Veteran director George Lucas is most notably known for creating the Star Wars franchise that became a global phenomenon after its release. Directing the original trilogy and handing the reins over to other directors, Lucas started disassociating with the franchise a bit.
However, fans were shocked when Lucas announced that the Star Wars franchise was sold to Disney. With Disney acquiring Lucasfilm with a whopping $4.1 billion deal, Lucas was initially excited about the idea. However, the director voiced his frustration at the Cannes event recently and it is not good!
When George Lucas Sold Lucasfilm To Disney
The discussions for Disney acquiring Lucasfilm started back in May of 2011. When Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney attended an event, he met director George Lucas. The director revealed that he wanted to retire and was planning to sell Lucasfilm.
Under the banner, the Star Wars and the Indiana Jones franchise were a part of Lucasfilm. In 2012, Disney proposed to acquire the company for a whopping $4.05 billion. The deal meant that Disney would pay half of the amount in cash and the other half in Disney stock (via Archive). George Lucas was more than happy to oblige and the deal was done in December of 2012.
While selling, the director commented on how he wanted to spend more time with his family and it took on average 10 years to make a trilogy. Although he painfully sold his legacy, George Lucas was happy with the fact that he would be able to spend his life with his family. In his book (via IndieWire), the director wrote that although he could have given the reins to someone else, he wouldn’t be able to help himself but micromanage and interfere in everything.
On ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’ I tried to stay out of the way, but I couldn’t. I was there every day. Even though the people were friends of mine and they did great work, it wasn’t the same as me doing it.
He further continued,
It was like being once removed…I’m one of those micromanager guys, and I can’t help it. So I figured I would forgo that, enjoy what I had and I was looking forward to raising my daughter.
And George Lucas did let go of the Star Wars franchise. It would be several years later that the director would attend the Cannes event. Fast forward to a few days back, Lucas attended the event and decided to share his thoughts on the current Star Wars content.
As per a report, the director wasn’t all that happy with how the Star Wars franchise is faring right now. What appears to be distrustful words, it seemed that Lucas allegedly regrets selling the company to Disney!
George Lucas Was The Only One Who Knew What Star Wars Was!
It is obviously true that since he was the creator of the franchise, George Lucas would know more than anyone about his creation. However, things took a turn for the worse when the director shared his opinion at the Cannes event.
Setting fire with his words, the director had some harsh criticism for the way Disney is handling the Star Wars franchise at the moment. As per a report by The Hollywood Reporter, here’s what Lucas had to say when asked about the current generation of Star Wars.
I was the one who really knew what Star Wars was … who actually knew this world, because there’s a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force.
He further continued,
When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.
Despite the criticism, it seems that George Lucas has also accepted the fact that he has to let it go. The words “You give it up, you give up” seem to indicate that the director is moving on from the franchise and actually enjoying his retirement life.
But what George Lucas had to say about the Star Wars franchise is agreed upon by millions of fans around the world. Although the trends and times are changing, the Star Wars franchise needs to find its footing in the streaming world.
Series like Ahsoka and The Mandalorian show that the franchise is indeed evolving and fans await eagerly as to what the future holds. The Star Wars franchise along with all the shows is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
