, i love these movies, warts and all.....

Word, fair enough. I just found it a particularly startling quote. But you're right. GL has made similar comments before and similar threads have been made before.

Feel free to lock, it is getting redundant....my b

No doubt. I'm about to have my mid-life crisis at 20 trying to figure out just what the fuck my life is going to be like without having the prospect of a new Star Wars movie coming out I'm goin need to find a new way to procrastinate, thats for sure.

Sex. Alot of sex.

PAGE 2 AHOY!

I own my own company and develop my own products. I get to make up EVERYTHING about how it works, what it does and doesn't do, etc.

Unfortunately I also have to write the marketing material for it, which honestly, should be great, because it is an opportunity to brag about how great what I've worked on is.

What I've found is that, in fact, even though you KNOW exactly how the thing works, actually taking the time to articulate everything exactly the way it needs to be is heartbreakingly difficult.

Writing is hard, and it takes a lot of time. 5 pages a day is a very good clip, even for something as pivotal and well understood as ROTS. Especially when you are under the pressure public expectation about something as huge as ROTS.

It's very difficult, and my hat's off to you, George. Good work.

Na, you can go blind that way.

Try it with a girl, it's alot better.

you got your bases covered then.

Anyone who thinks 5-10 pages a day is insufficient should really have a go at scriptwriting themselves. I have two on the boil, torturous doesnt begin to describe the process. Collaborate with who? Sorry, I wanna see GLs vision of how it all goes down. I don't think the scripts have been as bad as the delivery. What gets into the script has only a slight relation to what gets shown on screen, take Haydens whiny teenage confession of how Anakin slaughtered the Tuskens, it was done several ways,the one Hayden liked least was what ended up on screen, an awful lot of suspension of opinion should take place before we moan at that cos we still havent seen ROTS and dont know if Anakins character arc makes sesnse until we do.
Ever read a fanscript? Laced with lightsabers and all the other SW trinkets theyre still a million miles from feeling like SW, cos its just not that easy to pull off.Imagine how good the Matrix sequels coulda been if the brothers had took similar time to work on the script. Its not just about getting the dialogue right.
Something that never gets mentioned is the expansion of what we know about the SW universe that has only happened in the prequels. We know all about how anakins upbringing differs from all other Jedi.Thats dull to listen to but is there for a reason.Give me a well thought out character over a lucky chosen one like Neo anyday.
If I was a billionaire I wouldnt go near a pen, I'd start a cult and be knee deep in whores and followers.

I think his pace at writing could be from age. It happens with any artist really. When you're younger you find that you work quicker and spend more time trying to make your work as complex as possible but as you get older it becomes harder to do that same type of complexity in your scripts. In the case of Lucas I think he spent more time trying to avoid taking short cuts so that the script will have the climax we all want the last movie to be.

The other reason it probably took so long for him to write is the dialogue.
If you look back at the Star Wars movies they have memorable comedic dialogue. In "Revenge of the Sith" George doesn’t have that dialogue to fall back on. Basically what I'm saying is that anytime you do a comedy you have the ability to try it out and perfect it if a joke is not working. When you're dealing with drama you have to basically guess at what the audience will find dramatic.

These guys that write have a good point. I've written over a dozen screenplays, and only two or three are worth a shit.

It's easy to think about a story, where it should go, what should happen, how it should end, etc etc. But actually sitting down and working these brain farts into a cohesive piece of material is a hair-pulling experience. That's why so many writers fail and give up on page 1, and why the successful ones are usually big drinkers.

Sure the script has some jokey moments and is satuarated by GL's serial style dialogue, but the story is strong, the atmosphere is dark, and it looks like, from the early reviews, that it was sent from page to screen in a very effective way. And GL's got to get some respect from us for that.

amen to that brotha

to say Lucas is a shitty director and a shitty editor is the greatest load of horse shit I think I've ever heard. I'm not sure why you'd say this Tern, to get attention or whatever, but it's just plain false. You can critique the man on his writing - fuck, he even wails on himself, but to call his directing and editing skills shitty is just ignorant and a plea for help.

Just because you were beaten by a girl at pool is no cause for these outrageous statements.

I was going to not reply in this thread, but since this dude is questioning my character and or my appreciation of GL...I do major in film, and focus specifically in screenwriting and script analysis so I'm not just taling out of my ass. And I'm not talking from just first hand perspective, in which case I would still think it absurd to write five pages a day, I'm talking from screenwriters who have specifically come in and talked about their writing procedure. And in most cases, they say by the time it comes to write the movie, they are prepared enough to basically sit and write without much stopping. Its the amateur that sits in front of the computer for hours typing nothing b/c they haven't thought it out yet.

And do yourself a favor, download Final Draft and see just how much a page is. Or 5 pages. It's nothing. You might be thinking its comparable to writing a 5 page essay or something, no, a page of script is rather, rather barren in case you haven't noticed.

Of course I love GL, and I do think he has made some great contributions to filmmaking, all I was trying to say was that I wish he would get some help writing scripts...and as Fatboy pointed out, its a redundant point and we're running out of things to talk about.

And now I'll try not to reply to this thread anymore.

Then why have you made over 1,300 posts on a site dedicated to something he created.

People are always bashing him, like they can do any better.

This thread is turning into more and more of a waste. I certainly never meant for it to turn into a Lucas bashfest or defensefest. Lets just talk about the top avatars at the forum.

I nominate the guy who has the chick w the banana, ericrypt I think it is. It would've been Tony Montana till he put Beezo's head on some chick's hot body and ruined my chance of becoming sexually aroused for quite some time.

i liked the one with that chick's front bursting open

so subtle, yet incredibley effective