In 1977 while filming Star Wars, George Lucas decided to take a $500,000 pay cut to his salary as director in exchange for full ownership of the franchise’s merchandising rights. By 2012, the first six films produced approximately US$20 billion in merchandising revenue.
Star Wars This article is about the media franchise as a whole. For the original 1977 film, see Star Wars (film). For other uses, see Star Wars (disambiguation). Star Wars is an American epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture […]