Francis Ford Coppola on how George Lucas wasted his talent: “Star Wars over and over again”

Posted On September 11, 2024September 11, 2024

One could argue that Francis Ford Coppola is a difficult director to get a handle on the success of. Undoubtedly, even the name Coppola rings bells of acclaim in the ears of cinephiles, considering some of his greatest works, but the fact remains that not every movie that Coppola has made has been an entire success.

Sure, Coppola is responsible for bringing some of the greatest works of cinema to the big screen, including his legendary mafia epic The Godfather and the stunning, violent Apocalypse Now. Elsewhere, we find signifiers of his brilliance in The Conversation and Rumble Fish, while he’s also contributed to several admirable films of other directors as a producer.

However, for all the celebrations of Coppola over the years, some missteps have been admitted. There’s plenty to admire in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but there’s equally plenty to ridicule. In addition, there are scores of average offerings on the Coppola filmography, and even his long-awaited passion project, Cosmopolis,has drawn widespread criticism.

Of course, not many directors can have a completely perfect back catalogue and Coppola himself had once pointed out the fact that he felt disappointed with the way that the career of his lifelong friend and fellow film industry titan, George Lucas, had turned out over the years, failing to live up to his hopes and dreams.

Speaking with The Hollywood Interview, Coppola had once noted, “I wish George Lucas would take some of his fortune now and make some personal art films because he’s a very talented filmmaker. No one even knows what George is truly capable of.” Coppola met Lucas during Finian’s Rainbow, and Lucas became a production assistant for the director’s next film, The Rain People.

Later, Lucas and Coppola formed the production company Zoetrope and were considered part of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement, along with Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Robert Altman, and a number of notable directors. However, Coppola always felt that Lucas, known for creating Star Wars, had always seemed to waste his potential as a filmmaker.

After delivering his early films THX 1138 and American Graffiti, Lucas delivered the first Star Wars movie as a director in 1977, but he only co-wrote and produced the sequels. As a writer and producer, Lucas proceeded to work on the Indiana Jones movies but only returned to directing in 1999 for the Star Wars prequels.

In fact, it’s only the first four chronologically-released Star Wars movies, THX 1138 and American Graffiti, that Lucas has ever worked on as a director, which is something that Coppola feels is a massive shame. “It’s this kind of silly blockbuster competition of who has more billions of dollars,” the Apocalypse Now director pointed out.

Coppola added, “George is a fabulous avant-garde filmmaker, and the day he just walks out there and takes three 16mm cameras…it’s just one of the greatest wastes of talent that he keeps making Star Wars over and over again. Star Wars was a stunning achievement, but now, I wish George would show us the other side of him.”

Seeing as Lucas last took the directorial reins in 2005, it looks increasingly unlikely that we will ever see him in the director’s chair again, and looking at the works he has helmed and reading Coppola’s comments, it’s fair to say that perhaps Lucas has largely wasted his artistic talent.

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