Saga Will George Lucas direct another Star Wars film?

In a 1977 interview with Rolling Stone (which I originally found in the "changing Star Wars Saga" thread) a thirty-three year old George Lucas talked about what it would be like sharing the series with others to "interpret"; based off his world-building but ultimately by their own vision:

RS: It wouldn't bother you to have someone else do the ones in between?​

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GL: No, it would be interesting. I would want to try and get some good directors, and see what their interpretation of the theme is. I think it will be interesting, it is like taking a theme in film school, say, okay, everybody do their interpretation of this theme. It's an interesting idea to see how people interpret the genre. It is a fun genre to play with. All the prototype stuff is done now. Nobody has to worry about what a Wookie is and what it does and how it reacts. Wookies are there, the people are there, the environment is there, the empire is there . . . everything is there. And now people will start building on it. I've put up the concrete slab of the walls and now everybody can have fun drawing the pictures and putting on the little gargoyles and doing all the really fun stuff. And it's a competition. I'm hoping if I get friends of mine they will want to do a much better film, like, "I'll show George that I can do a film twice that good," and I think they can, but then I want to do the last one, so I can do one twice as good as everybody else. [Laughs]"​

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I'll pre-emptively dismiss any quotes where Lucas states he's "done" with Star Wars. The fact remains that Lucas was ready and willing to direct Episode VII before a timely offer from Disney came in. The disdain that's often expressed by Lucas is that doing more Star Wars means investing ten years of his life. However Lucas wanted to be involved to share his vision on the ST:

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“I said that I would back her up and I would be there if … and, especially helping with the script and making sure the script sort of … there’s a lot of blank spots in the story treatment that hopefully we can help fill in.” ​

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It seems between Michael Ardnt being let go as the writer for VII and Abrams/Kasdan taking over and writing from scratch, Lucas' hope expressed above was not fulfilled:

"The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote [on screen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens]."​

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I wouldn't speculate that Lucas is somehow bitter about this. Abrams is a family friend to the Lucas' and they clearly both are having fun with the idea that Abrams has taken over from Lucas in determining the future-story. (A position emphasized by the fact that Abrams got full creative control over the final cut.) It looks like this trend will continue for the directors of the rest of the ST as confirmed by Rian Johnson:

“Kathleen and her whole creative team have been so insistent on all the filmmakers they’ve been hiring for these new movies: ‘We want you to take it and turn it into something that you really care about.’ And we’ll see how the process plays out, but so far, that’s a big part of the reason I’m in it. Because that just seems like their attitude towards it. It’s really exciting actually.”​

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Lucas is uninvolved and other directors, at least one of them a friend, is taking his ball and running with it. Which brings me back to the quote above from 1977:

I'm hoping if I get friends of mine they will want to do a much better film, like, "I'll show George that I can do a film twice that good," and I think they can, but then I want to do the last one, so I can do one twice as good as everybody else. [Laughs]​

Clearly it's no longer possible that George Lucas will be able to do the last one. But will the release of as many new Star Wars films as he's already made in his cornerstone saga spur him on to try one more?

 

No. He made a deliberate choice to step away from STAR WARS and hand over the reins to other people. I think this is how he’d react to directing another SW film:

 

no.

 

I think the closest we'll ever come to more Lucas Star Wars will be some eventual brief words on what his ST would've looked like. Hopefully he releases something, though, even if it's a three minute "experiment" he filmed in his back yard.

Or he could direct a Space Battles film and get sued by Disney.

 

no, he's retired.

If he wanted to direct another one he wouldn't have sold SW.

The guy likes total control of his films, that is no secret.

 

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be a possibility at this point. I'd like for him to work on something, however minor, but it looks like he either WANTS to be away from Star Wars or Disney's keeping him away right now.

 

I think he's pretty much done at this point. The directors for VIII and IX have been locked in and while he could do a spin off, I don't think that's what he is interested in too much. He had directed all three PT films because he had fun doing them, was able to bring his kids with him while location and he didn't have to find a non union director, with whom he was in sync with.

 

I really don't see him coming back to SW, in any major capacity like that anyway.

 

I agree that all signs point to Lucas being done directing (but hopefully not advising). Though I would love for him to take on a spin-off film once the Star Wars machine is back in full motion again.

 

I think the chances of seeing Lucas direct another film in the series are nonexistent. While still unlikely, I think it's possible he could guest-direct an episode of the live-action TV series if/when that gets off the ground.

Me personally, I'd like to see Lucas finally do those smaller, weirder films he's talked about wanting to do for some time now. I want to see what happens when he stretches those muscles again.

 

I'd rather see someone new do SW.

 

I think it's both fortunate and unfortunate that Lucas is known by the general population only for Star Wars. He is one of the greatest and most influential directors of his time, and seeing only Star Wars and American Graffiti under his belt as huge successes is disheartening. We've gotten so much from Spielberg, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and other 70s/80s directors.

I doubt he's complaining, and I'm not even sure I'm complaining, but I want to see more projects from him.

 

As much as I love George's Saga and all he has done for the Franchise, I hope he does not come back for his own sake.

The man needs his rest and he is busy with his kids anyway.

 

Anything's possible, but I'd be gobsmacked if he directed another SW feature film. As has already been mentioned, he's pushing 70, he wouldn't have sold the franchise unless he was done and dusted with it, plus TBH, I think Disney wouldn't be too impressed if he tried to muscle his way back in, it could undermine the new visions of the SW universe underway.

At most, he might come in as a sort of guest director/writer/producer of an episode of one of the TV shows, but I can't even see that happening. He might do some sort of documentary or short film about his own experiences helming the franchise, though.

 

Unfortunately he won't.

 

I would absolutely love to see the saga in his hands one last time, though there is nearly zero percent of a chance it would ever happen. If he ever did, though, I wonder what kind of film it would be? Obviously not a Sequel Trilogy outing, as directors have already been slated for those. What kind of Anthology/Star Wars Story would Lucas be keen on?

 

Maybe they could let him edit one, seeing as this is what he said he prefers to do.

 

A much-needed Special Edition of The Star Wars Holiday Special.

Unfortunately, no subtitles for the Wookiee sections, but an interpreter will be incorporated into the scenes via CGI:



Everything else will be deleted and replaced with CGI rocks that blink.

 

I'm sure he will with more rocks, whale mating calls, and jar jar to boot. Hell, i wouldn't be surprised if he made a christmas special about Jar Jar and about heesa will esplain duh meaning behind kewismas.

 

Um I think u just ruined Darth_nub's already iffy joke.

 

I hope he comes back at least once.

 

I don't see why he would want to. While it sounds like he was willing to direct the first movie in the sequel trilogy, it doesn't sound like it's something he's ever felt like he had to do.

So what incentive would he have to come back? Doing it for the fans? I think Lucas is done with the fans, and with good reason.

 

Its highly doubtful. However, if they decide after 9 that they wanna do a 10 11 and 12.... You never knowwww

 

I doubt it, but I'd love to see it happen.