Star Wars: “Watch the six o’clock news”

From Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood by Peter Biskind

George made plans to be out of town, in Hawaii with Marcia and the Huycks for the opening of Star Wars, the way he was when Grafitti premiered. He was still afraid the movie was going to be a huge embarrassment. His attitude was, “I’ve done everything I can do, it is what it is. I’m not going to read a review, I’m not going to talk to anyone from the studio.” They were leaving on a Saturday. The Wednesday before, May 25, 1977, they were both still working at Goldwyn, Marcia on New York, New York, during the day, and George at night, on the monaural track. The only time they ever saw each other was when she was leaving and he was just arriving – for dinner. They were both so exhaustetd they had forgotten Wednesday night was the premiere of Star Wars, and went to the Hamburger Hamlet that happened to be directly across from the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. They didn’t notice anything going on, and it wasn’t until they were seated that they looked out through the windows onto the street and saw a commotion in front of the theater. “There were people all over the place, like a thousand people, two lanes of the street were closed off, there were limos out in front, it was just amazing,” recalls Lucas. But they still couldn’t see the marquee. When they finally fihnished and emerged from the restaurant, they recognized the distinctive Star Wars logo. As soon as George got to work, Ladd was on the phone, said, “The film’s a hit, the first screenings are great.” Lucas replied, “Look, Laddie, science fiction movies, they always open big, but it doesn’t really count until we get to the second or third week. So let’s not get too excited about this.” Then he and Marcia went to Maui.

By the time they got to the hotel, their box was stuffed with messages from Fox. They said, “Watch the six o’clock news.” George and Marcia and Willard and Gloria crowded in front of the TV and saw Walter Cronkite report that the lines were around the block. Lucas couldn’t believe it. They figured, We’re rich, we’re rich. The next day they went into town trying to spend some of their future earnings, but they were in Hawaii, the only thing they could buy was suntan lotion and shells. George said, “You know, these yogurt things are really going to take off, maybe I’ll buy a yogurt franchise.” He wanted to return to California to enjoy his success, but he couldn’t, because he had made such a big point of saying, “I don’t care what happens, I’m above all this crap.” Coppola, who was looking for financing to finish Apocalypse Now, sent him a telegram that said, “Send Money. Francis.” After a week or so, the Huycks left, and Spielberg arrived with Amy. George and Steven built sand castles on the beach, talked about an idea that would become Raiders of the Lost Ark. George would produce, and Steven, whom he had once looked down on because he worked inside the system, would direct. Spielberg hadn’t changed. Had Lucas?

Soon after Star Wars opened, Cocks was at director Jeremy Kagan’s house. Harrison Ford arrived, totally disheveled, his shirt half ripped off, looking like William Holden in Picnic. “Jesus, Harrison, what happened?” asked Cocks.

“I went into Tower Records to buy an album, and these people jumped on me.”