George Lucas Is Giving His ‘Star Wars’ Money to Education
It's easy to poke fun at George Lucas. He directed the prequel trilogy after all, and refuses to acknowledge the original cuts of the first three 'Star Wars' movies. But when Lucas does good, that's no joke. And today word broke that Lucas will be giving the majority of the money he got for selling Lucasfilm to educational philanthropy.
This comes from a Lucas spokesman who told The Hollywood Reporter “George Lucas has expressed his intention, in the event the deal closes, to donate the majority of the proceeds to his philanthropic endeavors.” For years Lucas spoke of making his small, independent art films, and it looks like that period has passed, and he has settled into retirement and to being a national figure for education.
We could parse here. This is his stated intention. What actually happens is still unknown, and with a majority of over four billion being two billion, that could still leave Lucas with a huge pile of money on top of his residuals and previous earnings from the 'Star Wars' movies. But why begrudge him? Though many famous people give money to charities - often to reduce their taxes or for fashionable reasons - it looks like Lucas may make his legacy greater than just simply changing cinema. If he inspired many of our dreams, he now looks to be providing for them. And Lucas believes it. In a previous statement, he said “I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race."