In an interesting interview today Apr. 17, 2015 the creator of ‘Star Wars’, George Lucas told comedian Stephen Colbert that prior to a serious accident at age 18, he had a brief time in his life when he was into racing cars. The discussion that took place at the Tribeca Film Festival on Apr. 17, 2015 allowed Lucas to share with fans a brief part of his success story.

Although Lucas told his story to hundreds of fans, it appeared that what they truly wanted to hear about was the upcoming Episode VII, directed by J.J. Abrams. Lucas quickly dismissed the topic by stating that he knows nothing about the project but he wishes Disney well with it.

The fans continued to gather at the dialogue that took place at BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College), and listened as he spoke about his love of speed as a teenager and how he displayed that in his films. “Star Wars had hot rods, only they flew in space,” he stated.

Despite the fact that he originally immersed his career in experimental film, his ability to create movies that produce considerable revenue was something he displayed early on in his lucrative career. Lucas is the founder of Lucasfilm, which he launched in 1971 with the film American Graffiti. After only a year after the inception, the company brought in $100 million with only a $700,000 budget for the film. This grand return on investment is something that Hollywood could only aspire to over 40 years later.

Lucas also expressed that some of his colleagues like Brian De Palma didn’t believe in the ‘Star Wars’ film, although Steven Spielberg did. It was an excellent idea to pursue the completion of the film and secure the rights to it because it made his net worth grow to $5.1 billion. He shared that while he did get his fifty percent, now he finances movies so he can get that fifty percent too. He later tweeted, “Never invest in a movie…in the movie business, they call those people suckers because you’ll never get your money back, ever.”