George Lucas clearly has the right idea about an ex — cut off contact, move forward with life, and don’t look back. But the subtext of his comments are something he hasn’t really said explicitly: break-ups are painful. It’s clear that Lucas still feels very conflicted about selling Lucasfilm to Disney, saying goodbye to “Star Wars,” and the fact that Disney, Kathleen Kennedy, and J.J. Abrams chose not to use his treatments for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
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In an interview with Charlie Rose that aired last week, Lucas said of the ‘Star Wars’ sale to Disney, “I sold them to the white slavers that takes these things, and…” he laughed before continuing with the unfortunate metaphor. The filmmaker also delivered a little bit of shade by calling ‘The Force Awakens’ a throwback film that leaned too hard on the past (not an uncommon criticism).
"They wanted to do a retro movie,” Lucas said. “They said, ‘We want to make something for the fans’….They decided they didn’t want to use [my] stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing. I don’t like that [retro idea]. Every movie I work very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships, make it new.”
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So yeah, maybe a little bit of regret and sour feelings about selling Lucasfilm and handing over the reins of ‘Star Wars.’ But barely 24 hours after the the media noticed the interview, Lucas apologized for his “very inappropriate analogy.”
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“I have been working with Disney for 40 years and chose them as the custodians of Star Wars because of my great respect for the company and Bob Iger’s leadership,” Lucas said in his statement, issued Thursday afternoon by Disney. “Disney is doing an incredible job of taking care of and expanding the franchise. I rarely go out with statements to clarify my feelings but I feel it is important to make it clear that I am thrilled that Disney has the franchise and is moving it in such exciting directions in film, television and the parks.”
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has crossed the $1 billion mark in less than two weeks and Lucas’ statement also made mention of their all-consuming success. “Most of all I’m blown away with the record breaking blockbuster success of the new movie and am very proud of JJ and Kathy.”
Why did Lucas make the original comment then? Perhaps being a little unguarded in the interview, his true feelings leaked out, but the filmmaker didn’t try to explain why he said what he said, wisely just sticking with a full apology and total backpedal on his remarks.
Here’s the full statement:
“I want to clarify my interview on the Charlie Rose Show. It was for the Kennedy Center Honors and conducted prior to the premiere of the film. I misspoke and used a very inappropriate analogy and for that I apologize.
"I have been working with Disney for 40 years and chose them as the custodians of Star Wars because of my great respect for the company and Bob Iger’s leadership. Disney is doing an incredible job of taking care of and expanding the franchise. I rarely go out with statements to clarify my feelings but I feel it is important to make it clear that I am thrilled that Disney has the franchise and is moving it in such exciting directions in film, television and the parks. Most of all I’m blown away with the record breaking blockbuster success of the new movie and am very proud of JJ and Kathy.”
Here’s the interview if you missed it the first time.