Ten years on, Star Wars: The Force Awakens doesn’t just feel like a movie that restarted a saga. It feels like a technical turning point. To mark the film’s tenth anniversary, Industrial Light & Magic has revisited its Oscar®-nominated visual effects work on the 2015 release — offering a closer look at how the galaxy was rebuilt for a new era without losing its soul. Why this matters now Anniversaries tend to focus on characters and story. This one shifts the spotlight to craft. The Force Awakens arrived with a difficult mandate: make Star Wars feel tangible again after years of increasingly digital spectacle, while still delivering modern blockbuster scale. ILM’s work was central to pulling that off — and a decade later, its influence is even clearer. What was revisited The newly released retrospective highlights ILM’s effects pipeline on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which earned an Academy Award®…
Industrial Light & Magic
Happy 81st Birthday George Lucas – The Legacy of a Star Wars Icon
There are few names in cinema that command as much respect and admiration as George Lucas. Born on May 14, 1944, Lucas has become a legendary figure not just in filmmaking, but in global pop culture. And today, as he celebrates his 81st birthday, it’s the perfect time to look back on the legacy he’s built, the galaxy he’s created, and the stories that have captivated audiences for generations. The Visionary Who Changed Cinema It all began in a galaxy far, far away—or more accurately, in Modesto, California. Lucas had always been a storyteller, even before he had the means to put those stories on screen. His breakthrough came with American Graffiti in 1973, a nostalgic look back at teenage life in the early ’60s. But it was his next project that would change everything. Star Wars debuted in 1977, and what began as a risky space opera with a…