The Last Kings of Hollywood - by Paul Fischer (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The untold, intimate story of how three young visionaries--Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg--revolutionized American cinema, creating the most iconic films in history while risking everything, redefining friendship, and shaping Hollywood as we know it. In the summer of 1967, as the old Hollywood studio system was dying, an intense, uncompromising young film school graduate named George Lucas walked onto the Warner Bros backlot for his first day working as an assistant to another up-and-coming, largely-unknown filmmaker, a boisterous father of two called Francis Ford Coppola. At the exact same time, across town on the Universal Studios lot, a film-obsessed twenty-year-old from a peripatetic Jewish family, Steven Spielberg, longed to break free from his apprenticeship for the struggling studio and become a film director in his own right. Within a year, the three men would become friends. Spielberg, prioritizing security, got his seven-year contract directing television. Lucas and Coppola, hungry for independence, left Hollywood for San Francisco to found an alternative studio, American Zoetrope, and make films without answering to corporate capitalism. Based on extensive research and hundreds of original interviews with the inner circle of these Hollywood icons, The Last Kings of Hollywood tells the thrilling, dramatic inside story of how, over the next fifteen years, the three filmmakers rivalled and supported each other, fell out and reconciled, and struggled to reinvent popular American cinema. Along the way, Coppola directed The Godfather, then the highest-grossing film of all-time, until Spielberg surpassed it with Jaws -- whose record Lucas broke with Star Wars, which Spielberg surpassed again with E.T. By the early 1980s, they were the richest, best-known filmmakers in the world, each with an empire of their own. The Last Kings of Hollywood is an unprecedented chronicle of their rise, their dreams and demons, their triumphs and their failures -- intimate, extraordinary, and supremely entertaining"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

The untold, intimate story of how three young visionaries--Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg--revolutionized American cinema, creating the most iconic films in history while risking everything, redefining friendship, and shaping Hollywood as we know it.

In the summer of 1967, as the old Hollywood studio system was dying, an intense, uncompromising young film school graduate named George Lucas walked onto the Warner Bros backlot for his first day working as an assistant to another up-and-coming, largely-unknown filmmaker, a boisterous father of two called Francis Ford Coppola. At the exact same time, across town on the Universal Studios lot, a film-obsessed twenty-year-old from a peripatetic Jewish family, Steven Spielberg, longed to break free from his apprenticeship for the struggling studio and become a film director in his own right.

Within a year, the three men would become friends. Spielberg, prioritizing security, got his seven-year contract directing television. Lucas and Coppola, hungry for independence, left Hollywood for San Francisco to found an alternative studio, American Zoetrope, and make films without answering to corporate capitalism.

Based on extensive research and hundreds of original interviews with the inner circle of these Hollywood icons, The Last Kings of Hollywood tells the thrilling, dramatic inside story of how, over the next fifteen years, the three filmmakers rivalled and supported each other, fell out and reconciled, and struggled to reinvent popular American cinema. Along the way, Coppola directed The Godfather, then the highest-grossing film of all-time, until Spielberg surpassed it with Jaws -- whose record Lucas broke with Star Wars, which Spielberg surpassed again with E.T. By the early 1980s, they were the richest, best-known filmmakers in the world, each with an empire of their own. The Last Kings of Hollywood is an unprecedented chronicle of their rise, their dreams and demons, their triumphs and their failures -- intimate, extraordinary, and supremely entertaining.

Review Quotes

"Paul Fischer, who last dazzled us with the story of the battle for the soul of American cinema, this time gives us the goods on the guys who rose to be the rulers of Hollywood--and whether being kings was worth it. Fischer, a master storyteller and researcher, goes behind the scenes in the personal and professional lives of the three auteurs --as well as a lot of their friends--who defied and beat the Hollywood system, then abandoned it, burned it to the ground or rebuilt it in their own images. Fischer expertly captures the distinctive personalities, moods, and artistic tastes and preferences of the three iconic filmmakers who produced seemingly at will one iconic movie after another. In Fischer's hands, backlot drama is just as exciting as what ends up on screen--no small feat when we're talking about Star Wars or The Godfather--and Fischer analyzes with clear-eyed clarity what went right and what went wrong--and how cinema was shaped by it all, for better or for worse."
--Brian Jay Jones, bestselling biographer and author of Jim Henson: The Biography and George Lucas: A Life

"How did a trio of dreamy kids become the movie gods who gave us The Godfather, Jaws, and Star Wars? The Last Kings of Hollywood is a story of ego, defiance, imagination, money, the thrill of the movies, and the catastrophe of success--and Paul Fischer unfurls it with propulsion and panache."
--Michael Schulman, author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears

"The Last Kings of Hollywood is a gripping thrill-ride through the lives of the flawed men who invented the modern American dreamscape. Filled with unexpected revelations and canny insight, this book provides more proof that Paul Fischer is one of the world's finest chroniclers of culture."
--Josie Riesman, New York Times bestselling author of Ringmaster

"Jaunty, vivid, and sharp, The Last Kings of Hollywood is the remarkable and true story of a cohort of filmmakers who changed cinema and pop culture completely and forever. In this tale of visionary oddballs, classic movies, and an industry determined to exploit them or grind them up or both, Paul Fischer shares a history that we know and we don't. It's a delight to read and learn from."
--Shawn Levy, author of Clint: The Man and the Movies, The Castle on Sunset, Paul Newman: A Life, and Dolce Vita Confidential

"The Last Kings of Hollywood compiles hundreds of original interviews and extensive research to chronicle the rollercoaster ride of a production behind Jaws, the first film to gross over $100 million at the box office... and also follows filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas during their rise to fame in the 1980s."
--People

"The Last Kings of Hollywood is a treasure chest for anyone who loves movies. Fischer somehow manages to weave a hoard of stories and interviews covering decades of Hollywood history into a reading experience that is brisk, energetic, and most of all, illuminating. You'll be telling everyone you know tales from this fascinating book."
--Mallory O'Meara, bestselling author of Daughter of Daring

"Riveting, grade A smack for cinema junkies and a new essential text on how three generational filmmakers changed movies forever. Fischer's writing pulsates and his diligence in finding fresh voices had me hanging on every new anecdote. Drop everything and read this straight through. I did."
--Steven Soderbergh, filmmaker

"With the enthusiasm of an avid fan, the even hand of a journalist, and the narrative skills of a screenwriter, Fischer interleaves the biographies of three Hollywood titans...Fischer's tell-all will cause film history buffs to swoon and will assuredly entertain any nostalgic moviegoer."
--Booklist

"An entertaining, informative, and necessary book for all fans of contemporary cinema."
--Library Journal

"Imagine cinema history without The Godfather, Star Wars and Jaws. In this must-read for movie buffs, Fischer describes how their directors...became friends when they were struggling young filmmakers and how their mutual support and rivalries transformed Hollywood."
--AARP Winter Books Preview

"[An] entertaining group biography [about] the lives and works of filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg...Throughout, Fischer leverages a novelistic style that makes his extensive research and interviews a pleasure to read. This is a sure-fire hit for cinephiles."
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

About the Author

Paul Fischer is the author of A Kim Jong-Il Production (2015), shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Non-Fiction Dagger and chosen as an Amazon Best of the Year Nonfiction Selection, one of Library Journal's Top Ten Books of the Year, one of Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2015, and one of NPR's Best Books of the Year, and The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures (2022), a New York Times Editor's Choice and selected as one of the Times's Best True Crime Books of the year. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Independent, Bright Wall / Dark Room, and the Narwhal.