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With Star Wars: The Force Awakens launching a new trilogy this December and additional standalone movies from directors including Josh Trank and Gareth Edwards in development, the future of George Lucas’s galaxy far, far away looks bright — but it almost went very differently, with Lucas admitting that he was developing a third trilogy of movies before Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012.
Talking to USA Today, the writer and director admitted that he had started developing the next trilogy, with his original plan being to make Star Wars: Episode VII, release it in May 2015 and then sell Lucasfilm. Plans changed, he said, when Disney expressed interest.
“It’s better for me to get out at the beginning of a new thing and I can just remove myself,” Lucas told the newspaper. “The time is more important to me than the money.”
(Lucas was certainly keeping his thoughts for a new trilogy quiet; as recently as Feb. 2012, he was showing no signs of thinking about any further movies for the Star Wars franchise, instead discussing it as a television property.)
His separation from making the movies means that Lucas can finally live his dream: being able to watch them. “The only thing I really regret about Star Wars is the fact I never got to see it,” he said. “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.” Hopefully, he’ll make a point to watch it as soon as possible, unlike his experience with the first trailer.
Read more George Lucas on the New ‘Star Wars’ Trailer: “I Haven’t Seen It Yet”
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