George Lucas gave up Star Wars to let Disney do their thing
Speaking to CBS This Morning, Star Wars creator George Lucas opened up about his current relationship with Disney, which sees him stepping far away from the future of Star Wars. According to Lucas, his ideas for where the next films would go were discarded. “They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were gonna go do their own thing," he said. "They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway. But at the same time, I said if I get in there I’m just going to cause trouble. Because they’re not going to do what I want them to do. And I don’t have the control to do that anymore. All I would do is muck everything up. So I said, ‘Okay, I will go my way, and I’ll let them go their way.’”
As for what he had in mind before J.J. Abrams stepped in as new Star Wars custodian, Lucas insists it would have revolved around family.
“The issue was, ultimately, they looked at the stories and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans.' So, I said, all I want to do is tell a story of what happened – it started here and went there. It’s all about generations, and issues of fathers and sons and grandfathers. It’s a family soap opera.”
Earlier this week Star Wars creator George Lucas revealed the reason for his departure on the upcoming trilogy. "All you do is get criticised" was the gist. Granted, he no longer has any say in the Star Wars universe since Disney bought out Lucasfilm, but he may yet consult in the future, given that he's an expert on the material.
Trailers and TV spots released so far for The Force Awakens seem to hint toward some of the themes Lucas seems adamant that Disney threw out, particularly with regard to the heritage of Jakku scavenger, Rey. Find out how much - if any - of Lucas' original vision remains when Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in the UK on December 17 and the UK on December 18. In the meantime, check out our supercut of all the trailers and see if you can spot any potential Lucas leftovers ...
Sign up to the SFX Newsletter
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Gem Seddon is 12DOVE's west coast Entertainment News Reporter, working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.