George Lucas Is Letting J.J. Abrams Do What He Wants with the New 'Star Wars'
Don't expect Star Wars: Episode VII to have the George Lucas touch. According to an interview with Access Hollywood (coming to us via The Playlist) following the Daytime Emmys, the original Star Wars auteur isn't even talking to the young Hollywood Padawan about his re-branding of the empire. Which is kind of depressing, but maybe a good idea.
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"I have not spoken to J.J. He's been busy with 'Star Trek,' and I'm sure that he'll let me know when he's got some questions," Lucas said. "So, you know, that's all going well."
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It is?
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Lucas seems happy not to have to deal with the intricacies of a franchise he created and already re-booted (with Jar Jar Binks), but according to a Bloomberg Businessweek story back in March, about the rough transition from LucasFilm to Disney, that wan't always the case. Indeed, Lucas, at first, didn't even want to turn over his "rough sketches" to Disney. Businesweek's Devin Leonard reported that Lucas eventually attended story meetings about the upcoming film, explaining what was and what was not okay in his universe.
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As Oliver Lyttleton writes at The Playlist, Lucas's backseat role could either be a curse or a blessing going forward. Star Wars is undoubtedly his world, and he should certainly have a say in what becomes of it, but then again, he did make The Phantom Menace. Angie Han at /FILM is all for the transition from backseat driver to the trunk. "There's not much point in hiring notable talents like Arndt and Abrams if they're just going to carrying out Lucas' wishes," she wrote.
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Abrams, of course, is well primed to take the helm of the project, and has arguably more respect for Star Wars than for Star Trek, often stating that he was a die-hard fan of Wars in a way that he wasn't of Trek. His Star Trek Into Darkness even made us more excited for his take on Star Wars. (That chase scene on the Klingon planet was pure Wars.) So while there's something inherently sad about the 69-year-old Lucas's gleeful nonchalance for the nostalgic part of us, maybe he knows that perhaps the galaxy far far away should grow without him. And it is growing. The rumors abound. Today: vague casting breakdowns!
