Marcia Lucas, Oscar-winning Star Wars editor, dies at 80
Marcia Lucas, the Oscar-winning editor of the original Star Wars, died Wednesday at age 80. She won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Star Wars and also edited American Graffiti and Return of the Jedi. Lucas was the former wife of filmmaker George Lucas and collaborated on his early projects. Her editing reshaped rough footage into the 1977 film that launched the Star Wars franchise, defining its pacing, energy, and emotional beats.
let's be clear, let's be very clear, let's be incredibly clear about something: Marcia Lucas is why you love Star Wars. She's why Star Wars worked. She's why it has heart. She's responsible for the in-media-res beginning, she's responsible for basically everything charming and unique about >
Tyler, from the Internet543Star Wars that isn't purely visual. Lucas's original six edits were nightmare disasters, and she fixed them. She fixed Empire Strikes Back, and kept Lucas at bay when he didn't like what Kershner did and tried to make it more like the first one. She's responsible for what works best in Jedi.
useless username102One time when I was helping out at the USC film archives I found a split reel that had "Marcia Lucas" written on it. It was like holding an object of power
Carl Wilhoyte61It was wild seeing early workprint cuts of Star Wars where the first act is Luke fucking around with his friends meanwhile a giant space battle is happening
fatassery.bsky.social51If you are a 40 something, there are exceptionally strong odds that the movies you grew up loving were edited by women
Michael Oberg25Gives more depth to the "Lucas' Accidental Masterpiece" idea. His absolutely dogshit work when he's actually been in charge supports all of that
The Red Terra23And he was so bitter about her getting ANY credit that he made sure that he waited until ther 20-year term in their divorce decree had expired and THEN commenced production on the prequels.
Jennifer R. Povey (she/her)22The difference between A New Hope and The Phantom Menace? Marcia Lucas. George needed somebody to keep his ideas corralled into something good, and Marcia was better at that than anyone.
ad85.bsky.social21She also co-edited American Graffiti with the legend Verna Fields (Jaws). Lucas is underrated for AG today. One of the greatest teen dramas ever made.
KC Says You Should Buy My Book16i had this convo with @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social -- there's some THERE there in the prequels, and if Lucas had let Marcia have more control she could have pulled more of that forward. the overall arc of the prequels feels REALLY prescient for this moment but lucas couldnt let anyone touch it
Maya Media15Yes. There’s so much in this book about directors divorcing their smart wives, sometimes to go after younger women. www.simonandschuster.com/books/Easy-R...
fluids_guru14A good YouTube video. youtu.be/GFMyMxMYDNk?...
Jake and Grogu11(I’m not arguing against your point, just pointing out a pedantic Latin thing.) *pushes up glasses* It’s actually “in medias res”. I learned that the hard way by getting it wrong in LearnedLeague this week.
Matt Hope8Star Wars was saved by excellent editing and music and groundbreaking vfx
Scott Hallgren 🇧🇷🏴🇺🇦🎹🎬🎵🎶8She also rescued the original Raiders of the Lost Ark, which didn’t include the scene with Marian and Indy at the very end… 🥲
Boris Zee6Marcia Lucas’ editing was great - perfectly selected shots and pacing all the way through. She didn’t get the credit she deserved. RIP.
Cass5She was everything good about the whole thing.
Bryan Newton5Which is why nearly every film with Star Wars she wasn't involved in lacks that heart and magic. I'm looking at you, prequels.
bskwitter.bsky.social4It would make a good one-act play, imagining their conversations about shooting and editing the film. Perhaps only Marcia alone in George's inner circle could tell him that some of his ideas were dumb or self-indulgent. What about her past made her so good at crafting this perfect escape?
bbny.bsky.social4Watching the first Star Wars in her honor tonight. 🕯️🫡
littlenomad3It is true that Star Wars post-Marcia (and George, post-Marcia) is very different.
Bo3My favorite story about George Lucas is from David Lynch: youtu.be/EJQ4vCu-S0U
SF_Gal 🫘2Agree 100% & now a follower😊 Thank you for putting this out there. More people should know.
ZachFutureSomething2Wait, you mean that style of beginning with all those tilted words? That was her?! I feel ashamed for not knowing this sooner. May she rest in peace.
J.D. Alora2I don't think there's a single film that demonstrates the importance of editing more than Star Wars.
RIP to the legend who saved and/or improved on a heap of classics - Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Godfather, and more
priscilla page184an excerpt from Dale Pollock's Skywalking that details the influence Marcia Lucas had on Raiders of the Lost Ark
austin, a person7Feel like I’ve seen a hundred imitations of Star Wars and half as many one crazy night movies trying to do American Graffiti, and a big part of why almost nothing else gets close, even the better imitators, is because you can’t just copy great editing
Jasper (they/them)5She made the movie that changed the world. George shot it, Dreamed it up with artists and creators, but she made it WORK. I would love to see an early cut, before she took over. So we could see HOW MUCH of her is in there.
We are Little Witch Academia!3from i watch of sfdebris videos on the making of star wars she was the main reason why the original trilogy was as good as it was without Star Wars would have been a movie that just came and went may she rest in peace.
Truly, I would argue there is maybe no single more important figure in 1970s/80s cinema than Marcia Lucas. Yeah George and Martin and Steven directed the movies but she is the one who took what they made and spun it into The Stories that we all love to this day. Her shadow looms LARGE.
Bugs Maytrix & Grogu6hollywood as we know it doesn't happen without her
Patryk of the Sleeper Tribe2Hirsch, Chew and Marcia did a great job on that film, they fully deserved their Oscars.
Mizore2I’m cautious about raising her too high above Lucas because there’s been a lot of people ignoring her own words that she didn’t save Star Wars from Lucas because it didn’t need to be saved, but I do think it wouldn’t have been the same. As successful? Maybe. But not what WE fell in love with.
