Not so long ago, in a county not so far, far away, Star Wars creator George Lucas tried to build a massive movieplex on his Skywalker Ranch estate.
But when the famed director’s plans were thwarted by agents of the evil empire — the homeowners association — Lucas took the revenge of the Jedi, retracting his project and promising to allow developers to build low-income housing on the land instead.
The filmmaker and producer’s vision for a Skywalker Ranch movie studio in Marin County, Calif. would have included a “state-of-the-art movie studio complete with day care center, restaurant, gym and a 200-car garage,” Movies.com reports.
The official statement from Lucas snarkily announced, “We realize our solution to creating open space by placing low-impact commercial facilities on farmland, while permanently preserving over 95% of the total acreage, has not been accepted by our neighbors. Nor are they or many of the public agencies interested in the $50-70M restoration of the stream. Maybe we’re ahead of our time.”
His wealthy Marin neighbors, however, are not exactly thrilled.
“It’s inciting class warfare,” Carolyn Lenert, head of the North San Rafael Coalition of Residents, told the New York Times.
Marin County continues to be one the wealthiest, whitest communities in the U.S. Neighbors are now worried this new housing development could threaten that.
Lucasfilm, on the other hand, says that they will continue with their construction, but built instead in a place “that sees us as a creative asset, not as an evil empire.”
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