Re: He is Risen

Lawrence Watt-Evans <lwe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in 
news:ag6mu390tll2uss2dtmfb72h8l9rqc03pe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>>> They did EVERYTHING for the other aspects of SF. Note that 
Spielberg's 
>>>>>> SF films came AFTER Star Wars.
>>>>> 
>>>>> They did not. Close Encounters and Star Wars were both big summer 
films in
>>>>> 1977.
> 
> "Star Wars" opened in early May, _before_ the traditional summer
> season.  CE3K was at the very end of the summer.

Which is totally irrelevant to the point at issue, which was the claim
Star 
Wars allowed CE3K to be produced. No, Jaws did that.

> It was in the works, yes, but it was seen as a huge gamble, the studio
> indulging Spielberg as a reward for "Jaws" -- until "Star Wars" hit
> big and SF was suddenly hot, whereupon CE3K suddenly got big-time
> studio backing and opened huge, with advertising campaign that some
> of my friends cynically described as, "Here's something to hold you
> geeks until the "Star Wars" sequel comes out!"

Both Star Wars and Close Encounters were seen as big risks. The idea that 
additional advertising for CE3K played a significant role in the film's 
success I regard as fatuous. It would have drawn plenty of attention, just

because it was what it was and off of the success of Jaws, without Star 
Wars having been released at all.

Alternate history story idea: CE3K is released in May, Star Wars well into

summer. 

>>Spielberg is pretty clearly the more influential filmmaker in general, 
>>but when you limit it to SF, Lucas has at least a competing claim to 
>>the crown.
> 
> I'd agree with that summary.

It's true if you want to restrict sci-fi to space opera.