Lucas Isn’T Starry-Eyed

George Lucas told reporters in New York on Sunday that he’s not one of the many who expect “Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,” his universally anticipated prequel to the most popular movie series of all time, to be the biggest box office hit in history.

Furthermore, he doesn’t care whether it is or not.

“The billion dollars or so that people are saying the film will make, I’m dubious about,” said Lucas, who hasn’t directed a feature film since the first “Star Wars” 22 years ago.

That 1977 classic currently stands as the second-highest grossing feature ever at a figure of $461 million, including reissues.

James Cameron’s “Titanic” is the leader in North American box office take at more than $600 million.

“I don’t know where that `Let’s beat Titanic’ stuff came from,” Lucas added. “Anybody who knows the film business knows that the chances of this film beating the original (Star Wars) are slim to none. I don’t even think it’ll really beat `E.T.”’

(“E.T.” led the all-time box office rankings from 1982 until 1997, when the “Star Wars Special Edition” was reissued.)

“You know, I expect it to be one of the top 10 grossers of all time,” Lucas said of “Phantom Menace,” “and if it wasn’t, I would probably be very disappointed. But it’s not the end of the world, I think.”

Though certainly the most personally successful of filmmakers, he disdains both the industry’s and the media’s focus on films’ financial performance.

“This is not a contest,” he said. “We’re living in this sort of adversarial society where somebody has to be a winner and everyone else has to be losers.

“It’s a movie,” he said. “I made it because I enjoy making the movies. I hope it does well. I really don’t have any interest or desire to be No. 1 or win an Academy Award or count how many good reviews I get as opposed to how many bad reviews I get. That’s not what it’s really about. It’s about the process of making the movie.”