In just 19 days,Star Wars: The Force Awakenswill hit theaters, ending a 10-year absence of this beloved franchise from the big screen. This highly-anticipated adventure will also mark a changing of the guard, the firstStar Warsmovie thatGeorge Lucasisn’t involved in whatsoever, withJ.J. Abramstaking the helm. The Washington Post recently caught up withGeorge Lucas, who reflected on his career, his “divorce” from the franchise, and the uproar that was caused when he alteredStar Wars: Episode IV - A New Hopein the 1997 Special Edition, so Greedo shot first, notHan Solo. Here’s his definitive answer to why Han didn’t shoot first.
“Han Solo was going to marry Leia, and you look back and say, ‘Should he be a cold-blooded killer?’ Because I was thinking mythologically - should he be a cowboy, should he beJohn Wayne? And I said, ‘Yeah, he should beJohn Wayne.’ And when you’reJohn Wayne, you don’t shoot people [first] - you let them have the first shot. It’s a mythological reality that we hope our society pays attention to.”
George Lucasrevealed last week that Disney didn’t exactly want to make his stories, after he soldLucasFilmfor $4 billion back in October 2012. There was early speculation thatGeorge Lucaswould serve as some sort of consultant onStar Wars: The Force Awakens, but that never happened, and he still hasn’t seen a finished print of the film quite yet. The filmmaker compares selling LucasFilm to a “divorce,” adding that he might have a special screening at Skywalker Ranch withJ.J. AbramsandKathleen Kennedy.
“I call it like a divorce. Now I’m faced with this awkward reality, which is fine. I gotta go to the wedding. My ex will be there, my new wife will be there, but I’m going to have to take a very deep breath and be a good person and sit through it and just enjoy the moment, because it is what it is and it’s a conscious decision that I made. There is no such thing as working over someone’s shoulder. You’re either the dictator or you’re not. And to do that would never work, so I said ‘I’m going to get divorced.’ I knew that I couldn’t be involved. All I’d do is make them miserable. I’d make myself miserable. It would probably ruin a vision -J.J.has a vision, and it’s his vision.”
George Lucasalso added howSteven Spielberg’sJurassic Parkshowed him that special effects and CGI were advanced enough that he could actually show Yoda in alightsaberduel. That battle actually happened in 2002’sStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, which hit theaters nine years afterJurassic Park. What do you think about these new details fromGeorge Lucas? Are you glad he isn’t involved withStar Wars: The Force Awakens, or would you have rather seen him involved in some way?
