George Lucas to quit making blockbusters

Star Wars creator George Lucas is set to turn his back on Hollywood and retire to his "garage" and make small-scale, low-budget movies just for fun.

After fighting with studio executives to get his war movie Red Tails distributed last year (11), the filmmaker insists he's sick of the politics of Tinseltown and is retiring.

Announcing the news to film magazine Empire, Lucas says, "I'm moving away from all my businesses, I'm finishing all my obligations and I'm going to retire to my garage with my saw and hammer and build hobby movies.

"I've always wanted to make movies that were more experimental in nature, and not have to worry about them showing in movie theatres."