None of George Lucas' Ideas Were Used in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Art by darthtemoc
We know that George Lucas was developing a new trilogy of Star Wars films before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. I've been curious to know how much of the story he was developing made it into J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens - and now we know.
Early on in the development process, Lucas gave his story notes and outlines to screenwriter Michael Arndt, who was the first screenwriter to work on the project. When Abrams came on board as director, Abrams wasn't on board with Arndt's vision, so he took over the writing duties with Lawrence Kasdan.
In an interview with CimemaBlend, Lucas was asked about his original idea for Episode VII, and this was his response:
"The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn't really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote [on screen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens]."
So The Force Awakens is going to be a completely different story than what Lucas wanted to tell. In case you were wondering what that might have been, there are rumors that he wanted to make Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia secondary characters and focus on a whole new younger generation. Now, The Force Awakens gives us a group of new characters such as Finn, Rey, and Poe, but the main franchise characters will also have a larger presence and play a more important part in the story. It's just another reason why I'm glad that Lucas doesn't have his hands in these new films. The fans want to see Luke, Han, and Leia!
Aside from characters though, I am curious to know what Lucas' story would have entailed. Hell, we still don't even really know what Abrams is doing! My question to you is who do you trust more with these characters? Abrams or Lucas?