George Lucas

With a rich history and a promising future, the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts will celebrate its 80th birthday Sunday with a dedication ceremony of its new $175-million home on campus. The school's most famous alum, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, whose Lucasfilm Foundation provided $75 million for the new digs, plus $100 million for the school's endowment, will be on hand.

The USC School of Cinematic Arts celebrated its 80th birthday Sunday with a dedication ceremony of its new $175-million campus home. Oh, and George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were there too. The veteran filmmakers both made brief remarks and were joined by university officials, alumni and hundreds of supporters at the celebration, which also featured a performance by the USC Trojan Marching Band. "We're now officially a legitimate school . . .

Video games: An article in Monday's Business section about movie moguls entering the video game industry said director George Lucas founded his game studio, LucasArts, in 1982. Lucas founded a game studio called Lucasfilm Games in 1982 and changed the name of that studio to LucasArts in 1990.

George Lucas leaned against a gleaming redwood railing inside the Victorian ranch house that serves as his film empire's headquarters, listening to a photographer bemoan the lack of light. Leaping into director's mode, the creator of the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" movie trilogies sent two assistants scurrying with a round reflector through a set of French doors to a deck 20 feet away. "A little higher," he shouted. "Now tilt it down."

No, none of it makes sense, but then an overheated mind can bend logic, especially when it comes to profit and prophets. The funny truth of it is that most of the pilgrims have no clue as to what they would find if they did get past the gate. There may be no more mysterious piece of real estate in California than Skywalker Ranch, the 5,156-acre spread that is the spiritual center of George Lucas' vast entertainment empire. Is it some tycoon's citadel of self, like Hearst Castle? Or, far worse, a sci-fi version of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and its creepy calliopes?

'Mishima': A movie listing in The Guide section on Thursday said Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas were producers of "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters." They were executive producers.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The black airmen whose lives will be the basis of a George Lucas movie know the picture will highlight their record of successfully escorting thousands of U.S. bombers in World War II. They also feel it should tell of the trials they encountered stateside, like seeing German prisoners of war being treated better and afforded rights that were withheld from black American citizens.

Harrison Ford said Friday that momentum is building for a fifth movie in the "Indiana Jones" franchise and that George Lucas is already cooking up a suitable plot for a heroic senior citizen with a penchant for whips and fedoras. "It's crazy but great," the 66-year-old actor said in an interview. "George is in think mode right now." "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" grossed $318 million in the U.S. alone and $770 million worldwide and is expected to be a powerhouse seller on DVD and Blu-Ray when it arrives in stores on Oct. 14. -- Geoff Boucher

Attention, TV executives: The Force may soon be with you. Filmmaker George Lucas said Tuesday that he has "just begun work" on a live-action television series rooted in the "Star Wars" universe, which is huge news not just for fans of the science-fiction epic but also for networks looking for a piece of the Lucas magic that has grossed $4.3 billion in theaters worldwide.