Of course, Duke and George Lucas had no real conflict; all of it was merely for promotional purposes. In Hollywood's marketing strategies, two sworn enemies in the media's eyes might actually be close friends in private, and good friends might be made to appear as bitter rivals.
Naturally, neither Lucasfilm nor Warner Bros. truly wanted George Lucas to interfere with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The media would inevitably ask George Lucas such questions, and "creative differences" was the most suitable excuse.
"Creative differences" could also be simply described as "incompatibility." Hollywood studios do not like employees who can't be controlled. Directors who pursue excessive individuality can undermine the authority of producers. In this industry, the one who provides the money is the boss—how could directors or actors do whatever they please?
It's common for the sequels of Hollywood blockbusters to replace their directors, and "creative differences" is often the best excuse for it. In truth, most replaced directors either withdrew voluntarily, failed to meet expectations, or simply demanded too high a fee.
Many people have heard of actors being excluded from projects for asking too much—directors face the same issue.
When a film becomes a massive hit and earns huge profits, a director's value can skyrocket. However, since "cost control" is one of the key methods of ensuring profit, studios often refuse to shoulder an inflated paycheck.
After Alien achieved great success in 1979, 20th Century Fox did not call back Ridley Scott. Instead, they extended an olive branch to James Cameron, who had gained fame through The Terminator. Years later, Ridley Scott recalled the incident with surprise, saying he couldn't believe the studio never approached him again. However, he also admitted that if he had directed the sequel, his asking price would have been very high.
A studio's direct goal in making movies is profit. No one wants to risk losing money by overspending the budget.
Now retired, George Lucas no longer seemed concerned about such matters. Aside from cooperating with the promotion of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he frequently fired shots at Hollywood's traditional production model.
While appearing as a guest on a CBS news program, he spoke about the major transformation occurring in Hollywood, criticizing the film industry: "Hollywood today is becoming increasingly devoid of creativity and imagination."
"If a movie isn't good, most of the time the fault lies with those big studio executives. In the past, the eight major studios balanced both art and commerce. They constantly discovered interesting novels and stories and adapted them into films. But now, Hollywood has been completely taken over by financial capital. These people know nothing about the movie business. Talented directors can't truly showcase their creativity under the current system."
George Lucas believed he was very fortunate during the era when he created the Star Wars series. At that time, a producer at 20th Century Fox gave him great creative freedom.
"He liked American Graffiti. Therefore, he trusted my vision immensely. Whatever I requested, he would do his best to help me achieve it. He believed some things were my expertise, so he wouldn't interfere with how a dog circled around a spaceship in a shot! But today, finding a producer like that is nearly impossible!"
George Lucas's words carried deep meaning. Yet he alone could not change Hollywood's structure. Besides, only after retiring would George Lucas dare to speak so frankly.
Ultimately, he was still a beneficiary of the Hollywood system.
The media inevitably linked this matter to Duke. Many outlets believed George Lucas's remarks were aimed directly at him. After all, Duke could be considered the very embodiment of Hollywood's industrialized, assembly-line filmmaking model.
"Will Duke Rosenberg's Star Wars: The Force Awakens recreate the glory, or will it tarnish a classic?"
Such headlines and commentaries spread throughout media and the internet, serving as excellent publicity for the film. Controversy always generates discussion.
At the Icelandic filming location, American journalists who followed the crew specifically asked Duke about George Lucas. Duke appeared extremely modest. Part of this was indeed for publicity and attention, but part of it was also due to the long-standing friendship between George Lucas and the Rosenberg family.
Duke expressed endless gratitude and respect toward George Lucas: "He developed digital effects, digital editing, digital sound, and digital cinematography using the resources available to him. He opened a door for me, allowing me to turn the visions in my mind into real works."
Though he did not comment on George Lucas's storytelling ability, Duke gave high praise for his contributions to film technology: "I think what he contributed to the entire film industry far outweighs what he received in return. He is like the Thomas Edison of cinema. Without George Lucas's innovations back then, there might never have been The Lord of the Rings trilogy or even today's superhero movies."
All of this was part of Duke's cooperation with Lucasfilm and Warner Bros. in their coordinated promotional campaign.
His main task at the moment, however, remained to complete the film's shooting as quickly as possible.
In Iceland's forest park, the area had been cleared. All journalists and unrelated personnel who might leak information about the next scenes were escorted out by the crew's security and local administrators.
Next, under Duke's firm insistence, not only was the park sealed off, but most of the crew had to leave as well—even main cast members like Oscar Isaac were no exception.
Only those who signed strict confidentiality agreements were allowed to stay and work on the set.
This scene required only three actors: Lee Pace as the main villain Kylo Ren, Daniel Wu as the protagonist Finn, and Daisy Ridley as the heroine Rey.
"Camera crew ready!"
"Actors ready!"
"Lighting ready!"
"Props ready!"
Every department was prepared. Daniel Wu and Lee Pace stepped into the frame where artificial "snowflakes" drifted down. At Duke's command, they each raised their lightsabers and began a fierce duel.
Filming was repeatedly interrupted as action director Jimmy Carter constantly corrected Daniel Wu and Lee Pace's movements. During shooting, although Daniel Wu held a lightsaber, his actual combat strength was not very high—he was clearly no match for a member of the powerful Skywalker bloodline.
Star Wars pioneered the concept of lightsaber battles, and The Force Awakens naturally faced the same unique challenge. In earlier films, prop sabers were coated with projection materials on their tips, which were fragile and often broke. When the coating shifted off-axis, the light effect weakened, requiring optical layering in post-production.
This time, Duke used in-camera processing, achieving far more vivid and impressive results.
The interactive on-set lighting effects produced by the lightsabers were enough to excite Star Wars fans. Constructing them and making them emit sufficient light for the battles wasn't difficult for Duke and his technical team, since they could program light intensity and balance color temperature on site. This allowed them to define the behavior of the illumination—so when two sabers clashed, they erupted in bursts of light that became the main light source in the dark environment.
When the digital lightsaber effects were later composited, unlike in previous films, Duke could easily enhance the brightness without faking or altering the direction of the light.
After an afternoon of fragmented shots, the crucial duel scene finally reached its climax. Daniel Wu was struck down, the Skywalker lightsaber flying from his grasp. Lying on the ground, Rey reached out her hand…
"Cut!" Duke shouted loudly. "That's it for today!"
The crew members began cleaning up the set and packing the equipment, while Duke stood up from the director's chair. The weather in Iceland was far from warm — this place was already quite close to the Arctic. With the sky looking overcast and the occasional cold wind blowing through the forest, Duke, who had just come from the desert of Abu Dhabi, couldn't help but shiver.
Tina Fey quickly handed him a cup of hot tea. "Drink this, it'll warm you up."
"Thank you." Duke nodded slightly to her, took the cup without hesitation, and took a sip. The temperature of the tea was just right. As it flowed down his throat and into his stomach, warmth spread throughout his whole body. "Tina, you should have some too. You've been standing out here in this cold wind for quite a while."
Tina Fey screwed the cap back onto the thermos and said with a smile, "I already had some while you were filming."
An assistant director came over to clean up Duke's workstation. Duke shook his head slightly, forcing himself to step out of his working mindset, and asked, "Anything happening in North America lately that's worth paying attention to?"
"You'd better call Scarlett tonight," Tina Fey reminded him seriously. "She's been complaining that you didn't attend the premiere of Captain America 2."
"Got it." Duke tightened his coat. "Remind me later tonight."
"There's one more thing," Tina Fey continued. "Our donation to the USC School of Cinematic Arts under the Star Wars name has received a response from USC. Warner's media outlets are already preparing to report it."
Duke thought for a moment and said, "You take charge of following up on that."
After that press conference, Duke established a film foundation under the Star Wars name and donated 10 million dollars to the USC School of Cinematic Arts, specifically to support Chinese-American and Latino students. This was the largest single donation in USC's history specifically designated for student aid.
With Tina Fey overseeing that matter, Duke had no concerns.
After finishing his talk with Tina, Duke deliberately went to check with the crew members who were sealing up the film reels. Although the shooting of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was going smoothly, nothing could be taken lightly.
...
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