"I'm one of those micromanagers and I can't help it."
In 2012, George Lucas gave up his baby. The man behind it war of stars, a space opera series you may have heard of, sold Lucasfilm and all of its assets, including the same space opera series, to Disney, a company you may have heard of. Lucas was the chief architect of two different Star Wars trilogies and started looking at a third – until that decision was made and we got the ending of the Skywalker saga we got. What prompted this decision? Why didn't he want to see how his idea ended?
Lucas explained to the author Paul Duncan as part of an interview from Duncan's book The Star Wars Archives 1999-2005 (via SlashFilm). There are tons of open arguments and pearls of wisdom to be found out, so I'll let Lucas do the talking himself:
"At that time I started the next trilogy. I spoke to the actors and started preparing. I also wanted to have a daughter with my wife. It takes 10 years to make a trilogy – Episodes I through III lasted from 1995 through 2005 … I was 69 years old in 2012. So the question was, will I be doing this for the rest of my life. Would I like to go over this again? Finally I decided I would rather raise my daughter than I would have sold Lucasfilm and someone to do that can bring to direct the productions but that won't retire. On The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi I tried to get out of the way but I couldn't I was there every day, even though the people Were friends of mine and did a great job, it wasn't the same as me, it was like being removed once, I knew this probably wouldn't work again, I'm one of those micromanagers, and I can not help it. So I figured I was going to forego what I had and I was looking forward to raisins for my daughter. Also, I wanted to build a museum, which I've always wanted to do, so I thought, "If I don't do this now, I'll never make it." I've spent my life making star wars – 40 years – and it giving up was very, very painful. But it was the right thing. I thought I would have a little more to say about the next three because I had already started them, but they decided to do something different. Things don't always go the way you want them to. Life is like that. "
Image via 20th Century Fox
In other words, Lucas chose life. He focused on his family, pet passions, and interests that have little to do with lightsabers or are suddenly related to evil emperors. While it's obviously bittersweet when Lucas admits that he had a plan for what Episodes VII-IX would be like before Disney took their own direction, I find a lot of comfort in these quotes, comfort I hope people who wanting to molest them It takes a second to make or love the Disney Star Wars movies to read, listen to and breathe. "Enjoy life for a while," you know?
Well, we certainly have follow-up questions.
About the author
Gregory Lawrence
(904 articles published)
Gregory Lawrence (aka Greg Smith) is a writer, director, performer, songwriter, and comedian. He is an Associate Editor for Collider and has written for Shudder, CBS, Paste Magazine, Guff, Smosh, Obsev Studios, and others. He loves pizza and the Mortal Kombat movie. More information is available at www.smithlgreg.com
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