Award in Cannes

Palm of Honor for “Star Wars” creator George Lucas

Lucas with the Palme d'Honneur for his life's work(Bild: AP/Scott A Garfitt/Invision)

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas was able to celebrate twice at the 77th Cannes Film Festival: he turned 80 on the opening day of the festival - and on Saturday evening he was awarded a Palm d'Honneur for his life's work on the Côte d'Azur.

The award was presented to him by his long-time colleague and partner Francis Ford Coppola, who had his film "Megalopolis" in competition in Cannes. Lucas, who was born in California, had become friends with Coppola during an internship at Hollywood studio Warner Brothers.

Living legend Lucas
George Lucas is now not only a director of Hollywood blockbusters, film producer, inventor of special effects and revolutionary in the entertainment industry, but also a living legend as the creator of Star Wars.

One Hollywood great presented the other with the palm of honor.(Bild: APA/AFP/Christophe SIMON)

In 1977, his film "Star Wars" became the biggest commercial success in film history to date: with production costs of eleven million dollars, it had a box office takings of 775 million dollars (714.94 million euros).

Two more "Star Wars" films followed in 1980 and 1983. After a break of several years, he released three prequels between 1999 and 2005, which took place before the first 'Star Wars' trilogy. To this day, the 'Star Wars' world - the rights to which George Lucas sold to Disney for four billion dollars in 2012 - has a huge fan base.

Heralding a revolution in cinema
Lucas also revolutionized the way films are made and marketed. As a producer, he was involved in Steven Spielberg's successful "Indiana Jones" adventure films. In addition to his own production company, he founded a special effects company that brought the dinosaurs to life for Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park", for example.