Filmmaker George Lucas directed 1977’s Star Wars, which changed the face of this sci-fi genre with its critical and commercial success. The film launched the epic space opera franchise that has lasted well over five decades and continues to thrive even today. However, Lucas’ creation wasn’t the first sci-fi franchise to captive fans across the world.
Almost a decade before Lucas took the world by storm, Gene Roddenberry dared to go where no man had gone before with the ambitious sci-fi television series Star Trek. Over the years, fans of both franchises have debated which is better. However, Lucas has himself admitted that Star Wars wouldn’t exist without Gene Roddenberry’s work on Star Trek, and here is what he had to say.
George Lucas credits Star Trek for the success of Star Wars
George Lucas is arguably one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. He created the epic space opera franchise Star Wars, which turned into a multi-billion dollar empire following the release of the 1977 original film. However, Lucas admitted that its success wouldn’t be possible without Star Trek.
Created by Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek premiered in 1966 and showcased the potential for sci-fi stories to captive general audiences. In the documentary Trek Nation, Lucas shared his views on the show’s impact on the sci-fi landscape, including his own franchise that debuted almost a decade later.
There was a fanbase out there — primarily the Star Trek fanbase — who understood sci-fi, understood visual sci-fi, and was ready for something like this (Star Wars) to be in the feature arena.
Lucas made the above statement (via Geeky Tyrant), adding that Star Wars‘ success was built on the shoulders of Star Trek as the latter proved there was an audience for such stories.
Furthermore, Lucas admitted in the documentary (via StarTrek.com) that he had attended Star Trek fan conventions before he directed the 1977 film that shot him to superstardom. He and Roddenberry also united to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Lucas’ original Star Wars film, further underlining the importance of both franchises.
Star Wars producer admitted Star Trek was a huge influence on George Lucas
From Lucas’ words, it is evident that the filmmaker was an admirer of Roddenberry’s work on the hit television series. However, producer Gary Kurtz, who worked extensively on the original trilogy admitted that Lucas was also influenced by Star Trek when creating his own franchise.
In an interview with Mashable, Kurtz expressed that the sci-fi television series was a greater influence on Star Wars than the Joseph Campbell book The Hero With A Thousand Faces.
Yes. [George] did talk about that [show] quite a bit. I mean Star Trek, the early series, was pretty much all human drama.
Kurtz made the above statement when asked whether Star Trek had influenced Lucas’ vision for his epic space opera saga.
The producer explained that while the television series lacked the intergalactic battles that Lucas had envisioned for his franchise, it still had plenty of good relationship stories done with a touch of humor that influenced the director. At the same time, the show’s treatment of space as an environment influenced Lucas to create his own planets with unique ecosystems, which has become a staple of the franchise.
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