Even between two best friends, the subject of money is usually a very slippery slope. Money can make things complicated and can destroy even the strongest relationships. However, is it different if it was an exchange of  ”percentages” and not money between friends? Celebrity Net Worth just released an interesting story about a unique transaction between directors, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

George came back from Star Wars a nervous wreck. He didn’t feel Star Wars came up to the vision he initially had. He felt he had just made this little kids’ movie. He came to Mobile, Alabama where I was shooting Close Encounters on this humongous set, and hung out with me for a couple of days.

He said, ‘Oh my God, your movie is going to be so much more successful than Star Wars. This is gonna be the biggest hit of all time’. He said, ‘You want to trade some points? I’ll give you two and a half per cent of Star Wars if you give me two and a half per cent of Close Encounters.’ I said, ‘Sure, I’ll gamble with that, great.’ Close Encounters made so much money and rescued Columbia from bankruptcy. It was the most money I ever made, but it was a meager success story. Star Wars was a phenomenon and I was the happy beneficiary of a couple of points from that movie which I am still seeing money on today.

It looks like these two friends both laughed on their way to the bank. It’s just going to take Spielberg a little more time with all the Star Wars money in his pockets.

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