George Lucas Drops Plans for Movie Studio in Marin County.

According to the Los Angeles Times, due to to local opposition, George Lucas has decided against a film studio in Marin Country to supplement his studio in the Presdio in San Francisco.

Now, of course, this means that the crack economic development teams in the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles will combine forces and fly up to Marin to convince Lucas to open a branch of his studio in the LA area.

And that will happen at the exact same moment every pig in the state of California suddenly takes flight and starts circling the runways of LAX.

The force wasn't with George Lucas -- at least in his latest building plans.

Lucasfilm, the company behind the "Star Wars" movies, said it was scrapping plans to build a huge studio facility in Marin County, citing longstanding opposition from homeowners.

"The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners in Lucas Valley has convinced us that, even if we were able to spend more time to acquire the necessary approvals, we would not be able to maintain a constructive relationship with our neighbors,'' Lucasfilm said in a statement Tuesday. "We love working and living in Marin, but the residents of Lucas Valley have fought this project for 25 years."

Lucasfilm moved its headquarters and most of its employees, including its visual effects unit ILM, to the Presidio in San Francisco several years ago because it outgrew its location at Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley.  

The rest of the story is at the above link is in the LA Times Entertainment blog at George Lucas Drops Plans for Movie Studio.