<P> After the financial failure of THX 1138, Lucas wanted the film to act as a release for a world - weary audience: </P> <P> (THX) was about real things that were going on and the problems we're faced with . I realized after making THX that those problems are so real that most of us have to face those things every day, so we're in a constant state of frustration . That just makes us more depressed than we were before . So I made a film where, essentially, we can get rid of some of those frustrations, the feeling that everything seems futile . </P> <P> After Warner Bros. abandoned Lucas's early version of Apocalypse Now (1979) (during the post-production of THX 1138), the filmmaker decided to continue developing Another Quiet Night in Modesto, eventually changing its title to American Graffiti . To co-write a fifteen - page film treatment, Lucas hired Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who also added semi-autobiographical material to the story . Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz began pitching the American Graffiti treatment to various Hollywood studios and production companies in an attempt to secure the financing needed to expand it into a screenplay, but they were unsuccessful . The potential financiers were concerned that music licensing costs would cause the film to go way over budget . Along with Easy Rider (1969), American Graffiti was one of the first films to eschew a traditional film score and successfully rely instead on synchronizing a series of popular hit songs with individual scenes . </P> <P> THX 1138 was released in March 1971 and Lucas was offered opportunities to direct Lady Ice (1973), Tommy (1975) or Hair (1979). He turned down those offers, determined to pursue his own projects despite his urgent desire to find another film to direct . During this time, Lucas conceived the idea for a space opera (as yet untitled) which later became the basis for his Star Wars franchise . At the May 1971 Cannes Film Festival, THX was chosen for the Directors' Fortnight competition . There, Lucas met David Picker, then president of United Artists, who was intrigued by American Graffiti and Lucas's space opera . Picker decided to give Lucas $10,000 to develop Graffiti as a screenplay . </P>

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