GEORGE LUCAS To Receive Honorary Palme D’Or At The 77th Cannes Film Festival

The 77th Cannes Film Festival is set to give the Honorary Palme D'Or to George Lucas on May 25.

American filmmaker and philanthropist, George Lucas, will be receiving the Honorary Palme d’Or at the closing ceremony of the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 25.

According to the festival, they are “delighted to pay tribute to one of the greatest figures of contemporary cinema.” They continue by saying how the filmmaker’s extraordinary career has brought great entertainment and innovation to many film viewers.

This is an exciting time for the filmmaker as Lucas’ first film THX-1138 was selected to be shown in a new program for first-time directors called the Directors’ Fortnight back in 1971.

GEORGE LUCAS’ SUCCESSFUL CAREER

Lucas graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) with a bachelor of fine arts in film in 1967 and soon after, he re-enrolled as a graduate student in film production. Two years later, Lucas moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and co-founded the studio American Zoetrope with Francis Ford Coppola in hopes of creating a liberating environment for filmmakers. This is where Lucas adapted his first full-length feature film, THX-1138. Soon after, Lucas created his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd, and directed the successful film, American Graffiti.

Eventually, Lucas set his sights on adapting Flash Gordon but unfortunately, he was unable to obtain the rights which led him to write an original space adventure that was Star Wars. The film series was significantly influenced by the Samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. Star Wars quickly became the highest-grossing film of all time. Lucasfilm has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from licensed games, toys, and collectibles created for the franchise.

Even though the series became a massive success, the original Star Wars film went through a tumultuous production and during the editing process, Lucas suffered health complications, such as hypertension and exhaustion. This also caused a strain on his relationship with his wife and became a contributing factor to their divorce by the end of the trilogy. The success of the Star Wars film gave more attention and focus to Lucas. There were both negative and positive aspects with wealth and fame being included.

In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing large blockbuster films and re-focusing his career on smaller, independently budgeted features. Kathleen Kennedy, a long-term collaborator with Steven Spielberg and a producer of the Indiana Jones films was appointed as co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd. Lucas became a creative consultant on the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s first film, The Force Awakens. He also had cursory involvement with 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Disney+ Star Wars streaming series, The Mandalorian, and the premiere of the eighth season of Games of Thrones.

“A visionary intergalactic odyssey that reinvented the codes of cinematic genres as part of the New Hollywood movement, Star Wars is nothing short of mythology, a study that has fascinated George Lucas since his university days, in the construction of characters and plots and the breadth of its cultural reach. Like Tolkien in literature, he imagined a universe, with its geography, populations, languages, moral values and even its vehicles. This exceptional ambition, which initially frightened 20th Century Fox’s producers and led to a grueling post-production period, was nonetheless the recipe for unprecedented success: the film captivated the American crowds and became a worldwide socio-cultural phenomenon, which continues to this day.”
-Cannes Film Festival-

The 77th Cannes Film Festival will run from May 14 to 25 and the bulk of its Official Selection will be announced at a press conference in Paris on April 11.

What do you guys think? Is this the perfect time for George Lucas to finally receive this honorary award or do you think this should’ve been given to him years ago? Are you a George Lucas fan and if you are, what is your favorite film from the filmmaker? Let us know and don’t forget to check out our socials and Discord! If you liked this article, make sure to follow us for more content.