George Lucas to receive Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival
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Filmmaker George Lucas, the creator of the “Star Wars” franchise, will receive the Honorary Palme d’Or at the closing ceremony of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The ceremony takes place on May 25, 11 days after Lucas’ 80th birthday.
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“The Festival de Cannes has always held a special place in my heart. I was surprised and elated when my first film, ‘THX-1138,’ was selected to be shown in a new program for first-time directors called the Directors’ Fortnight. Since then, I have returned to the festival on many occasions in a variety of capacities as a writer, director and producer. I am truly honored by this special recognition which means a great deal to me,” Lucas said in a statement.
“In the space of 40 years, George Lucas built a Hollywood empire through the nine episodes of the [‘Star Wars’] saga — four of which he directed himself,” the Cannes Film Festival organization said in a statement announcing the honor.
“George Lucas touched on everything. His unflagging passion for technology made him one of the pioneers of the visual effects industry: He founded Industrial Light & Magic and helped develop many new visual technologies, including the computer-assisted camera. In sound, he contributed to the evolution of stereo through his company THX. He also founded the famous animation studio Pixar. Moreover, George Lucas is an outstanding producer: in addition to the three ‘Star Wars’ trilogies, he is associated with the development of mythical films by other directors, from Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Kagemusha’ to the ‘Indiana Jones’ saga, which he created,” the festival added.
Lucas is the founder of Lucasfilm, a production company he sold to Disney in 2012 for $4.05 billion, a deal that reportedly made him Disney’s largest individual shareholder; pioneering visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic; audio fidelity company THX; influential video game publisher LucasArts; and Skywalker Sound, a leading film sound editing and effects company. Renowned animation studio Pixar started as Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division. He and his wife Mellody Hobson founded the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is scheduled to open in Los Angeles in 2025. He also co-founded Francis Ford Coppola’s production company American Zoetrope.
Films he has produced, written, and/or directed, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, have grossed over $6.1 billion worldwide.
Recent Honorary Palme d’Or winners include Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker and Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster and Marco Bellocchio, and Alain Delon.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival runs from May 15-24. Greta Gerwig is the jury president. Films confirmed to screen out of competition include “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga.”
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