George Lucas' Reaction To Every Disney 'Star Wars' Movie
When filmmaker George Lucas wanted to retire and sold Star Wars to Disney, lots of people were skeptical. While the Disney-era films have had their fair share of fans, there are also viewers who are loyal to George Lucas and care about his works and opinions above everything else. It is possible to enjoy works that are not from the original creator, but it can still be interesting to know what the creator thought. So let's go one film at a time.
First came the J.J. Abrams-directed The Force Awakens, the first film in the sequel trilogy. George Lucas submitted a treatment of his ideas for the sequel trilogy, but not all of them were used. Here is what he had to say on that matter.
“They looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans’….They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing….They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway — but if I get in there, I’m just going to cause trouble, because they’re not going to do what I want them to do. And I don’t have the control to do that anymore, and all I would do is muck everything up. And so I said, ‘Okay, I will go my way, and I’ll let them go their way.”
What resulted from this was a film that many agreed felt too safe as it hit a lot of familiar beats from the original film, or the original trilogy as a whole, depending on whom you ask. Then-Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed the following in his book The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years As CEO Of The Walt Disney Company:
"Just prior to the global release, Kathy screened The Force Awakens for George. He 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.'"
To Lucas, it felt like a throwback film that did not really push any boundaries. The next film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was a throwback in a different sense. It took place right before the original 1977 film, so it utilized much of the staples of that point in the timeline. However, it broke out of the usual format of a saga film, going so far as to do away with the opening crawl, and it even managed to include a CGI Peter Cushing that was very convincing to viewers. George Lucas was able to be on the set of this film. Around the time of its release, director Gareth Edwards said the following at a press conference before the movie premiered:
“Two days ago we got to show George the movie, and we all had a phone call and I got to speak with him yesterday, and I don't want to put words into his mouth, but I can honestly say that I can die happy now. He really liked the movie. It meant a lot. To be honest, and no offense to anyone here, it was the most important review to me. You know, you guys are important too, but he's kind of god... I will take that conversation to my grave. His opinion means the world to me.”
Being a filmmaker handling the something set within the world of one of the biggest names in filmmaking, and then getting complimented by that creator, must have been very gratifying for Edwards.
Then comes the next film in the sequel trilogy: The Last Jedi. This Rian Johnson-directed film was divisive for subverting (intentionally or not) expectations. George Lucas' representative Connie Wethington said that Lucas thought The Last Jedi was "beautifully made." The brevity of this statement leaves a lot to the imagination. One can speculate that perhaps he loved the visuals but maybe not the whole story. Then again, it was Lucas' own idea to have old Luke Skywalker as a cynical hermit comparable to Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now, so it is possible that he did like it a good amount. Ultimately, we do not have a detailed summary of Lucas' view on the film's execution.
For Solo: A Star Wars Story, Lucas was on set and helped "direct" a scene by clarifying that Han Solo would just leave a cape on the closet floor. Director Ron Howard, a longtime friend of Lucas, told ComicBook.com the following:
“(George Lucas) was really supportive of it. He doesn’t get down in the weeds on the movies anymore. He did come by and visit the set, which is a pretty rare thing, but he did it as a show of support which was really cool. And he was really complimentary. But he was also really confident when I came in that I would get the feel of it and understand how to maximize the entertainment value of these characters and this world.”
For The Rise of Skywalker, the concluding chapter of the sequel trilogy, J.J. Abrams conversed with George Lucas about the Force. However, Lucas did not attend the premiere of the film, and he has not stated publicly how he feels about the film, leaving his thoughts on it shrouded in mystery at the moment.
Overall, it seems like Lucas for sure had positive thoughts on the standalone films, while his thoughts on the latter two sequels are ambiguous to certain extents. Maybe he will go into more detail someday, but for now, this is all the information that we have on the matter.
Source(s): Screen Rant