May the Force be with your marriage, George Lucas!
Just months after selling Lucasfilm Ltd. — and the rights to his Star Wars legacy — for $4.05 billion to the Walt Disney Company, the famed director, 68, is starting a new chapter in his life, with longtime girlfriend Mellody Hobson. The couple are engaged after seven years of dating, a Lucasfilm rep confirms to Us Weekly.
Hobson, 43 — chairman for DreamWorks Animation and head of a Chicago-based investment management firm — has been a steady presence in Lucas' life, accompanying him on red carpets all over the world. The marriage will be her first and her fiance's second; the Star Wars creator was previously married to Marcia Lucas, from 1969 to 1983.
There's no word yet on when the two plan to tie the knot, but with Lucasfilm out of his hands, the groom-to-be has more time now to help plan a wedding.
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," he said in a statement after the multibillion-dollar sale. "It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime."
