Name: George Lucas Expected Disney to Give Him 'a Little Bit More Say' in 'Star Wars' Sequel Trilogy
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George Lucas Expected Disney to Give Him 'a Little Bit More Say' in 'Star Wars' Sequel Trilogy

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Eight years after sold to in a deal worth over $4 billion, says the decision to give up control of his iconic space franchise remains “very, very painful.” Lucas sat down with author Paul Duncan for an interview as part of the just-released new book an excerpt from which finds the filmmaker getting honest about his career-defining decision to prioritize family over “.”“At that time, I was starting the next trilogy; I talked to the actors and I was starting to gear up,” Lucas told Duncan when asked about why he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. “I was also about to have a daughter with my wife. It takes 10 years to make a trilogy — Episodes I to III took from 1995 to 2005. I’d still be working on Episode IX. In 2012, I was 69. So the question was, ‘Am I going to keep doing this for the rest of my life? Do I want to go through this again?’ Finally, I decided I’d rather raise my daughter and enjoy life for a while.”Lucas contemplated not putting Lucasfilm up for sale and instead having somebody else run the production of the sequel trilogy, but that wouldn’t have given the director the family time he craved. Or as Lucas put it, “That isn’t retiring.”“On ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ I tried to stay out of the way, but I couldn’t,” Lucas said. “I was there every day. Even though the people were friends of mine and they did great work, it wasn’t the same as me doing it. It was like being once removed…I’m one of those micromanager guys, and I can’t help it. So I figured I would forgo that, enjoy what I had and I was looking forward to raising my daughter.”“I’ve spent my life creating ‘Star Wars’ — 40 years — and giving it up was very, very painful. But it was the right thing to do,” Lucas added. “I thought I was going to have a little bit more to say about the next three because I’d already started them, but they decided they wanted to do something else. Things don’t always work out the way you want. Life is like that.”Had Disney taken Lucas’ sequel trilogy plan into consideration, then Darth Maul as the franchise’s primary antagonist and Leia would have emerged as the trilogy’s “Chosen One” character. “The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III 1999-2005” is now available for purchase via Tachen.Why did George Lucas sell Lucasfilm in 2012? He tells me why in this extract from my new book The Archives Eps I-III. My unboxing video here:— Paul Duncan (@kershed)Sign Up:This Article is related to: and tagged , , ,JavaScript is required to load the comments.Loading comments...Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your InboxListen to these IndieWire podcasts.Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft.ad

Eight years after sold to in a deal worth over $4 billion, says the decision to give up control of his iconic space franchise remains “very, very painful.” Lucas sat down with author Paul Duncan for an interview as part of the just-released new book an excerpt from which finds the filmmaker getting honest about his career-defining decision to prioritize family over “.”“At that time, I was starting the next trilogy; I talked to the actors and I was starting to gear up,” Lucas told Duncan when asked about why he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. “I was also about to have a daughter with my wife. It...

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Zack Sharf is the New York–based News Editor at IndieWire, where he is responsible for running the site’s daily news flow, in addition to crafting larger editorial pieces and covering special events. Prior to joining IndieWire, he received his B.A. in Media Studies from Emerson College, where he worked the Boston press circuit for three years as Managing Editor of the school’s film organization, Reel Reactions. Zack has also worked in the web and editorial department of NYC’s leading news station, WABC-TV. He has a sweet spot for “Before Sunset,” black labs, Julianne Moore, and “The Iron Giant.” Follow him @ZSharf.

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Zack Sharf

IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus is independent film. As of  2016, IndieWire is a subsidiary of Penske Media. It has a staff of about 20, including Publisher James Israel, Editor-in-Chief Dana Harris, Chief Critic Eric Kohn, and Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson.

George Lucas Expected Disney to Give Him 'a Little Bit More Say' in 'Star Wars' Sequel Trilogy

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