Star Wars Godfather George Lucas Predicts Hollywood Reckoning as Big Studios Run Out of Imagination

George Lucas walked into Cannes, picked up an honorary Palme d'Or, and basically told Hollywood it has no idea what it is doing. Agree or not, when the guy who built Star Wars says the next decade looks like more of the same, you at least hear him out. And yes, the irony police were out in force.

What Lucas actually said at Cannes

At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Lucas sat down with Brut France interviewer Augustin Trapenard and got a straight question: what will cinema look like in 10 years? He did not sugarcoat it.

"Same thing as it is now... nobody knows what to do."

Lucas' argument was blunt: the industry is recycling itself. In his view, streaming is the most obvious example, but the theatrical side is playing the same game. The default pipeline is sequels and do-overs, and the pipeline for anything fresh is choked off because studios want something that looks exactly like something they already sold. He even nudged creators for not pushing harder on original ideas.

As a side note, he also shared a quick memory from the early days: he was literally on a beach building sandcastles with Steven Spielberg when friends told him to check the news, and that is when it sank in that Star Wars had exploded. Not super relevant to the rant, but a fun little time capsule.

The internet heard him... and immediately brought receipts

Plenty of folks agreed with the diagnosis that Hollywood is stuck on repeat. But a lot of the reaction was: great point, interesting messenger. People pointed to how Star Wars itself is a remix of older influences — Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, the desert-planet-and-giant-worm DNA that invites Dune comparisons, and the old serials vibe Lucas famously chased after not landing Flash Gordon rights. Others noted the obvious: Star Wars and Indiana Jones became factories for sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and shows. So yeah, the take landed, but the hypocrisy argument landed too.

Does 2026 prove his point?

Look at what is currently on fan calendars and studio slates for 2026 and tell me this does not back him up. It is a wall of Part 2s, 3s, and brand extensions. Some of these are firm dates, some are in-development titles that tend to shift, and a few are still at the rumor/working-title stage — but the pattern is the point.

• Greenland 2: Migration — January 09, 2026
• 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple — January 16, 2026
• I Can Only Imagine 2 — February 20, 2026
• Scream 7 — February 27, 2026
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie — April 03, 2026
• Ready or Not 2: Here I Come — April 10, 2026
• The Devil Wears Prada 2 — May 01, 2026
• Mortal Kombat II — May 08, 2026
• The Mandalorian and Grogu — May 22, 2026
• Scary Movie 6 — June 12, 2026
• Toy Story 5 — June 19, 2026
• Minions 3 — July 01, 2026
• Evil Dead Burn — July 24, 2026
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day — July 31, 2026
• Practical Magic 2 — September 18, 2026
• The Social Reckoning — October 09, 2026
• The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping — November 20, 2026
• Focker In-Law — November 25, 2026
• Narnia: The Magician's Nephew — November 26, 2026
• Violent Night 2 — December 04, 2026
• Untitled Jumanji: The Next Level sequel — December 11, 2026
• Avengers: Doomsday — December 18, 2026
• Dune: Part Three — December 18, 2026
• The Angry Birds Movie 3 — December 23, 2026

Some of these make sense. Some feel like we ran out of new Legos and just started rebuilding the same castle. Do we really need another Toy Story and another Angry Birds? Maybe! But if you are wondering why Lucas sees an originality drought, that calendar is Exhibit A.

Dates and titles shift all the time, and a bunch of projects above are in flux or not officially locked — that is the point: the pipeline is loaded with familiar IP either way.

So, is he right?

On the trend line, yeah. On whether he is the perfect messenger? That is the debate. Either way, Hollywood keeps betting that the safest thing to make is something people already recognize. If you are tired of that, you are not alone. Drop your 2026 must-sees — and your hard passes — below.