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Lucas, who sold the franchise to Disney three years ago for
some $4 billion, told the Washington Post in an interview he had
no connection with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which opens
worldwide on Dec 18.
Despite initial reports that Lucas would act as a consultant,
the director said Disney "didn't like" the stories he had
outlined for the three sequels.
"There is no such thing as working over someone’s shoulder,"
Lucas told the Post in the interview published on Monday.
"You’re either the dictator or you’re not. And to do that would
never work, so I said ‘I’m going to get divorced.’ ...I knew
that I couldn’t be involved. All I’d do is make them miserable.
I’d make myself miserable. It would probably ruin a vision — J.J.
(Abrams) has a vision, and it’s his vision."
At the time of the interview, about two weeks ago, Lucas said he
had yet to see the film, which reunites original 1977 cast
members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill and is
directed by J.J. Abrams.
Lucas said watching it would be like a divorced man going to the
wedding of a grown child. “My ex will be there, my new wife will
be there, but I’m going to have to take a very deep breath and
be a good person and sit through it and just enjoy the moment,
because it is what it is and it’s a conscious decision that I
made.”
Lucas also defended his controversial decision to change a key
scene in the original 1977 movie in which pilot Han Solo (played
by Ford) opened fire first on bounty hunter Greedo.
When the digitally enhanced version was re-released in 1997, it
was Greedo who shot first, creating one of the most enduring and
divisive debates among "Star Wars" fans.
“Han Solo was going to marry Leia, and you look back and say,
‘Should he be a cold-blooded killer?’ ” Lucas told the Post,
adding he thought of the Han Solo character as a John Wayne type
hero. "When you’re John Wayne, you don’t shoot people (first) —
you let them have the first shot. It’s a mythological reality
that we hope our society pays attention to.”
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by David Gregorio)
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