Speculation What Changed to Prompt Lucas to Outline an ST?

The 2 reasons are retirement and protecting Lucasfilm (and Star Wars) past his lifetime.

Neither one of those reasons supports your post that "Lucas isn't playing in the sandbox, this is his way of retiring from Star Wars. He's a "consultant", which is a nice way of saying that he's out of the way."

Lucas is retiring. Lucas sold Lucasfilm. Lucas is still actively involved in the ST.

 

As time goes by, you'll see.

 

As time goes by, you'll see.

 

Then answer me this, if his plan was to remain involved in Star Wars, why sell? Why all the talk about retirement? What is that? Is he lying?

Does this sound like a guy who wants an active role? Really???

 

See my post above. He sold because he wants to retire and he wants to protect Star Wars after he dies. The only way to do that is while he's alive.

Lucas retiring doesn't mean that he doesn't want to be involved with Star Wars as evidenced by "he’s attended story meetings for the new film, adjudicating the physical laws and attributes of the Star Wars universe. “I mostly say, ‘You can’t do this. You can do that,’ ” Lucas says"

 

Then you suggest he is lying when he says that he is moving away from the business, the company and all this kind of stuff? Right? Either he is or he isn't moving away from it. So, which is it according to you?

 

A better question might be this:

OK, T-R, you're fairly certain that, retirement or no, Lucas is still going to have a quite significant influence on the ST. Factoring in each and every word you've no doubt read, exactly what form do you expect that influence to take, how far do you expect that influence to extend, and how does that internal picture differ from what Captain Tom Coughlin is apparently expecting? Getting a clear definition of what both you and Coughlin expect would be the most important step to determining if either scenario is more likely to happen or not.

 

He's noy lying because he is retiring from the company - more specifically from RUNNING the company. This has nothing to do with his involvement in the ST.

 

That's not what he is saying, he's saying he's moving away "from the business, the company, from all this kind of stuff". That's a pretty comprehensive statement there, so should I believe him or you?

Is a guy answering questions about speeders really actively involved? Or is he a guy who did just what he said he would do, walking away.

 

I expect Lucas' involvement to be:
to supply the story (i.e. treatments for the ST), to work with Arndt on specifics in the script during story meetings, to guide the ST by saying what can and can't happen, and to provide some guidance on design.

CTG expects Lucas involvement to be "Lucas isn't playing in the sandbox, this is his way of retiring from Star Wars. He's a "consultant", which is a nice way of saying that he's out of the way."

Clearly he is playing in the sandbox and is not out of the way.

Rick McCullum is "out of the way."

 

Honestly, I really don't know why this is such a complicated issue to understand, lol. Is Lucas involved in the ST? Yes, but in a rather minor capacity. He's engaged in story meetings simply as an advisor. He's on board now for transitional purposes, and Disney is keeping him around out of goodwill and respect. If they have specific questions about a character, planet, technology, yeah, sure, they might ask Lucas for his opinion or thoughts. They can accept or dismiss it. I mean, Lucasfilm has employees who have more indepth knowledge of the entire galaxy and universe than Lucas does, and it will be their job moving forward to handle all sorts of issues.

Yes, Lucas made a story outline for the ST, but Disney can ultimately do whatever they want with it. It was made very clear by numerous individuals that after the sale, Disney has the final word on everything. They can consult and ask Lucas as much as they want, but it's their intellectual property and they can do with it whatever they see fit. Now, if Lucas was hired on as a producer, things would change a bit, but he's not going to be. Lucas wants to move on with his life. He was able to successfully make sure that his company, and his creations, have a bright future, both creatively and financially.

I think most of Lucas' involvement in the ST happened before the Lucasfilm sale. I'm sure he's been working on the ST in vigor the past year or two. He pretty much confirmed that Ford, Hamill, and Fisher were basically signed on before the sale. It also seems that Kennedy and Lucas had hired Arndt before the sale. All of this was simply to get the gears moving on his retirement. Having a set of Star Wars films in early development helped make Lucasfilm a much more attractive company to potential buyers.

He's very much passing the torch here, and he won't have much say in anything. He knows this, and he's fine with it. He's prepared himself for this moment for a long time now, and although I know he's still emotional over the transition, the sale, and everything (who wouldn't be?), he's accepted it and ready for the next stage of his life.

 

I think you have summed this up nicely.

 

Sounds involved on the micro level if he's answering questions of this level.

 

To be honest, I really can't see how the two of you differ all THAT much. In many ways, you're both saying the same thing in different language. Let's go over your list line by line: you expect GL to supply the story treatments, and he did that before October 2012; you expect him to work on specifics with Arndt, and clearly he'd been doing that since some time between May 2011 and June 2012; you expect him to be on call in case the Disney PTB have a question and need a ruling, and Lucas has made clear that part of his duties involve that, though he also made it clear that at this point, that's all he's being asked to do. So that's three out of four of your points already handled; he may or may not be asked to provide guidance on design, but I have to ask if he wouldn't trust the people he has already put into place for that - does he really put in that kind of input on TCW? (seriously, I don't know; does anyone else know?) Who really green-lights a design that anyone does for TCW - Filoni or Lucas?

So we have three out of four points to demonstrate that, in fact, you, T-R, are validated - but only to a point. Because if Lucas has done most of that already or is in the process of doing it now, then what will be left for him to do six months or a year from now? How much activity in the sandbox can he be doing from that point onward, based on what he himself has said and what others are adding? This is where you being right may leave off and Captain Tom being right may begin, because at that point Lucas would have very little left to do, other than, as he says, just watch and enjoy like anyone else. His duties regarding the ST may very well be currently in the process of winding up, and if so, then Coughlin becomes as right as you - and, again, only to a point. Which is to say you're BOTH right in different ways, and both wrong.

Except where McCallum is concerned; then you're absolutely right, period.

 

They are very early in the film making process. A lot can happen between a story treatment and a screenplay. So, changes can be made. Even major ones, at this stage. And guess who's in control of those types of decision? It's not Lucas. So, these may seem like minor points, but they aren't. Not really, what Disney wants Disney can get at this point. And Lucas, has agreed to that by stepping aside.

Let's say as an example that Plaguies is in the treatment (I hate that idea, but it;s an easy example), and during their consultations Lucas believes that since the character is a Muun, he should be handled as a CGI character. But Abrams decides he would rather have a live action actor in the role, and they cast a guy like Noble. If Disney decides that they agree with Abrams and change the character a human, it won't matter how strongly Lucas feels about it, it will be a human. Because Lucas has already relinquished control.

He can answer questions, he can give input. He has no say. He doesn't even really want it. He wants to walk away, as he has made clear over and over. He wants to focus on his smaller projects, his museum, and philanthropy.

I'm not wrong about any of this. I never have been. This has been a transition. But Lucas is retiring, and his only role left is as an adviser. Advisers don't have say, they have opinions.

If Lucas wanted it any other way, he would have maintained control. He didn't, as was stated earlier this was always part of a larger retirement strategy. Something people just don't want to accept

 

I still say he's gonna get an executive producer credit on the flick. Just how much participation that entails, we'll never know, but I am fairly certain we're gonna see it up there.

 

Leigh Brackett got a credit for ESB yet very little of her draft made it into the film.