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Would Lucasfilm have made new SW films with or without Disney?

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Say Lucas had handed over his company to Kathleen Kennedy, but without selling it to Disney. Would things still have played out roughly the same? Are Disney basically just funding them (and forcing to release Solo in May)? Or would there actually be a significant difference? Maybe the sequel trilogy but no spinoffs?

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IIRC, back in 2011 George was going to build his own studio somewhere on the grounds of Skywalker Ranch, but the neighbors objected and he decided to build low income housing instead.

We didn’t find out until after the Disney deal that the real reason he wanted his own studio space was so he could make the ST right there in his backyard.

Maybe I’m not remembering the timeline of events clearly, but I want to say Kathleen Kennedy became president several months before the Disney buyout and that part of the reason George hired her was because he was selling the company (which, again, the rest of us wouldn’t find out until later).

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Anakin Starkiller said:

Say Lucas had handed over his company to Kathleen Kennedy, but without selling it to Disney. Would things still have played out roughly the same? Are Disney basically just funding them (and forcing to release Solo in May)? Or would there actually be a significant difference? Maybe the sequel trilogy but no spinoffs?

From what I understand Solo was being developed by Lawrence Kasdan even before the Disney buyout, and Lucas had at one point planned to write/direct Episode VII himself. So it’s possible that in terms of the kinds of films we’re seeing (sequels, spin-offs) things would be the same, but other things would be quite different I’m sure (who’s making the films, when they’re being released, etc.).

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all I can say is I think I would much rather have what we got than that “microbiotic” world…https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2018/06/george-lucas-says-fans-would-have-hated-his-star-wars-sequel-trilogy/

What he’s describing sounds like Osmosis Jones, which I don’t even he would want a SW film to be like. He’s probably just poorly describing his ideas. I assume they’d have the creativity of the Prequels, which would be a marked improvement over the Sequels we got in at least that regard. I wonder if he’d have learned some lessons from the Prequels and avoided making the same mistakes. As Jar Jar’s role proves, he responds to criticism at least to some extent. It’s pretty clear he wouldn’t have directed the whole trilogy. I suspect he’d have taken an approach similar to the Originals, if not even more backseat. Hell, for all we know, maybe he’s doing that right now but (understandably) doesn’t want anyone to know.

We didn’t find out until after the Disney deal that the real reason he wanted his own studio space was so he could make the ST right there in his backyard.

I love the idea of George Lucas, waking up, grabbing some breakfast, and heading to the set of the latest Star Wars in his PJs.

From what I understand Solo was being developed by Lawrence Kasdan even before the Disney buyout, and Lucas had at one point planned to write/direct Episode VII himself.

Add to that Rogue One being in development before the buyout.

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Honestly I don’t think so. Lucas was pissed at the Star Wars community for turning on him. To him Star Wars was his creation and he could change it however he wanted. We may disagree on that, but he’s the one with the rights not us. I don’t think he’d approve of a film, although maybe it could appear canon as a book/animated tv show.

Maybe it will come to this for Disney too.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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But we’re assuming that he still hands over his control of Lucasfilm to Kathleen Kennedy.

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Anakin Starkiller said:

But we’re assuming that he still hands over his control of Lucasfilm to Kathleen Kennedy.

I don’t think that would ever happen. Lucas sold Lucasfilm for the money. I think he’d hold onto his creation as a long as possible, unless Kennedy hands him a couple billion dollars.

But for the sake of the argument we will say she gets it and receives George’s blessing. I think she would more or less follow George’s wishes until his death. It’d a lot harder to blame a large corporation like Disney, but very easy to pick on one person. People do it with Kennedy already, but in this timeline she truly would be responsible for everything that happens.

A couple years after George’s death, she might announce a sequel trilogy but I don’t think she’d use his scripts. While we don’t know much about them, that everyone who read them didn’t use anything just proves to me their poor quality. So she’d hire new directors. A certain Star Trek director would’ve loved to make a star wars film would happily sign off even if at a slightly lower salary than one with Disney. And… not much would change. Although the sequels would probably be three years apart without an spinoffs.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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OutboundFlight said:

Anakin Starkiller said:

But we’re assuming that he still hands over his control of Lucasfilm to Kathleen Kennedy.

I don’t think that would ever happen. Lucas sold Lucasfilm for the money. I think he’d hold onto his creation as a long as possible, unless Kennedy hands him a couple billion dollars.

But for the sake of the argument we will say she gets it and receives George’s blessing. I think she would more or less follow George’s wishes until his death. It’d a lot harder to blame a large corporation like Disney, but very easy to pick on one person. People do it with Kennedy already, but in this timeline she truly would be responsible for everything that happens.

A couple years after George’s death, she might announce a sequel trilogy but I don’t think she’d use his scripts. While we don’t know much about them, that everyone who read them didn’t use anything just proves to me their poor quality. So she’d hire new directors. A certain Star Trek director would’ve loved to make a star wars film would happily sign off even if at a slightly lower salary than one with Disney. And… not much would change. Although the sequels would probably be three years apart without an spinoffs.

You aren’t quite correct. Abrams did use a lot of what Lucas intended. Lucas had a young woman find Luke on an isolated planet where the Jedi were formed. Abrams pushed some of the story back to VIII due to his feeling that Luke took over VII from the moment he appeared in the script. I bet there is a lot more that they used that we don’t know about. They’ve referred to Lucas’s story treatments as where they started but they developed it further. So his ideas form the basis of what they did even if they basically abandoned his treatment.

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Anakin Starkiller said:

all I can say is I think I would much rather have what we got than that “microbiotic” world…https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2018/06/george-lucas-says-fans-would-have-hated-his-star-wars-sequel-trilogy/

I assume they’d have the creativity of the Prequels, which would be a marked improvement over the Sequels we got in at least that regard.

Thanks, I needed a laugh.

From what I understand Solo was being developed by Lawrence Kasdan even before the Disney buyout, and Lucas had at one point planned to write/direct Episode VII himself.

Add to that Rogue One being in development before the buyout.

Yeah I couldn’t remember when I posted if RO was in development before or after.

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OutboundFlight said:

Anakin Starkiller said:

But we’re assuming that he still hands over his control of Lucasfilm to Kathleen Kennedy.

I don’t think that would ever happen. Lucas sold Lucasfilm for the money. I think he’d hold onto his creation as a long as possible, unless Kennedy hands him a couple billion dollars.

But for the sake of the argument we will say she gets it and receives George’s blessing. I think she would more or less follow George’s wishes until his death. It’d a lot harder to blame a large corporation like Disney, but very easy to pick on one person. People do it with Kennedy already, but in this timeline she truly would be responsible for everything that happens.

A couple years after George’s death, she might announce a sequel trilogy but I don’t think she’d use his scripts. While we don’t know much about them, that everyone who read them didn’t use anything just proves to me their poor quality. So she’d hire new directors. A certain Star Trek director would’ve loved to make a star wars film would happily sign off even if at a slightly lower salary than one with Disney. And… not much would change. Although the sequels would probably be three years apart without an spinoffs.

None of this speculation makes any sense. Kennedy wouldn’t have taken over LFL if she wasn’t allowed to make films. By the time Lucas dies, she’ll probably be retiring herself. Not to mention, Lucas was planning on gearing up production on more SW films before he sold the franchise, so there’s no reason they’d have to wait until after his death (what?). Plus, the sequels have, in fact, used many elements of Lucas’s treatments.

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When TPM 3D was on its way to theaters back in early 2012, the idea was that each year we would get the next entry in the saga.

At the time, I remember my assumption was that in 2017 when RotJ hit theaters we’d be hearing about them starting pre-production on Episode VII and that it would be shot in native 3D with stereoscopic camera rigs Cameron style.

I totally figured George would use the 3D post-conversion of I-VI as a test run of what he wanted to do with the ST. It would’ve been like 1997 all over again.

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DominicCobb said:

Anakin Starkiller said:

Say Lucas had handed over his company to Kathleen Kennedy, but without selling it to Disney. Would things still have played out roughly the same? Are Disney basically just funding them (and forcing to release Solo in May)? Or would there actually be a significant difference? Maybe the sequel trilogy but no spinoffs?

From what I understand Solo was being developed by Lawrence Kasdan even before the Disney buyout, and Lucas had at one point planned to write/direct Episode VII himself. So it’s possible that in terms of the kinds of films we’re seeing (sequels, spin-offs) things would be the same, but other things would be quite different I’m sure (who’s making the films, when they’re being released, etc.).

I’m pretty sure that Lucas was also brainstorming ideas for the Death Star plans backstory before he sold to Disney, which was the premise for Rogue One.

The Person in Question

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moviefreakedmind said:

DominicCobb said:

Anakin Starkiller said:

Say Lucas had handed over his company to Kathleen Kennedy, but without selling it to Disney. Would things still have played out roughly the same? Are Disney basically just funding them (and forcing to release Solo in May)? Or would there actually be a significant difference? Maybe the sequel trilogy but no spinoffs?

From what I understand Solo was being developed by Lawrence Kasdan even before the Disney buyout, and Lucas had at one point planned to write/direct Episode VII himself. So it’s possible that in terms of the kinds of films we’re seeing (sequels, spin-offs) things would be the same, but other things would be quite different I’m sure (who’s making the films, when they’re being released, etc.).

I’m pretty sure that Lucas was also brainstorming ideas for the Death Star plans backstory before he sold to Disney, which was the premise for Rogue One.

He already did that with ATOC.

None of this speculation makes any sense. Kennedy wouldn’t have taken over LFL if she wasn’t allowed to make films. >By the time Lucas dies, she’ll probably be retiring herself. Not to mention, Lucas was planning on gearing up >production on more SW films before he sold the franchise, so there’s no reason they’d have to wait until after his >death (what?). Plus, the sequels have, in fact, used many elements of Lucas’s treatments.

Lucas changed his mind while writing the new scripts. He said, “If I’d held onto the company I could have done it, and then it would have been done. Of course a lot of fans would have hated it, just like they did Phantom Menace and everything but at least the whole story from beginning to end would be told.”

The key word for me is could. At some point, he decided it wasn’t a good idea. In retrospect he might be annoyed that Disney changed a significant portion of the saga, but if Disney hadn’t created a sequel trilogy I imagine he would let the saga stay at a clearly defined rise and fall of Anakin. But once Disney came along he knew the ST was inevitable and gave the discarded scripts anyway.

Maul- A Star Wars Story

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OutboundFlight said:

None of this speculation makes any sense. Kennedy wouldn’t have taken over LFL if she wasn’t allowed to make films. >By the time Lucas dies, she’ll probably be retiring herself. Not to mention, Lucas was planning on gearing up >production on more SW films before he sold the franchise, so there’s no reason they’d have to wait until after his >death (what?). Plus, the sequels have, in fact, used many elements of Lucas’s treatments.

Lucas changed his mind while writing the new scripts. He said, “If I’d held onto the company I could have done it, and then it would have been done. Of course a lot of fans would have hated it, just like they did Phantom Menace and everything but at least the whole story from beginning to end would be told.”

The key word for me is could. At some point, he decided it wasn’t a good idea. In retrospect he might be annoyed that Disney changed a significant portion of the saga, but if Disney hadn’t created a sequel trilogy I imagine he would let the saga stay at a clearly defined rise and fall of Anakin. But once Disney came along he knew the ST was inevitable and gave the discarded scripts anyway.

“At some point, he decided it wasn’t a good idea” is him deciding he didn’t want to be the one to make them, which is why he sold the company.

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It occurred to me after Lucas’ interview mentioning the “microbiotic world” got out there that maybe this is what Hamill was talking about decades ago when he said George’s idea for how the saga was going to end was “really weird.”

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I wonder if we would have seen something related to the Priestesses from TCW.

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^ at the time I watched that episode of TCW , I thought the Priestesses were the Whills , who , as many know , were mentioned in the prologue to the original Star Wars novel and the saga referred to as the journal of the Whills . This concept made it into Rogue One in that The characters of Baze and Chirrut are guardians of the Whills .Chirrut even mentions " the force of others " which is a concept from early Lucas story outlines and drafts .

https://screamsinthevoid.deviantart.com/

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The Force Priestesses being the Whills is actually my headcanon.

I don’t think that would ever happen. Lucas sold Lucasfilm for the money. I think he’d hold onto his creation as a long as possible, unless Kennedy hands him a couple billion dollars.

Oh please. He sold it because he wanted to retire. He’s too old for this shit. He’s specifically said that he decided not to do the ST himself because it’d be a ten year commitment. He didn’t the money. He was already rich. He was just giving away his old toys.