George Lucas says he sold 'Star Wars' to 'white slavers'

From usatoday, George Lucas doesn't seem too happy about the now Disney owned Star Wars Episode VII. Lucas sold his idea for Episode VII to Disney with the rest of Lucasfilm in 2012, and it appears that his ideas were not what Disney was interested in making. It has been heard before that Lucas considered the sale to Disney as a "breakup" with Lucasfilm. George expressed some discomfort with the way that Disney has handled the Star Wars franchise, which he refers to as his "kids." He even went so far as to say, "I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and?" he laughed, probably realizing that it was best not to continue the metaphor.


When George Lucas sold Lucasfilm (and the rights to Star Wars) to Disney for $4 billion in 2012, both sides seemed to be happy with the deal. And in fact, Disney has been reaping the benefits since Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters on Dec. 18, blasting through box office record after box office record.

But in recent weeks Lucas seems to be less than happy with the way things worked out.

In an interview with Charlie Rose this week, the Star Wars creator, and recent Kennedy Center honoree, spoke about the franchise and the deal, and compared Disney to "white slavers."

“I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and…,” he said in the interview, before deciding not to finish the sentence.

He also explained how his and Disney's visions for the future of the franchise differed wildly.

“They looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans,’” Lucas said. “They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing. … They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway — but if I get in there, I’m just going to cause trouble, because they’re not going to do what I want them to do. And I don’t have the control to do that anymore, and all I would do is muck everything up. And so I said, ‘OK, I will go my way, and I’ll let them go their way.’”

Matt Damon Rescue Missions Have Cost Hollywood An Insane Amount Of Money

From cinemablend, Oftentimes, actors get typecast in certain roles. They become synonymous with a particular character, or even a type of character. While we’d never noticed this before, it appears the same has quietly been happening with Matt Damon. He plays "guy being rescued" an awful lot. What’s more, not only does Matt Damon routinely require rescuing, but Hollywood has spent an awful lot of money, both in reality and within the fiction of the films, in order to get him home safely.

BGR, which did the math on this, noticed this repeated need to rescue Matt Damon and has put together the numbers on what it cost to make those movies, along with an estimate of what it would actually cost to do the thing that happens in the movie in order to bring him back from a distant place. There are eight different films that require a Damon extraction. Some require simple helicopter escapes while others require intergalactic travel.

Movie Budgets

Courage under Fire: $46m
Saving Private Ryan: $70m
Titan AE: $75m
Syriana: $50m
Green Zone: $100m
Elysium: $115m
Interstellar: $165m
The Martian: $108m
TOTAL: $729m

Fictional Costs

My estimates, costs are in 2015 currency
Courage Under Fire (Gulf War 1 helicopter rescue): $300k
Saving Private Ryan (WW2 Europe search party): $100k
Titan AE (Earth evacuation spaceship): $200B
Syriana (Middle East private security return flight): $50k
Green Zone (US Army transport from Middle East): $50k
Elysium (Space station security deployment and damages): $100m
Interstellar (Interstellar spaceship): $500B
The Martian (Mars mission): $200B
TOTAL: $900B plus change

All of the numbers are in 2015 dollars so things are not financially accurate for their era. In 1944 dollars, for example, the World War II Europe search party for Saving Private Ryan would have actually been cheaper. Although, by the time we actually have the ability to mount a rescue on Mars, it will probably also cost significantly more than $200 billion. Modern numbers are probably about as middle of the road as we’re going to get.

BGR does explain how the calculations were to come up with the estimation of the cost of an interstellar spacecraft. Since we’ve never actually made one of those, the cost is even more conjecture than the rest of the chart. Still, it’s a great story. The $729 million in production costs is an interesting number unto itself. Hollywood has spent near $1 billion on movies that include rescues of Matt Damon. Did somebody in Hollywood notice this trend long before the public and think there was repeated box office success in saving Damon’s life? Because it's working.

Macaulay Culkin reprises his Home Alone character

Unsurprisingly 'Star Wars' makes a billion dollars in 12 days

From ew, Talk about making the jump to lightspeed. After only two weekends in theaters, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has officially joined the $1 billion club — at a record-breaking rate. In just 12 days, The Force Awakens has raked in an estimated $1.09 billion dollars worldwide, making it the fastest movie ever to hit $1 billion globally.

The Force Awakens added an estimated $153.5 million to its domestic total this weekend, earning the biggest second weekend of all time. Jurassic World, the previous record holder, only earned $106.6 million in its second weekend. Domestically, The Force Awakens has raked in a total of $545 million, surpassing The Dark Knight to become the fifth biggest domestic movie of all time — in only 10 days.Jurassic World also previously held the speed record for fastest movie to hit $500 million domestically, hitting that mark in 17 days. The Force Awakens did it in 10.

The Force Awakens’ Christmas success means that we can add a number of new broken records to its already long list of accomplishments. On Friday, The Force Awakens made $49.3 million domestically for the highest-grossing Christmas Day of all time. It also pushed Disney’s box office total past the $2 billion earnings mark domestically. The Force Awakensalready earned the biggest domestic and global debuts of all time, and it’s also had a stellar IMAX run,

As of this weekend, The Force Awakens is open in all territories except China, where it will hit theaters on Jan. 9. The Force Awakens’ global success is especially impressive considering that most of the records it’s breaking belong to Jurassic World, which had the added bonus of opening the same day in China.

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While Star Wars was, as expected, the box office champion this weekend, a number of new releases also hit theaters, and The Force Awakens’ record-breaking success, coupled with some other big debuts, made this the biggest Christmas weekend ever at the box office. Daddy’s Home topped the newcomers and blew past expectations to earn an estimated $38.8 million in 3,271 locations. The PG-rated comedy, which stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, earned a B+ CinemaScore.

David O. Russell’s Joy, which stars Jennifer Lawrence, also had an excellent weekend, opening to an estimated $17.5 million. It earned a B+ CinemaScore and opened in 2,896 locations.

Two holdovers rounded out the top five, with Sisters pulling ahead to secure fourth place with $13.88 million. The R-rated comedy, which stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, dropped less than half a percent from its $13.92 million debut last weekend, bringing its domestic total to $37.1 million. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip also saw a miniscule drop in its second weekend, falling about 11 percent for an estimated $12.7 million. Its domestic total is now at $39.4 million.

Some of this weekend’s other wide releases didn’t even manage to crack the top five. The NFL drama Concussion, starring Will Smith, fell just short, opening to an estimated $11 million and earning an A CinemaScore. It opened in 2,841 locations. The new Point Breakremake earned a B CinemaScore and only opened to $10.2 million in 2,910 locations. It was bested by The Big Short, which, after a successful run in limited release, expanded nationwide to 1,585 theaters and earned $10.5 million.

Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, which opened in just 100 locations with an exclusive 70 mm run, secured 10th place with an estimated $4.5 million dollars and an excellent per-theater average of $45,366. The Revenant also had a spectacular limited release debut, earning $471,000 in four theaters. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s drama, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, earned a per-theater average of $117,750, the second-best of the year.

Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office:

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $153.5 million
2. Daddy’s Home — $38.8 million
3. Joy — $17.5 million
4. Sisters — $13.9 million
5. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip — $12.7 million

Merry Christmas, my Horror Homies!

Box office report: Star Wars: The Force Awakens demolishes records with $238 million opening

From ew, Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned an estimated $238 million this weekend, making it the biggest domestic opening of all time. Han, Chewie, Leia, and friends obliterated the $208.8 million record set byJurassic World this summer, and in total, The Force Awakens has already made an astronomical $517 million worldwide.

The Force Awakens’ domestic opening is the crowning achievement in a long, long list of broken box office records. Only a few hours after it started screening on Thursday, The Force Awakens had already notched the highest-grossing pre-show day of all time, earning $57 million. Add that to its Friday numbers, and The Force Awakens earned the highest single-day opening of any movie ever with $120.5 million. As a result, The Force Awakens is the first movie to ever earn more than $100 million in a single day, which also makes it the fastest movie to ever reach triple digits. (Jurassic World hit $100 million in two days.) Opening in 4,134 theaters, a record number for a December opening, The Force Awakens posted a per-theater average of $57,568, a record for a wide-release opening.

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Internationally, The Force Awakens reeled in another $279 million, making it the third biggest international opening of all time, behind Jurassic World’s $316 million and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2’s $314 million. The Force Awakens’ global total of $517 million puts it just shy of Jurassic World’s $525 million global record. About $99 million of Jurassic World’s record came from China, and The Force Awakens won’t open in China until Jan. 9.

So now what? Just as it was hard to predict The Force Awakens’opening weekend, it’s also hard to predict what it’ll do from here. Because of the holidays, movies opening in December usually see a smaller debut but much, much bigger multiples. A December opening like this is unheard of (the previous December record was held byThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which debuted to $84.6 million). But movies like Avatar, which only opened to $77 million in 2009, went on to make almost $750 million domestically, making it the biggest movie of all time. We’ll have to see what happens over the next few weeks and whether The Force Awakens can not only score a big opening, but a big final total, too.

In other box office news, from a galaxy much closer to home, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip opened to $14.4 million and an A- CinemaScore. Sisters, which stars Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, scored third place with a $13.4 million opening, and the R-rated comedy earned a B CinemaScore. Even though The Force Awakens blew past all predictions, both Road Chip and Sisters managed to hold their own, as both were expected to debut in the low to mid teens.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 and Creed rounded out the top five, earning $5.7 million and $5.1 million respectively. After five weeks, Mockingjay has collected more than $254.4 million domestically, and Creed has brought in $87.9 million.

Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office:

1. Star Wars The Force Awakens — $238 million
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip —$14.4 million
3. Sisters — $13.4 million
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 —$5.7 million
5. Creed — $5.1 million

Horrorthon Gets Chained!

It's that time of year again when the reviews have wound down, the excitement of Horrorthon is waning and the stores are filled with holiday cheer and crazy people are fighting over bargains. What better time for a get together set to some badass original metal tunes sung by your resident Catfreeek! We will be rocking the house at Jimmy's Saloon at 37 Memorial Blvd in Newport, RI this Sunday, December 20th! Joining us on the stage will be The Hangovers and Tung! This is going to be a seriously fun show. Come out and have a ball, the ground begins shaking at 9:00 pm!

Need more Chained? We will be playing The Met in Pawtucket, RI on Friday January 1st with Bad Marriage and The Hangovers! Kick off the new year with some head banging!

LOL: Star Wars characters complaining that they were not in The Force Awakens!

LOVE THIS!

Spoiler Free Early Buzz: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’

From slashfilm, The world premiere of JJ Abrams‘ Star Wars: The Force Awakens happened last night in Hollywood California at an unprecedented gala that took over the three big theaters on Hollywood Blvd: El Capitan, The Dolby Theatre and The TCL Chinese Theatre. While full on reviews are embargoed until Wednesday morning at 12:01am, guests in attendance at the premiere were allowed to tweet their brief reactions. After the jump you can find the first First Awakens reactions from the premiere screening.


Twitter Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews/Reactions

So what did people think of Star Wars: The Force Awakens? I tweeted the following after the screening:


Awesome. The Force has indeed awakened. I can't wait for what comes next. #StarWarsForceAwakens

— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) December 15, 2015



The Force Awakens is everything we want from a Star Wars movie. The film brought me to tears multiple times.

I talked to many people at the premiere party after the screening, and while some people were hesitant to make a definitive reaction after only one viewing, I did not talk to anyone who didn’t like the movie. Most people I talked to said it was certainly better than the prequels, with some ranking it as highly as their second favorite in the series.

One thing was very clear from everyone I encountered: Star Wars is back and everyone seems to be excited about the future of the franchise. Below you can find a round up of tweets from journalists, filmmakers and guests in attendance at the World Premiere screening. The film will be screening for press around the world on Tuesday night, so you’re very likely going to see more tweets at that time. But feel free to browse the tweets below without the fear of spoilers, as I have ensured that all of the reactions are spoiler free:


"Star Wars" is back. And it's never going away again.

— DrewAtHitFix (@DrewAtHitFix) December 15, 2015




I saw #StarWars #TheForceAwakens. And I enjoyed it a lot.

— Chris E. Hayner (@ChrisHayner) December 15, 2015




Congrats to #JJAbrams and the entire cast and crew on an incredible film. #ForceAwakens made me a giddy 10 year old all over again.

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) December 15, 2015




Star Wars is back. That’s for damn sure.

— Jeff Cannata (@jeffcannata) December 15, 2015




This is what we loved about Star Wars. This is Star Wars.

— Jeff Cannata (@jeffcannata) December 15, 2015




#ForceAwakens might be the best blockbuster since the original.

— Brett Morgen (@brettmorgen) December 15, 2015




The Force Awakens is soooo Star Wars, and Daisy Ridley is the business, and #StarWars

— jen yamato (@jenyamato) December 15, 2015




Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoke to my every emotion. Most of them good, a few not, but overall it was an amazing, overwhelming experience

— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) December 15, 2015




STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS is a strong, promising kickoff. As a standalone, I'd rank it #3 in the series.

— Josh Lincoln Dickey (@JLDlite) December 15, 2015




#StarWarsForceAwakens totally delivers #nospoilers I repeat #nospoilers again #nospoilers just #wowpic.twitter.com/SD4odRnTZZ

— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) December 15, 2015








Ranking: 1. Empire Strikes Back. 2. Force Awakens. 3. A New Hope. 4. Return of the Jedi. 5 – 8 Prequels. Thank you JJ.#TheForceAwakens

— Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) December 15, 2015




Among its many wonderful qualities, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS passes the Bechdel test.

— Rebecca Keegan (@ThatRebecca) December 15, 2015




Story, characters, design, humor — #StarWars fans, this is the movie you're looking for.

— Rebecca Keegan (@ThatRebecca) December 15, 2015




Spoiler free #TheForceAwakens review: pic.twitter.com/Eli6ykyly0

— Matt Martin (@missingwords) December 15, 2015




1st Star Wars review: it was epic, awesome & perfect. The cast was stellar. JJ killed it!

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) December 15, 2015




Not going to say much till I see it again but rest assured THE FORCE AWAKENS is the best STAR WARS since 1983…maybe 1980.

— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) December 15, 2015




Spoiler: FUCK YEAAAAAAH

Star Trek: Beyond trailer!