George Lucas names the “greatest regret” in his entire career
George Lucas‘ career is perhaps the very definition of a mixed bag.
On the one hand, he’s been involved in some of the greatest and most successful Hollywood films of all time. He’s the man behind Star Wars, an absolute international treasure of a franchise, and he was also instrumental in the similarly tremendous Indiana Jones movies. He’s also credited as a producer in many other beloved projects, such as Jim Henson’s Labyrinth and Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha, and he was heavily involved in the tremendous Star Wars: The Clone Wars series too.
On the other hand, though, several of his undertakings have been less successful, such as Howard the Duck, Red Tails and Strange Magic. Furthermore, when he returned to both of his big franchises in the 2000s, the results were decidedly mixed. The entertaining but seriously flawed Star Wars prequel trilogy, which he wrote and directed, is probably the most divisive collection of films ever released – save perhaps for the Sequel Trilogy, which didn’t involve Lucas.
Similarly, Lucas himself is a man of contradictions. He’s a tremendously talented storyteller, a gifted producer and a fantastic pioneer in special effects and blockbuster filmmaking, yet he is also an awful writer of dialogue – a subject he’s been endearingly honest about over the years – and if the directionless performances and flat cinematography of the prequels are anything to go by, he’s not necessarily all that great as a director.
Lucas’ filmography is a strange mixture of brilliant creative calls and woefully misjudged ones. He might be the wealthiest director on the planet, with a net worth of somewhere between $7-9 billion, but he’s no doubt got plenty of things he wished he’d done differently. Interestingly, he did once name the biggest regret of his career, and it wasn’t necessarily what you’d expect.
It had nothing to do with Star Wars and Indiana Jones; the regret involved another project that isn’t so well-known but probably the most critically reviled work he’s been involved with: Howard the Duck. The film, which stars the titular anthropomorphic superhero duck, was one of the earliest theatrical releases based on a Marvel Comics property. To this day, it remains one of the lowest-regarded.
Lucas produced the film, and he revealed that his main regret is failing to get his friend, director John Landis, in the director’s chair. A legendary comedy director, Landis had been responsible for films like Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London and Trading Places, and he’d also directed the music video for Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’. Lucas later said that had Landis directed, “I feel the movie would have been far more successful and saved me the years of hardship following its release.”
Would the film have fared better with Landis? It’s entirely possible, but ironically enough, Howard the Duck actually came out in 1986, the year that Landis faced a widely publicised trial over the deaths of three people – including two children – on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie a few years earlier. Although Landis was acquitted, the trial more or less ended his career. Landis has continued directing, but he’s done nothing of note since Coming to America way back in 1989. Perhaps the film would’ve turned out better, but it would’ve understandably led to a lot of bad publicity if Landis had been the director. As such, this is probably a misplaced regret on Lucas’ part.
