How Steven Spielberg made $46 million from Star Wars
This story seems almost too good to be true.But it is.
Spielberg made a fortune out of A New Hope.
It would appear that Lucas and Spielberg swapped percentages on their respective up coming movies at the time - Close Encounters of the Third Kind and a little movie Lucas had written and directed called Star Wars...
"George came back from Star Wars a nervous wreck," Spielberg said. "He didn't feel Star Wars came up to the vision he initially had.
He felt he had just made this little kids' movie.
He came to Mobile, Alabama where I was shooting Close Encounters on this humongous set, and hung out with me for a couple of days.
"He said, 'Oh my God, your movie is going to be so much more successful than Star Wars. This is gonna be the biggest hit of all time.'
He said, 'You want to trade some points? I'll give you two and a half percent of Star Wars if you give me two and a half per cent of Close Encounters.' I said, 'Sure, I'll gamble with that, great.'
Close Encounters made so much money and rescued Columbia from bankruptcy. It was the most money I ever made, but it was a meager success story.
Star Wars was a phenomenon and I was the happy beneficiary of a couple of points from that movie which I am still seeing money on today."
Word on the street is that Spielberg has made some 46 million on the success of Star Wars - not bad position to find yourself in eh?
He felt he had just made this little kids' movie.
He came to Mobile, Alabama where I was shooting Close Encounters on this humongous set, and hung out with me for a couple of days.
"He said, 'Oh my God, your movie is going to be so much more successful than Star Wars. This is gonna be the biggest hit of all time.'
He said, 'You want to trade some points? I'll give you two and a half percent of Star Wars if you give me two and a half per cent of Close Encounters.' I said, 'Sure, I'll gamble with that, great.'
Close Encounters made so much money and rescued Columbia from bankruptcy. It was the most money I ever made, but it was a meager success story.
Star Wars was a phenomenon and I was the happy beneficiary of a couple of points from that movie which I am still seeing money on today."
Word on the street is that Spielberg has made some 46 million on the success of Star Wars - not bad position to find yourself in eh?