STAR WARS - STARS WARS III: 'TITANIC IN SPACE'

The final STAR WARS movie will be an emotional "TITANIC in space", according to director GEORGE LUCAS.

EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH will hit movie theatres in America in May (05) bringing to an end the most celebrated sci-fi film franchise in screen history.

Episodes I and II, released 16 years after the last of the original trilogy closer RETURN OF THE JEDI, were derided by critics and fans - who felt they lacked the quality of their predecessors.

But Lucas is promising Episode III, which will bring the series to a close, will be a different affair.

He says, "It's a real tearjerker, and it will be received in a way that none of us can expect.

"I feel that I've made the movie the best I can and it turned out the way I wanted it to be, so I'm happy."

And he insists he isn't concerned about fans' response to Episode III: "I never try to anticipate what the world's going to think or even worry about whether they're going to like it or not.

"That's not my job, to make people like my movies. They either like them or they don't. That's completely out of my hands."

Speaking at the SHOWEST conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lucas refused to give away the film's plot - but screened the first six minutes of the film, and told audience members, "Obviously, fans would love to see a movie about DARTH VADER running around killing people."

"I'm not telling that story, and I'm not interested in that. That's not what the movie is.

"This first trilogy is really about the father, the struggles of a father, or a man, basically, to find himself, and at the same time fall into a trap of wanting certain powers, making a pact with the devil and basically spending the rest of his life regretting it."