Daily Dialogue — December 6, 2016

“I can’t get involved! I’ve got work to do! It’s not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there’s nothing I can do about it right now. It’s such a long way from here.”

— Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977), written by George Lucas

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Excuse. Today’s suggestion by George “Clay” Mitchell.

Trivia: George Lucas waived the normal writer/director fee and asked for a mere $175,000 plus 40% of the merchandising rights. After the failure of Doctor Dolittle (1967), when its massive merchandising push proved an equally costly debacle, studio executives saw little if any profit from such matters and agreed. Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977) related merchandise has since generated many millions of dollars in sales, allowing Lucas to make movies completely independent of the studio system he decried. Merchandising rights are now a major part of any film contract.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Clay: “I queued up the scene a little before this line to give it some context, but the whole exchange is Luke giving one excuse after the next. The very textbook example of the Refusal of the Call in the Hero’s Journey.”