When George Lucas sold the rights of the Star Wars franchise to Disney back in 2012, he knew that he would be relinquishing any and all control of his iconic masterpiece and its future. However, he was willing to share his thoughts and ideas regarding what direction and vision he had for future installments. Disney was thankful for Lucas’ input, but decided to toss his ideas aside like the Gungans of Naboo. Although the ideas may be integrated into future episodes, Disney felt that they had a good grasp on Star Wars and would make it as popular as their Marvel Universe.
Cinema Blend interviewed George Lucas and found that he was already planning Star Wars: Episode 7 prior to selling the rights to Walt Disney. However, to Lucas’ surprise, Disney decided to scrap his ideas and go their own route. It is possible that Disney made the decision in order to separate them from Lucas altogether, allowing a new life to breathe into the franchise, or possibly it is a metaphor for the title of the film, The Force Awakens , as Disney prepares to reawaken some old characters and make them a force to be reckoned with in the new film.
“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]”
Lucas, trying not to stir up controversy, refused to speak further on the matter. However, it was determined that Lucas’ ideas would take much too long to bring to fruition and Disney would rather wow the audience with near yearly installments, like the Marvel Universe, rather than drag out time between each episode.
Cnet reported that many Star Wars fans might be happy to see Lucas leave the franchise altogether, after creating his CGI infused prequels. However, there are still many fans that are loyal to Lucas and his vision of the Star Wars universe. Only time will tell how the next three episodes will hold up to the original, and surpass or fall behind the prequels.
The split between George Lucas’ vision and Disney’s vision is pretty even. However, it is safe to bet that fans will line up to see Episode VII when it releases, regardless of who owns the rights.
How do you feel about Disney throwing away George Lucas’ ideas?
[Photo Courtesy: Film School Rejects]
