George Lucas was definitely joking the other day, I’ve been told, when he said The Empire Strikes Back was the “worst” Star Wars film, etc. “Say what you will about Lucas, his personality, his qualities as a filmmaker or lack thereof,” says a person who attended the Publicist Guild luncheon in question. “But on that day, in that speech, he was 100% making a joke.
“He opened his speech — on a day filled with teleprompters — by saying that he never used a script when making a speech, something that drove his publicists crazy. (He’s not exactly a great public speaker, either, so perhaps he should change that habit.) At any rate, he spoke for about five minutes in a seemingly off-the-cuff manner, and made several ‘jokes.’ Others can judge whether or not he was actually funny, but yeah, he was joking.”
