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Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company and computer animation studio that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. [8] It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began production on the original Star Wars, [9] now the fourth episode of the Skywalker Saga.
Lucasfilm has been a pioneer in storytelling for more than 50 years. Lucasfilm was born out of necessity. Following the release of his debut feature, THX 1138 (1971), filmmaker George Lucas was eager for creative independence. His film was visionary, but limited box office exposure had left American Zoetrope, its production company, with an ...
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. [3] It has been a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios since 2012 and is best known for creating and producing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as ...
May 3, 2017 · 1971: Lucasfilm Ltd. Incorporates; George Lucas writes and directs his first feature film, THX 1138. 1973: George Lucas experiences commercial success with the film American Graffiti. 1975: Industrial Light & Magic is established to produce visual effects for the upcoming Star Wars film. 1977: Star Wars is released and received six Academy Awards.
- Overview
- History
- Organizational structure
- Productions
- External links
Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in Marin County, California. Kathleen Kennedy is currently its president. It is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, following Disney's October 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm.
The company is best known for producing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, but it has produced other box-office hits. It has also been a leader in developing new film technology in special effects, sound design, computer animation, and various additional fields, through its subsidiaries that include Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, and Lucasfilm Animation. Due to their expertise, its subsidiaries often assist in the production of non-Lucasfilm pictures.
The Original Trilogy
Lucasfilm was founded as an independent production company by George Lucas in 1971 to maintain creative control over his films following his fraught experiences with Hollywood studios while producing THX 1138. The company's first production was American Graffiti, which was distributed by Universal Pictures and grossed US$55 million in rentals. During the production of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, Lucasfilm established a special effects shop near Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, which later became the Lucasfilm subsidiary Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). The first Star Wars film was released on May 25, 1977 and became a box office success, grossing US$307,263,857. In addition, Lucasfilm entered into merchandising agreements with several companies, including Kenner Products, Image Factory, and Marvel Comics for Star Wars-related clothes, posters, toys, buttons, decals, and comics. Using the money trickling from Lucasfilm's merchandising, Lucas established an office at a Lankershim Boulevard property called called "The Egg Company", with the help of the company's first CEO Charlie Weber. 20th Century Fox was the original copyright owner of A New Hope and the merchandising rights were split between them and Lucas 60/40. Lucasfilm gained all the Star Wars IP and licensing rights held by Fox, excluding A New Hope's copyright, on September 1, 1981. A New Hope's copyright was eventually transferred to Lucasfilm on January 18, 1997. In late 1977, Lucas established a subsidiary called "The Chapter II Company" to oversee production and funding of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. In addition, Lucas relocated ILM from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Lucas later purchased a ranch in Marin County near San Francisco which became Skywalker Ranch. While working on The Empire Strikes Back, Lucasfilm also produced a Star Wars spinoff film called The Star Wars Holiday Special, which was distributed by CBS on November 17, 1978. The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980, becoming a box office success and grossing nearly US$210 million during its first run. Charlie Weber also served as the first CEO of Lucasfilm but left following the release of The Empire Strikes Back due to differences with Lucas. While Lucas wanted to focus on building Skywalker Ranch, making Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and creating a filmmaker's community, Weber wanted Lucasfilm to diversify into other businesses. Lucas dismissed Weber and promoted Robert Greber as Lucasfilm's new CEO. Following the release of The Empire Strikes Back, Lucasfilm closed down The Egg Company and relocated all its operations to Skywalker Ranch. Lucasfilm produced the third Star Wars film Return of the Jedi, which was released on May 25, 1983 and grossed US$250 million by the end of the year. Besides Return of the Jedi, Lucasfilm also produced Raiders of the Lost Ark and (1981) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which were distributed by Paramount Studios and also performed well at the box office.
Expansion and diversification
During the 1980s, Lucas also opened ILM to producing special effects for non–Lucasfilm projects. The first of these non–Lucasfilm projects was the joint Paramount–Disney 1981 film Dragonslayer. Other notable films that ILM worked on included Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Abyss (1989), Terminator, and Jurassic Park. ILM became the preeminent special effects shop, winning the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects thirteen times. Using Star Wars merchandising revenue, Lucas continue to expand Skywalker Ranch. He envisioned Lucasfilm as a "one-stop, full service" company for other filmmakers. These services included providing writing retreats for screenwriters, editing equipment to film editors, and special effects services via ILM. During the 1980s, Lucas also invested in another Lucasfilm start-up called THX, which focused on improving cinema theatres' sound quality using Lucas' THX sound system. Lucas also established a computer game division at Lucasfilm and with the help of Edwin Catmull recruited Peter Langston to head that division. The Lucasfilm Games Group (which later became LucasArts) cut a deal with the video game company Atri to produce two non-Star Wars games called Ballblazer (1984) and Rescue on Fractalus!. After Atari encountered financial troubles, Lucasfilm entered into an agreement with video game publisher Epyx to produce two games in 1985. In February 1986, Lucas sold Lucasfilm's computer graphics group and their Pixar computer to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who turned the division into a profitable animated film studio called Pixar. In 1987, Howard Roffman, the new Vice President of Lucas Licensing, was tasked with reviving Lucasfilm's toy line, which had dropped to US$35 million by 1985. Under Roffman and Lucas's leadership, Lucasfilm produced and collaborated on several non-Star Wars films including Howard the Duck (1986), Labyrinth (1986), Willow (1988), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), the third Indiana Jones film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), the Radioland Murders (1994), and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1993). Besides cinematic films, Lucasfilm also worked with Disney to developed a Star Wars–themed simulated ride at their Disney parks called Star Tours and a 3-D movie featuring popstar Michael Jackson called Captain EO. During the 1990s, Lucas also worked with Apple Inc., National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Audubon Society to produce several educational media including GTV: A Geographic Perspective on American History, Life Story: The Race for the Double Helix, and Mystery of the Disappearing Ducks. During the 1990s, Lucas expanded Skywalker Ranch to nearly 5,000 acres to accommodate more office space at the adjacent Big Rock Ranch. However, Lucasfilm was unable to relocate ILM from San Rafael due to opposition from Marin County residents. Hal Barwood also joined LucasArts in 1990. Under Barwood's leadership, the subsidiary produced several computer games including Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Monkey Island, and Grim Fandango.
The Expanded Universe
Following the release of The Return of the Jedi, Lucasfilm worked on several Star Wars– television productions including the 1984 television movie Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, the 1985 sequel film Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, and the cartoon series Star Wars: Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO and Ewoks, which were distributed by ABC Television. Produced by Nelvana animation studio, Droids and Ewoks were intended to generate a toy merchandising line. However, the two animated series did not perform well commercially with Ewoks being canceled after two seasons and Droids after one season. In May 1987, Lucasfilm hosted the first Star Wars convention at a hotel near Los Angeles, which attracted 10,000 events. Lucas himself attended the event, accompanied by the Star Wars characters R2-D2 and C-3PO and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. That same year, Lucasfilm launched a fan magazine called the Lucasfilm Fan Club magazine. In October 1987, Lucasfilm also licensed Star Wars role playing games to the start-up West End Games, which helped expanded the Star Wars Expanded Universe by creating new alien species, ships, weapons, and droids. Until 1990, West End Games' Star Wars role playing games were the only Star Wars stories being produced. In 1988, Lou Aronica, the-then head of mass market publishing at Bantam Books convinced Lucas and Lucas Licensing Vice President Howard Roffman to license a series of Star Wars novels set following the events of Return of the Jedi. The first of these novels was Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire (1991), which became a bestseller and spawned two sequels. The successful Thrawn Trilogy led to a line of Expanded Universe novels, which were produced under the Bantam Spectra imprint. During the 1990s, Lucasfilm entered into a licensing agreement with Dark Horse Comics, beginning with the 1991 comic Star Wars: Dark Empire. Beginning in 1993, the company also entered into licensing agreements with Nintendo to produce Star Wars computer games, trading chards, and bendable figures. In 1995, Hasbro Inc. produced a new line of Star Wars toys under the imprint "The Power of the Force." In 1997, Lucasfilm released the commerciallyThe Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, which inserted digitally added characters and creatures into existing scenes. In 1998, Del Rey acquired the Lucasfilm publishing license from Bantam Spectra as part of a publishing deal connected to the upcoming Prequel trilogy. The following year, Del Rey launched a new line of Star Wars Expanded Universe novels known as the New Jedi Order series, which introduced the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong as antagonists. By the early 21st century, the Expanded Universe had spawned numerous licensed novels, comics, and computer games including the Tales of the Jedi comics, BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic computer game, and the online role playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic. To maintain consistency between the various stories, Lucasfilm created an internal database known as the Holocron continuity database, which lists the various Star Wars characters, planets, ships, and concepts. This database is still maintained by Lucasfilm employee Leland Chee.
Lucasfilm was reorganized to consolidate all the companies to be under Lucasfilm. Today, Lucasfilm is made up of six divisions:
•Lucasfilm – film and television production and promotion
•Lucas Digital – company composed of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound. This company may not exist any longer since the Walt Disney Company reorganization.
•Industrial Light & Magic – digital and visual effects for the entertainment industry
•Skywalker Sound – post-production sound editing for the entertainment industry
•ILMxLAB – virtual reality, mixed reality, real-time cinema, theme-park entertainment, and narrative-based entertainment for future platforms
Feature films
•Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977) •Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980) •Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi (1983) •Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999) •Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002) •Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005) •Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) •Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (2015) •Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) •Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi (2017) (with Disney) •Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) •Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker (2019) (with Disney) •Untitled Star Wars film (May 22, 2026)[123] •Untitled Star Wars film (December 2026) •Untitled Star Wars film (2027) •Untitled Star Wars film (Taika Waititi) (TBA) •Rogue Squadron (TBA)
Television
•The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) (Legends) •Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984) (Legends) •Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) (Legends) •Star Wars: Droids (1985–1986) (Legends) •Ewoks (1985–1987) (Legends) •Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003–2005) (Legends) •Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020) •Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018) •Star Wars Forces of Destiny (2017-2018) •Star Wars Resistance (2018) •Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures (2018–2020) •The Mandalorian (2019) •Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021) •Star Wars: Visions (2021) •The Book of Boba Fett (2021) •Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) •Andor (2022) •Ahsoka (2023) •Lando (TBA) •Rangers of the New Republic (TBA) •The Acolyte (TBA) •Star Wars Detours (unreleased)
Theme park attractions
•Star Tours (1987) •Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (2011) •Hyperspace Mountain (2015)
•Main page on Lucasfilm.com (backup link)
•Lucasfilm on Wikipedia
•Lucasfilm Ltd. at the Internet Movie Database
In other languages
•български
•Deutsch
Dec 18, 2015 · So American Graffiti came out and it was a huge hit. It was made for $750,000 and made over $100 million. Jeff says, “George, I can get you a lot more than $150,000. We can get $500,000, maybe a ...
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Star Wars was the first intellectual property to be licensed in Lego history. [240] Lego has produced animated parody short films and mini-series to promote their Star Wars sets. [241] The Lego Star Wars video games are critically acclaimed bestsellers. [242] [243] In 1977, the board game Star Wars: Escape from the Death Star was released.
