When Disney first purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012, the acquisition came with story treatments for a Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, although ultimately the House of Mouse decided to go in a different direction, jettisoning George Lucas’ original ideas for Episodes VII through IX.
Writing in his new book The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Disney chief Bob Iger has offered some insight into Lucas’ reaction to learning that his idea weren’t being used – as well as revealing that the Star Wars creator was ultimately disappointed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
“Early on, Kathy Kennedy brought J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt up to Northern California to meet with George at his ranch and talk about their ideas for the film,” writes Iger. “George 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. The truth was, Kathy, J.J., Alan [Horn, Disney’s film chief], and I had discussed the direction in which the saga should go, and we all agreed that it wasn’t what George had outlined. George knew we weren’t contractually bound to anything, but he thought that our buying the story treatments was a tacit promise that we’d follow them, and he was disappointed that his story was being discarded.
“Just prior to the global release, Kathy screened The Force Awakens for George. He didn’t hide his disappointment.” Iger continued. “’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.’ He wasn’t wrong, but he also wasn’t appreciating the pressure we were under to give ardent fans a film that felt quintessentially Star Wars.
“We’d intentionally created a world that was visually and tonally connected to the earlier films, to not stray too far from what people loved and expected, and George was criticizing us for the very thing we were trying to do. Looking back with the perspective of several years and a few more Star Wars films, I believe J.J. achieved the near-impossible, creating a perfect bridge between what had been and what was to come.”
While Lucas has previously teased his original Sequel Trilogy plans, stating that he would have shifted the focus to the “microbiotic world” of the Whills, we’re yet to get any real detailed insight into these original treatments, although it seems pretty clear that his vision differed greatly from that of Disney. Hopefully one day we’ll learn more…
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set for release on December 19th 2019 in the UK and December 20th 2019 in North America with J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) directing a cast that includes Star Wars veterans Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Greg Grunberg (Snap Wexley), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) as well as new additions Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth), Richard E. Grant (Logan), Dominic Monaghan (Lost), and Keri Russell (The Americans).
Originally published September 26, 2019. Updated September 27, 2019.
