George Lucas Had Originally Planned To Release Star Wars Episode VII Before Selling Lucasfilm

When George Lucas sits down to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he'll experience it just like the rest of the world— with fresh eyes, unattached, and completely unaware of what will happen next.

That's because when the franchise's creator, and founder of Lucasfilm, sold his galaxy far, far away to Disney in 2012, he abdicated all creative control on The Force Awakens and all future Star Wars films.

But according to Lucas, it almost didn't turn out that way. In an interview with USA Today, Lucas revealed that he had already begun development on Episodes VII-IX with Lucasfilm before he sold the studio to Disney. His original plan, according to the article, was to create Episode VII, and then sell Star Wars off.

But as timing would have it, Disney stepped in at the right moment, Lucas said, prompting him to ditch the plan and make a clean break from the franchise. Besides, Lucas said in the interview, he was already hesitant to embark on the 10 year commitment that a new Star Wars trilogy would have required.

"The time is more important to me than the money," he told the newspaper.

Lucas's next film, an animated feature about fairies called Strange Magic, opens on January 23rd. Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18th.