George Lucas told Cannes on Friday how he had to sneak into his own first premiere at the French film festival and explained why "Star Wars" movies have always been for kids. The 80-year-old legendary filmmaker also responded to criticism of a lack of diversity in his movies, and reflected on making cult classics in the 1970s. Awards Lucas is in town to receive an honorary Palme d'Or, a version of the festival's top prize.
Despite grossing billions at the box office, the U.S. director has never won a competitive Oscar in his home country.
"It's always great to be recognized," he said. "Obviously we have a lot of fans and all that kind of stuff. But in terms of awards, I don't make the kind of movies that win awards!" Cannes debut Lucas first came to Cannes in 1971 for his avant-garde sci-fi movie "THX 1138".
It was a box office flop, and studio Warner Bros refused to pay for him to travel to France when it was selected for the festival. Lucas paid his own way, and arrived to find it "raining like crazy". "We got to see the movie.
We snuck in. We didn't have tickets. We didn't have anything.
We just went in," he said. Asked years later by journalists why he hadn't shown up at a press conference for the movie, he replied: "I didn't know there was one." 'Star Wars' "THX 1138" became "a cult classic, because people would drop acid and watch it", recalled Lucas.
His next film, "American Graffiti", was also initially hated by its studio. But it went on to gross over $100 million. L.
