George Lucas Almost Directed The Force Awakens
Well, we've certainly dodged a bullet this time.
George Lucas, in an interview with USA Today, he said that he was planning to make Episode VII (a working title, it probably wouldn't be called The Force Awakens), release it in May 2015, and then sell Lucasfilm. He reasoned that since each trilogy was a ten year commitment, he would just release the first one and then sell the studio for the company to finish the trilogy. Before this plan came to fruition, Disney stepped in and bought Lucasfilm for $4.5 billion, and now it is to be released in 338 days, on December 18, 2015, seven months later than Lucas' planned date. Also Lucas would direct the new movie had not Disney stepped in.
Think about that.
If Disney hadn't bought Star Wars, we'd have heard of a huge new Star Wars film right now, a sequel to Return of the Jedi, to be released in May and directed by George Lucas. Without Disney I'm sure that fans would be less likely to watch it. Even with all of the complaining that occurred in the months following the 2012 sale of Lucasfilm, about Disney being the one to make new Star Wars movies, everyone in the back of their mind knew that Disney was going to make those movies awesome. I mean, just that summer, with the release of Avengers, that grossed over $1.5 billion, people saw that Disney was serious about making good films. The 2009 Disney-Marvel transaction was most likely subject to just as much scrutiny, and now, with Marvel piling on sequel after sequel, at least for average Marvel fans, it was the right choice. But many were worried that the constant spinoffs and sequels would stretch the franchise too thin. After ten films released and eleven more to come (possibly more; the movie releases are planned until 2028), one of these days, the audience will grow tired of Marvel movies and one of them will flop and the spell will be broken. But maybe that's too apocalyptic. To be honest, I don't really care about what Disney does to Marvel-- I'm not much of a comic book fan-- but I don't want Disney to pump out a new film every single year, to tell the back story of Yoda or whatever. It's not about giving fans what they want. It's about making as much money as possible. Which, to be honest, is the main reason Episode VII is being made. But if I had to choose Disney over the director of the prequel, I'd choose Disney any day. The fact that Lucas just planned to make one movie and throw the rest of the trilogy to some company to destroy it shows that he doesn't respect the franchise enough to see it all the way through. But you have to feel sympathy for him; Star Wars took up so much of his life, you can't blame him for wanting to stop. But, remember, now that he's not a part of the production, he is seeing the movie for the first time. And it seems like he's genuinely excited. He said in his interview, "The only thing I really regret about Star Wars is the fact I never got to see it — I never got to be blown out of my seat when the ship came over the screen. The next one, I'll be able to enjoy it like anybody else."
It's probably for the best. But try keep this next quote in mind:
George Lucas, in an interview with USA Today, he said that he was planning to make Episode VII (a working title, it probably wouldn't be called The Force Awakens), release it in May 2015, and then sell Lucasfilm. He reasoned that since each trilogy was a ten year commitment, he would just release the first one and then sell the studio for the company to finish the trilogy. Before this plan came to fruition, Disney stepped in and bought Lucasfilm for $4.5 billion, and now it is to be released in 338 days, on December 18, 2015, seven months later than Lucas' planned date. Also Lucas would direct the new movie had not Disney stepped in.
Think about that.
If Disney hadn't bought Star Wars, we'd have heard of a huge new Star Wars film right now, a sequel to Return of the Jedi, to be released in May and directed by George Lucas. Without Disney I'm sure that fans would be less likely to watch it. Even with all of the complaining that occurred in the months following the 2012 sale of Lucasfilm, about Disney being the one to make new Star Wars movies, everyone in the back of their mind knew that Disney was going to make those movies awesome. I mean, just that summer, with the release of Avengers, that grossed over $1.5 billion, people saw that Disney was serious about making good films. The 2009 Disney-Marvel transaction was most likely subject to just as much scrutiny, and now, with Marvel piling on sequel after sequel, at least for average Marvel fans, it was the right choice. But many were worried that the constant spinoffs and sequels would stretch the franchise too thin. After ten films released and eleven more to come (possibly more; the movie releases are planned until 2028), one of these days, the audience will grow tired of Marvel movies and one of them will flop and the spell will be broken. But maybe that's too apocalyptic. To be honest, I don't really care about what Disney does to Marvel-- I'm not much of a comic book fan-- but I don't want Disney to pump out a new film every single year, to tell the back story of Yoda or whatever. It's not about giving fans what they want. It's about making as much money as possible. Which, to be honest, is the main reason Episode VII is being made. But if I had to choose Disney over the director of the prequel, I'd choose Disney any day. The fact that Lucas just planned to make one movie and throw the rest of the trilogy to some company to destroy it shows that he doesn't respect the franchise enough to see it all the way through. But you have to feel sympathy for him; Star Wars took up so much of his life, you can't blame him for wanting to stop. But, remember, now that he's not a part of the production, he is seeing the movie for the first time. And it seems like he's genuinely excited. He said in his interview, "The only thing I really regret about Star Wars is the fact I never got to see it — I never got to be blown out of my seat when the ship came over the screen. The next one, I'll be able to enjoy it like anybody else."
It's probably for the best. But try keep this next quote in mind:
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