George Lucas Had His Own Ideas for 'Star Wars: Episode VII'
Lucas on set with Anthony Daniels in 2002
When Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits the big screen on Dec. 18, it will be the first film in the franchise to tell a story not devised by creator George Lucas.
It turns out, Star Wars’ Jedi Master had begun writing the seventh chapter to the saga several years ago. But when the opportunity to sell his company Lucasflm to Disney for $4 billion popped up in 2012, he officially handed over the keys to the Millennium Falcon, X-Wings, and TIE Fighters.
“The [ideas] that I sold to Disney, they came to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those,” Lucas, who executive produced the new animated musical Strange Magic, recently told Cinema Blend. “They made up their own. So it’s not the ones I originally wrote.”
Related: ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Teaser: 6 New Revelations
He wouldn’t offer details about his own plans for Episode VII, but he doesn’t seem all that worried about the franchise’s new direction. In early December, Lucas admitted to not having seen the first 88-second trailer to the new film, which is being directed by J.J. Abrams. Over the weekend, Lucas copped to having finally seen the preview, but he’s not going to be searching for spoilers like the rest of us.
“I haven’t seen anything; I mean I saw the trailer, it looks great,” the filmmaker told journalists at a press conference. “But as I’ve said before: One thing I regret about Star Wars is that I never got to see it, you know? I never got to be blown away by the big ship coming over the thing, or anything. But this time I’m going to be, because I have no idea what they’re doing.”
Beyond the names of its characters and a few contextual tidbits, fans don’t know much about the new film, either. In fact, star Oscar Isaac told Yahoo Movies last month that any rumors we’ve heard “couldn’t be more far off-base.”
Watch the trailer for The Force Awakens below:
Image credit: Everett
