Five years ago, Disney made history with its acquisition of Lucasfilm and all of its leading assets (see: Star Wars, Indiana Jones).
The landmark deal led to a $4.05 billion windfall for George Lucas and his team, who placed their treasured franchise in the hands of up-and-coming filmmakers – filmmakers in the vein of J.J. Abrams (The Force Awakens) and Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi) – who have been tasked with determining the immediate future of Lucasfilm’s far-away galaxy. Hell, thanks to the ongoing anthology saga, the likes of Gareth Edwards and Ron Howard (Solo: A Star Wars Story) have helped flesh out the rich history underpinning this most beloved of franchises.
But soon after Disney’s plans were made official, and the future of Star Wars was ostensibly set in stone, it was then revealed that George Lucas had his own vision for Episodes VII, VIII and IX. And it’s a vision that Mark Hamill is particularly fond of – even if he’s already accepted that the current trilogy has been molded into shape by “the next generation.”
What I wish is that they had been more accepting of his guidance and advice. Because he had an outline for [Episodes] VII, VIII andIX. And it is vastly different to what they have done. But then again, I don’t want to be an old stick in the mud,” Hamill confessed. “There were the originals. There’s the prequels. But that’s all George. And now we have the next generation. And as far as I can see they are more popular than ever.
As you’ll no doubt remember, Kathleen Kennedy took over control of Lucasfilm (with Lucas’ blessing) soon after the merger with Disney, and though it took some time for George Lucas to acclimate to the altered landscape, the current boss recently told EW that the director/writer now considers himself more of a fan than anything else – just like you or me.
I think he’s starting to settle into this and just be a fan. It’s taken a while. It’s hard to let go, after 40 years. That’s a lot of expectation and things he thought a lot about. Suddenly that next generation, that whole thematic idea he came up with, is in process.
That means he’ll likely be in attendance at Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s imminent debut, given Rian Johnson’s “beautiful, mind-blowing” sequel has been penciled in for December 15th.