J.J. Abrams Responds To George Lucas' Disappointment in Disney's STAR WARS Trilogy
I imagine it isn’t easy for someone who created something to see his creation taken in a direction by other people that wasn’t his vision. That’s exactly what happened to George Lucas after he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. When he found out that J.J. Abrams and the Disney creative team weren’t using any of his ideas in the new Star Wars trilogy, according to Bob Iger, “he immediately got upset as they began to describe the plot and it dawned on him that we weren’t using one of the stories he submitted during the negotiations.”
After Lucas watched The Force Awakens, Iger explained that Lucas didn’t “hide his disappointment. ‘There’s nothing new,’ he said. In each of the films in the original trilogy, it was important to him to present new worlds, new stories, new characters, and new technologies. In this one, he said, ‘There weren’t enough visual or technical leaps forward.’”
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy already responded to Lucas’ disappointment, but during a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Abrams took the opportunity to respond as well, saying:
"I’ve only had gratitude for George. It’s probably a complicated thing for him. To decide you’re going to sell this thing that you created, that was your baby, to anyone — that must be more complicated than signing a check and smiling about it. But he’s been incredibly gracious. He’s been super-generous."
I guess he has no other choice than to be gracious and generous. It’s not like he can change anything that’s already been done. Kennedy also explained that Lucas now appreciates what the new films have accomplished:
"He may not agree with every choice J.J. made. He may not agree with every choice [Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer/ director] Rian [Johnson] made. But he appreciates the filmmaking. That I know. And he so appreciates, for instance, what ILM [Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm’s visual-effects arm] has done in the work of these movies. I mean, that’s a company he created. And he just continually tells me how astounded he is by how far things have come and how, now, whatever comes into your mind can be achieved."
As much as the fans complained about the Star Wars prequel trilogy, I’m sure fans would have liked to see Lucas’ vision for this new trilogy. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lands in theaters on December 20th.