Star Wars: The Last Jedi could have been very different…
At least, if George Lucas had his way.
During an interview with Metro, Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Mark Hamill revealed that George Lucas’s original Star Wars sequel trilogy plans were very different… and they’ve since gone in a new direction.
“What I wish is that they had been more accepting of his guidance and advice,” he said. “Because he had an outline for 7, 8 and 9. And it is vastly different to what they have done.”
“But then again, I don’t want to be an old stick in the mud, he added. “There were the originals. There’s the prequels. But that’s all George.”
Of course, George Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise (along with the rest of Lucasfilm) to Walt Disney Studios back in 2012 for the enormous sum of $4.06 billion. And since then, the franchise has expanded to include not just a new trilogy, but spin-off movies as well.
“And now we have the next generation,” said Mark Hamill. “And as far as I can see they are more popular than ever.”
Of course, it’s no secret that Disney took things in a different direction.
And George Lucas even commented on their approach back in 2015.
“The issue was ultimately that they looked at the stories and they said, ‘We want to make something for the fans’,” he told CBS. “People don’t actually realize it’s actually a soap opera and it’s all about family problems – it’s not about spaceships. So they decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing so I decided, ‘fine… I’ll go my way and I let them go their way.”
Still, it seems to have worked out for the best.
Star Wars continues to pull huge box office figures year after year, and even the new spin-off movies are working wonders – Rogue One managed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
How will Star Wars 8 fare? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
But I get the feeling it’s going to be as big a hit (perhaps even bigger) than The Force Awakens.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Kelli Marie Tran, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Benicio Del Toro, and Andy Serkis.
Rian Johnson wrote and directed the movie.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi heads to cinemas on 14 December 2017.
