Star Wars creator George Lucas has garnered fresh admiration from fans worldwide following a striking new photoshoot. The 82-year-old filmmaker has become an unlikely new sex symbol thanks to a youthful Vogue spread promoting his upcoming $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, with fans exclaiming, 'Bro is dripping with Aura.'
The Vogue Shoot and Museum
In the shoot, a clean-shaven Lucas posed alongside his wife, Mellody Hobson, 57, within the stunning museum, which is scheduled to open this September. The five-story, 300,000-square-foot building will house his extensive collection of paintings, illustrations, and movie memorabilia, focusing on the art of storytelling from the era of cave paintings to digital film.
Fans could not get enough of Lucas's style and ageless appearance. One wrote, 'I wasn't expecting Lucas to have an 'Abercrombie model' phase in his twilight years—wait, what?' Others commented, 'It wasn't enough for him to change cinema with Star Wars, he also has the most amazing hair for his age or any age.' Another fan added, 'Unreal hairline at like 100 years old, wtf is wrong with him. He has aged like a fine wine. He lost a good amount of weight, good for him.'
Funding and Exhibits
Lucas funded the museum project himself after selling his production company and the rights to Star Wars to Disney for $4 billion in 2012. He previously stated that the museum would focus on the art of storytelling, detailing the 'mythology of society.' Although the futuristic building design resembles a spaceship from Star Wars, Lucas insisted it was not about that. 'Everybody calls it a Star Wars museum. But it's not a Star Wars museum... because people aren't gonna come to a Star Wars museum. They can go to Madame Tussauds for that,' he told CBS.
Exhibits will showcase items from his films, including set designs, character and costume sketches, storyboards, and stage sets. However, most of Lucas's collection comprises paintings by Renoir, N.C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer, Maxfield Parrish, and Norman Rockwell. 'I think more people will come in for Rockwell than will come in for Star Wars. Norman Rockwell can tell a whole story in one picture,' he said. Lucas noted he was 'captivated' by the 20th-century New York painter from age eight, when he knew he wanted to be an illustrator and storyteller.
Location and Background
The museum will be located in Exposition Park, near the University of Southern California, where Lucas earned a degree in film in the 1960s. At the time of the monumental Lucasfilm sale—which also included Industrial Light & Magic and the rights to Indiana Jones—Lucas compared parting with Star Wars to losing a family member. 'These are my kids, I loved them. I created them,' he told CBS.
Criticism of The Force Awakens
After selling the Star Wars rights to Disney, Lucas did not hold back in expressing his dissatisfaction with The Force Awakens, the first film in the franchise following the sale. In a 2015 interview with Empire Magazine, Lucas admitted he was unhappy with the film, stating that Disney 'wanted to make a retro movie' and did not follow his planned direction. He felt the film was too similar to the original trilogy, saying, 'They wanted to make a movie for the fans... They decided they didn't want to use the stories I created.'
Lucas later somewhat backtracked on his initial criticism after the film's release. In subsequent interviews, he acknowledged his concerns but ultimately appreciated the work done by J.J. Abrams and the Disney team, even praising the movie's success, though he still expressed it was not quite what he would have done.
