Originally published September 14, 2017. Updated December 18, 2019.
Director John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) is not one to stay silent when something is on his mind. Recently, Landis had some choice words for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as Universal’s Dark Universe, and now the director has turned his thoughts to Lucasfilm.
Talking to Collider about a wide range of topics, the director took a moment to tear into Hollywood’s tendency to stifle creative talent:
“I have many things that I’m working on, whether or not they’ll ever become real, I don’t know. You know Joe Dante and myself and a few other guys I know are in the same position. They’re not hiring people who have opinions. They think, ‘He knows what he’s doing, I’m not hiring him!’ Look at Star Wars. They keep firing guys. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, those guys are really talented. They’re really funny and original guys. They shot 75% of the movie and I gotta tell you, it doesn’t speak well for the new Lucasfilm. How many directors have they fired? Four. How many writers? Twelve.”
His frustration, of course, stems from the controversy surrounding Lucasfilm over the past few years. Ever since George Lucas sold the Star Wars rights to Disney, with Kathleen Kennedy becoming president of Lucasfilm, many have heavily criticized Lucasfilm for its handling directors whose ideas did not match the studio’s vision for recent – as well as upcoming – Star Wars films. Months back, we were hit with news that directing duo Phil Lord, and Chris Miller were pulled from the Han Solo spinoff film, while just last week we learned that director Colin Trevorrow was fired from Star Wars: Episode IX and swiftly replaced by J.J. Abrams.
Landis finished his thoughts with an infamous quote from George Lucas: “It’s very worrying. Remember when George Lucas said that he felt like he sold his kids into white slavery? Well…”
While that comparison is more than a bit extreme, Landis certainly has some basis for his worries. Something is going on behind-the-scenes at Lucasfilm. That is certain. Could these directors have caused lots of problems? Maybe so. The blame certainly can’t all fall on Lucasfilm. However, as the numbers pile up, it becomes harder to believe that Lucasfilm isn’t contributing to this problem in a significant way.
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