Editing George Lucas (section)

===1969–1977: ''THX 1138'', ''American Graffiti'', and ''Star Wars''===
In 1969, Lucas moved back to the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and co-founded the studio [[American Zoetrope]] with Coppola, hoping to create a liberating environment for filmmakers to direct outside the perceived oppressive control of the Hollywood [[studio system]].<ref>{{cite news |title=American Zoetrope: In a galaxy not from Hollywood ... |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/nov/17/zoetrope-coppola-lucas-star-wars |access-date=September 25, 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=November 17, 2011 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927212032/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/nov/17/zoetrope-coppola-lucas-star-wars |url-status=live }}</ref> Coppola thought Lucas's ''Electronic Labyrinth'' could be adapted into his first full-length feature film,{{sfn|Jones|2016|p=90}} which was produced by American Zoetrope as ''[[THX 1138]]'', but was not a success. Lucas then created his own company, [[Lucasfilm, Ltd.]], and directed the successful ''[[American Graffiti]]'' (1973).

Lucas then set his sights on adapting [[Flash Gordon]], an adventure serial from his childhood that he fondly remembered. When he was unable to obtain the rights, he set out to write an original space adventure that would eventually become ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''.<ref name=statesman>{{cite web |last=Cooray Smith |first=James |title=Starting Star Wars: How George Lucas came to create a galaxy |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2017/05/starting-star-wars-how-george-lucas-came-create-galaxy |website=New Statesman |access-date=May 26, 2019 |date=May 25, 2019 |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124061718/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/film/2017/05/starting-star-wars-how-george-lucas-came-create-galaxy |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite his success with his previous film, all but one studio turned ''Star Wars'' down. It was only because [[Alan Ladd Jr.]] at [[20th Century Fox]] liked ''American Graffiti'' that he forced through a production and distribution deal for the film, which ended up restoring Fox to financial stability after a number of flops.<ref>[[Tom Shone]]: ''[[Blockbuster (2004 book)|Blockbuster]]: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer'' (2004). London, Simon & Schuster UK. {{ISBN|0-7432-6838-5}}. Chapter 2.</ref> ''Star Wars'' was significantly influenced by [[Jidaigeki|samurai films]] of [[Akira Kurosawa]], [[Spaghetti Western]]s, as well as classic [[sword and sorcery]] fantasy stories.

''Star Wars'' quickly became the [[list of highest-grossing films|highest-grossing film of all time]], displaced five years later by Spielberg's ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''. After the success of ''American Graffiti'' and prior to the beginning of filming on ''Star Wars'', Lucas was encouraged to renegotiate for a higher fee for writing and directing ''Star Wars'' than the US$150,000 agreed.<ref name=pollockskywalking /> He declined to do so, instead negotiating for advantage in some of the as-yet-unspecified parts of his contract with Fox, in particular, ownership of licensing and merchandising rights (for [[novelization]]s, clothing, toys, etc.) and contractual arrangements for sequels.<ref name=pollockskywalking /><ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Mark |title=Pictures at a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of the New Hollywood |url=https://archive.org/details/picturesatrevolu00harr_0|url-access=registration |year=2008 |publisher=Penguin Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/picturesatrevolu00harr_0/page/378 378–9]|isbn=9781594201523 }}</ref> Lucasfilm has earned hundreds of millions of dollars from licensed games, toys, and collectibles created for the franchise.<ref name=pollockskywalking />

The original ''Star Wars'' film went through a tumultuous production, and during editing, Lucas suffered chest pains initially feared to be a heart attack, but actually a fit of hypertension and exhaustion. The effort that Lucas exerted during [[post-production]] for the film, and its subsequent sequels, caused strains on his relationship with his wife Marcia Lucas, and was a contributing factor to their divorce at the end of the trilogy.<ref name=statesman/> The success of the first ''Star Wars'' film also resulted in more attention focused on Lucas, both positive and negative, attracting wealth and fame, but also many people who wanted Lucas's financial backing or just to threaten him.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rinzler|first=J. W.|url=https://archive.org/details/TheMakingOfTheEmpireStrikesBackJWRinzler/mode/2up|title=The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — The Definitive Story|publisher=[[Aurum Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84513-555-3|location=United Kingdom|pages=2–3|oclc=657407687}}</ref>