George Lucas Explains Why He’s Not Directing Star Wars Anymore

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Star Wars creator George Lucas answered questions like, which character he would be (to which he cheekily responded with everyone’s least favorite Gungan). Afterwards, he delved into matters of a more serious mind; namely, why he’s no longer making Star Wars movies, and what made him move on.

There’s no doubt that Lucas is an incredible filmmaker. More than that, he’s an artist in every sense of the word. He also doesn’t let public disfavor and senseless ranting discourage him from doing what he loves to do. However, it seems that the vitriol he was bombarded with following the prequels was too much for him to want to go back into that world again, at least as a director.

"“You go to make a movie and all you do is get criticized, and people try to make decisions about what you’re going to do before you do it… You know, it’s not much fun, and you can’t experiment, you can’t do anything. You have to do it a certain way. And I don’t like that, I never did.”"

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The prequel trilogy was an experiment in many ways, specifically with regard to digital effects (which George and Industrial Light & Magic pulled off with great success); but many people didn’t want an experiment, they wanted a throwback to the original films. Now, J.J. Abrams is trying to win back some of those disgruntled viewers with Star Wars movies that supposedly embody the best of both worlds; when really, they’ll likely have just as many, or at least not much fewer, CG effects in them as the prequels had.

But, the fact is, George has moved on. I think that’s for the best. Partly because, Lucas passing on the torch allows for a new generation of filmmakers to bring fresh perspectives to the saga and revitalize it in fascinating new ways. Not only that, but we’re hopefully going to get some better dialogue in The Force Awakens with Lawrence Kasdan co-helming the script (George himself has admitted dialogue is not his area of expertise).

Next: Star Wars: Battlefront Review Roundup

But Lucas isn’t leaving his successors completely in the dust. He bids future Star Wars filmmakers to remember, “…there’s more to it than just spaceships.”

He also has a concern for the storyline of the new movies.

"“I’m curious that the Force doesn’t get muddled into a bunch of garbalygook.”"

And of course, he still wants to know about Vader’s grandchildren.

"“Well, I’m curious about what happened to Darth Vader’s, uh, grandkids.”"

George Lucas wins Troll of the Year.