George Lucas’ former wife shares the meanings behind Star Wars in new docuseries

Star Wars (specifically A New Hope film) isn’t just a global phenomenon, it’s a very personal one as well. For George Lucas’ former wife, Marcia Lucas, it’s even more personal as she knows how many aspects of Star Wars were influenced by personal moments in George’s life.

It’s all detailed in the new documentary coming from Brian Volk-Weiss (Disney+’s Behind The Attraction), who was very surprised that Marcia wanted to speak on-camera.

“Marcia was a groundbreaking get,” said Weiss to us in a virtual interview. “We spoke for six hours, and on the way back to my hotel afterwards, I was basically speechless.”

Weiss wasn’t speechless for any negative reason at all, but because of how Marcia detailed small things about Star Wars that largely shaped the story and business decisions around that galaxy far, far away.

“For all that time with her, I learned like 100 new things about the franchise,” Weiss said, and then went on to share a few things Marcia shared, including why George decided to self-finance Star Wars. “She ended up saying it was because of his dad. His dad had a small business and drilled into George’s head that he should own his own company and be his own boss.”

Weiss went on to say that Marcia accounted for many of George’s business decisions in knowing how to ask for more money and leverage creative control because he was also a savvy businessman. “I find that this aspect is what separates and makes George the most successful filmmaker to date,” said Weiss.

The six-part series will include more of Marcia’s interview detailing a lot of the decisions that George made about the creative in Star Wars, as well as other fun facts, never-before-seen archive footage, and talent interviews about the making of “A New Hope” and the ripple effect it had on cinema and pop culture for generations.

As for working directly with Lucasfilm/Disney and George Lucas himself, they decided to pass on working on the docuseries, but Weiss wanted to assure them that the integrity of the project would be truthful and respectful. “Star Wars is the reason why I became a filmmaker. I cherish it and critique it like any good fan would. This film is no exception,” Weiss said.

“Icons Unearthed: Star Wars” can exclusively be seen on Vice TV.