George Lucas Said He Wants To Direct The Final 'Star Wars' Film
Lucasfilm dealt with more turmoil behind the scenes in the Star Wars universe announcing another [...]
Lucasfilm dealt with more turmoil behind the scenes in the Star Wars universe announcing another director being fired, but they might not have to look to far to find a replacement for Episode IX.
According to an interview with George Lucas from 40 years ago, the Star Wars creator himself would be the man for the job.
A couple months after the original Star Wars movie released in theaters, Lucas spoke with Rolling Stone about his intentions for the series and what he had planned for the future. During that conversation, he said that he wanted to let other directors handle future films before returning.
"What I want to do is direct the last sequel," Lucas said. "I could do the first one and the last one and let everyone else do the ones in between."
Lucas is known to be a perfectionist, tinkering with his ideas until the last possible second. In the same interview, he admitted that the original Star Wars was "25% of what I wanted it to be."
And while a lot of creators can be overprotective of their works to the point where they won't allow any outside interference, Lucas looked at is as a challenge.
"I would want to try and get some good directors, and see what their interpretation of the theme is," Lucas said. "I think it will be interesting, it is like taking a theme in film school, say, okay, everybody do their interpretation of this theme."
Lucas said that his film laid the groundwork, and that the other stories wouldn't have to worry about explaining what Wookies are or what the Empire is, giving them the opportunity to tell their stories.
"And it's a competition. I'm hoping if I get friends of mine they will want to do a much better film, like, 'I'll show George that I can do a film twice that good,' and I think they can, but then I want to do the last one, so I can do one twice as good as everybody else. [laughs]"
Though Lucas did not return to direct any of the new films since his company was purchased by Disney, he did direct the prequels and put a definitive stamp on what his vision for the universe could be. Though he had ideas for an eventual sequel trilogy, he never brought them to pass.
So Kathleen Kennedy, if you're listening, consider giving the godfather of the Star Wars universe a shot at wrapping up the saga.
Star Wars: Episode IX is due in theaters on May 24, 2019.
[h/t] Rolling Stone via Chris Taylor