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More American Graffiti (1979)
Starring Ron Howard, Paul LeMat, Charles Martin Smith, and Candy Clark. Cinematography by Caleb Deschanel. Edited by Tina Hirsch. Produced by Howard Kazanijian. Written and Directed by Bill L. Norton.
The characters from American Graffiti are back but a few years older. The film is set over the course of four consecutive New Years Eves from 1965 through 1968. Laurie and Steve struggle with their young marriage while they are overwhelmed by an anti-war protest. Debbie and Carol have joined a traveling band of hippies based out of San Francisco. Milner is trying to maintain his status as king of the road and is struggling to beat a factory racing team at his local drag strip. And poor Terry the Toad is stuck in Vietnam fighting for his life.
When Universal Studios gave George Lucas the opportunity to produce his film American Graffiti, the deal came with an option for them at his second picture. American Graffiti was a massive success, but when he presented them with the treatment he had assembled for Star Wars, they were bewildered by the concept and passed on the film; a decision that ultimately cost them almost three hundred million dollars. Ten days later Twentieth Century Fox picked up Star Wars and they have been thanking their lucky stars ever since. But since Universal had passed on Star Wars, Lucas still owed them a picture. So before he started working on The Empire Strikes Back, he agreed to help them make a sequel to American Graffiti, though he would not write or direct the film. He did not want his incredibly personal characters to go to just anyone, so he carefully chose Bill L. Norton, a fellow alumni at USC, to write the new screenplay. Lucas handed over some rough notes on what he wanted to happen to his characters and told Norton that if he liked the script that he would be given the opportunity to direct the film as well. Norton ended up getting the job.
Lucas hung around on set while More American Graffiti was in production, but insisted that his involvement would be minimal and that all creative questions should be directed to Norton. He did however suggest that the film be shot in four different aspect ratios; a different ratio to offset each segment. He also did some second unit shooting in the Vietnam sequences, possibly to fill a void left from the missed opportunity of Apocalypse Now. And after production was complete he was instrumental in its editing. But in the end a whole army of George Lucas’ couldn’t have helped the film. The tagline claimed that there would be “More Laughs” and “More Music”, but where the hell were all the laughs? On the contrary, the film is quite downbeat at times. More American Graffiti was a miserable box office failure and only broke even after the rights were sold to air it on television two years later. The film was a bust, but Lucas had bigger and better things to move on to.
Budget: $3,000,000
Total US Gross: $8,100,000
Genre: Musical
Runtime: 110 Minutes
US Release Date: 8/3/79
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1, 1:85:1, and 2.35:1 (varies per segment)
Awards: none
Tagline: More Laughs. More Music.
Quote: “Ah, come on man. You got nothing better to do than hassle long hairs?”
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