George Lucas Could Never Pull Off Making the Original Star Wars Today

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It would be nearly impossible for George Lucas to create Star Wars today. The original 1977 film was a unique cultural phenomenon. Initially, it seemed likely to be a low-budget, niche film and a financial risk for both Lucas and 20th Century Fox. However, it unexpectedly became one of the most successful and enduring franchises in history.

Something like the creation of Star Wars would be nearly impossible in today’s movie world. Let’s explore how it was made to see why.

It’s remarkable that Star Wars even got made, considering the kinds of movies Hollywood produced in the 1970s. And it’s even more surprising that it received a large budget for the time.

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Custom Image by Ana Nieves

Before Star Wars, George Lucas directed American Graffiti in 1973. That film earned $140 million despite costing only about $750,000 to make. This success established Lucas as a reliable director in Hollywood, meaning studios were willing to invest heavily in his future projects.

In 1975, Steven Spielberg, a friend of George Lucas, released the hit movie Jaws. Though the film went way over budget and was delayed, it became a massive success, earning almost $500 million in theaters. Jaws essentially launched the modern blockbuster and encouraged studios to invest more money and take bigger chances on films.

Today, Hollywood blockbusters cost a lot more to make, but studios are much less willing to take chances. They prefer big, safe bets. This means a visionary creator like George Lucas would likely struggle to get a completely original idea, like the original Star Wars, approved, because the way the industry evaluates risk and potential reward has changed dramatically.

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Similar to Jaws, Star Wars went over its initial budget, ultimately costing $11 million – which is about $58 million today. Interestingly, that’s around 10% of the $590 million budget for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. This shows how much smaller the budget was for Lucas’ original film compared to today’s big-budget blockbusters, including newer Star Wars movies.

But consider Lucas now – someone proposing a $60 million science fiction film that isn’t connected to any established franchise, and starring mostly newcomers. Even if that writer/director had a hit like American Graffiti, they’d still likely face significant doubt and difficulty securing funding for their project.

Movie studios these days are much more likely to fund projects based on well-known franchises and cast popular actors. This makes creating something entirely new like Star Wars incredibly challenging. However, the biggest hurdle isn’t even the concept itself – it’s the cost. If a filmmaker proposed a $60 million budget, studio heads wouldn’t necessarily reject it because it’s too expensive. Actually, they might hesitate because it’s not expensive enough.

Let’s look at the budget for Rise of Skywalker once more. Sixty million dollars is actually a small budget, especially when you consider how much harder it is to make a sci-fi film today than it was back in the 1970s. While $60 million could work for a typical modern sci-fi or action movie, it’s simply not enough to achieve the grand scale and vision of a Star Wars film.

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Star Wars faces a tricky situation: it’s considered too risky for a $60 million investment, yet it would likely cost at least double that to actually make. Even if a modern filmmaker somehow got the project approved—whether for $60 million, $120 million, or more—many challenges could still derail the production.

Filmmakers in the 1970s, such as George Lucas, still faced some control from the studios. However, Lucas had more creative freedom over his films than many big-budget directors do now. Today, a director would need to specifically negotiate for final cut – the final say on editing – or risk having their vision, like that of Star Wars, compromised.

George Lucas’s Star Wars demonstrated his incredible vision and established him as a key innovator in filmmaking. His influence was apparent not just in the movie itself, but also in how it was made, from the initial planning to the final editing. Creating a truly groundbreaking blockbuster is much more challenging now. Some argue that the very idea is contradictory, and while that’s not necessarily true, it’s a valid observation.

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When George Lucas created Star Wars, he was incredibly resourceful with his limited budget, and he used that to revolutionize science fiction movies. The 1970s were a period of experimentation in filmmaking. Nowadays, the focus on making a huge profit often overshadows the creative potential of big-budget films.

Today’s big-budget movies are carefully planned and constructed, unlike classics like Star Wars, which grew from a unique idea. It’s funny because Star Wars actually set the standard for the fast-paced, spectacular blockbusters we see now, but it did so by breaking the rules back then. Nowadays, studios are hesitant to invest heavily in movies that are truly original or risky.

Big-budget films, especially those costing over $100 or even $200 million, often face a lot of control from the studio. They tend to heavily influence the movie, sometimes to the point of making it more ordinary through constant feedback, editing changes, and even completely re-shooting scenes.

It’s crazy to think we haven’t even talked about marketing yet! So many promising movies just fall apart because of it. Honestly, even if a studio somehow landed a new Star Wars – something truly amazing – I’m not sure they’d know how to promote it properly. It’s scary because that could ruin the career of whoever’s trying to be the next George Lucas!

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2026-02-14 18:12