Since Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released in cinemas two weeks ago, there has been resounding praise heaped upon it. However, one individual who will not give in to the hype is the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas. As we all know, Lucas sold Star Wars, along with the rest of Lucasfilm, to Disney in 2012 for somewhere in the region of $4 billion. Nobody seems to know the exact amount. At the time Lucas said that selling his brainchild was like a divorce or a break-up, but he was still expected to be brought on in an advisory role.
In an interview with Charlie Rose, Lucas stated that this never came to pass as “They [Disney] weren’t that keen to have me involved. They looked at the stories, and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans’“. In the same interview, he went on to criticise The Force Awakens for its ‘retro’ tone, claiming: “I don’t like that“.
He is not alone in this opinion, with many fans of Star Wars claiming it is nothing more than a nostalgia piece; a direct copy of the original Star Wars. Following this, Lucas defended his vision of the first 6 Star Wars films by stating that he constantly innovating: “I worked very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships – you know, to make it new“. To be fair though, the fact that it is not a rip-off is the only thing the prequels have going for them.
This may come as a surprise for some, but Lucas has never stated his explicit approval of J.J. Abrams, always limiting himself by stating that fans would like his film. For many this has proved true; The Force Awakens is currently 95% fresh on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes and commercially it has already cracked the global all-time top 10.
But as the public get over the initial ecstasy of a new Star Wars film, perhaps they will become more inquisitive towards it. So, is Lucas a grumpy father who is embittered because his children haven’t turned out the way he expected? Or does he represent the collective conscience of die-hard Star Wars fans who feel cheated by J.J. Abrams’ offering?
#Peace.love.GeorgeLucas
