Why does George Lucas not direct any more Star Wars movies?
George Lucas directed the first Star Wars movie Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), after that he directed the Star Wars prequel trilogy with Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). Other Star Wars movies have been directed by other directors.
So my question is, why is George Lucas not directing any more Star Wars movies? I want to know if George Lucas is the only person who has all the rights for Star Wars.
Best Answer
The Walt Disney Company (Disney) bought Lucasfilm Ltd. including its subsidiaries in 2012 for roughly $4 billion USD.
Star Wars was a property owned by Lucasfilm and so is now under control of Disney Management. For more information, see this USA Today article and this Bloomberg article.
As for George Lucas not being in the Director's chair for Episodes V an VI, it seems to have been a personal decision for him.
"I dislike directing. I hate the constant dealing with volatile personalities. Directing is emotional frustration, anger, and tremendously hard work - seven days a week, twelve to sixteen hours a day. For years my wife would ask why we couldn't go out to dinner like other people. But I couldn't turn it off. Eventually, I realized that directing simply wasn't healthy for me."
But, prior to the prequel trilogy he seemed to have changed his mind...
"It's not that I prefer producing, that's just where I find myself these days. It wasn't something I did by choice. I was just more effective in the producing area, which is where the opportunities have presented themselves in the last few years...Ultimately, I'm a director. I've done many things, but that's where my heart is...I just want to get back to what I started doing.
Also, we have some good questions and answers over on SFF.SE that related to "who, what, when, where, why" of George Lucas' involvement going forward.
Pictures about "Why does George Lucas not direct any more Star Wars movies?"
Why did George Lucas stop making Star Wars films?
However, Lucas was then divorced by his wife, Marcia, and was left with a three-year-old daughter. Lucas thus decided to prioritize raising his family, leaving his company, Lucasfilm Ltd., to manage the popular Star Wars franchise.Why did George Lucas not direct the sequels?
In an interview published in 2020, Lucas says he decided not to work on the trilogy because he was "about to have a daughter" at the time and decided to "enjoy life for a while." He also detailed more of his story treatments: The trilogy would start a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi.Will George Lucas direct another Star Wars movie?
It appears that George Lucas will soon be returning to Star Wars to direct a wholly original Star Wars film. The film will reportedly take place in a part of the Star Wars galaxy fans have not seen before.Why did George Lucas not direct Return of the Jedi?
So why did he decline to direct it? \u201c[Directing is] like fighting a fifteen-round heavyweight bout with a new opponent every day,\u201d Lucas opined. \u201cYou go to work knowing just how you want a scene to be, but by the end of the day, you're usually depressed because you didn't do a good enough job.George Lucas on Disney's Sequel Trilogy
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