Why George Lucas Expected Audiences To Hate Star Wars

George Lucas, the creator of "Star Wars," never anticipated his original film in 1977 to land the way it did. When it premiered and during the subsequent theatrical run, it became one of the most important films of all time, launching an entire franchise. However, during the film's production, Lucas wasn't convinced the audience wouldn't hate it.

In a 1977 interview with Rolling Stone, Lucas is very candid about his career up to that point. The then 33-year-old director had shot two films prior, "THX 1138" and "American Graffiti," with the latter shooting Lucas into the stratosphere. This was partially thanks to its massive profitability, earning $140 million against its $777,000 budget in 1973.

With "Star Wars" just in the rearview mirror for Lucas at the time, he reflects on what he was concerned about in terms of audience reactions. In fact, he believed that he would be "trounced" on everything. Lucas states, "I really expected to get trounced very badly about the whole thing... Especially in the end when it came down to the score, which was romantic and dramatic. Not only a slightly corny dialogue here and a very simplistic, sort of corny plot..." Thankfully, some of the worst dialogue was cut after actors like Mark Hamill begged for it.

Part of the director's worries also came from science fiction fanatics. There was no world in which "Star Wars" would be a scientifically accurate movie. "Star Wars" plays fast and loose with the general rules of science, like sound in space and mystical powers being very real. Unlike "Star Trek" or other contemporary sci-fi, "Star Wars" potentially faced backlash over the tiniest of details when it arrived. Lucas adds, "Well, I had a real problem because I was afraid that science-fiction buffs and everybody would say things like, 'You know there's no sound in outer space,' I just wanted to forget science."

Of course, there was resistance internally too. Studios rejected "Star Wars," with Lucas having to shop it around two studios before Fox picked it up. Lucas was surprised that one of the most beautiful movies ever made, Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," didn't draw as many comparisons from critics and the audience. One aspect of the movie that "everybody was upset" by was the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which Lucas included, even though he originally intended for everyone to run away safely rather than have the iconic duel.

One audience he wasn't too worried about, surprisingly, was the French. According to Lucas, the French audience at the time was "very much into this genre." He had some insight, as at the time he ran a gallery that sold comic art, with "a lot of business" being done with the French.